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Who is cooking your food?
All of our teacher training certification programs and courses come with food and accommodation included. Punyah Yoga provides two meals a day for our students: brunch and dinner. These two meals are substantial and are part of the yogic diet. We know you might have some qualms or worries about the food here, so we wanted to share more about the provided meals and about who is cooking your food.
Meet The Head Chef Who Cooks Up A Storm!
1. The Lotus Pose
Meet Chandra Adhikari. Chandra, who commonly goes by her nickname Channa, is the mastermind behind all the culinary delights at Punyah Yoga. She learned to cook from her mother and eventually fell in love with the kitchen at twelve years old. Channa has a vast wealth of knowledge about every ingredient she cooks with. Able to adapt to almost any dietary restriction, she also knows how to prepare food that is nourishing to the yogic body.
Chandra takes immense care to prepare food for the students that will keep them healthy and sustain them for their intensive yoga practice and study. She is thoroughly educated in Ayurvedic cooking and is actively conscious of every ingredient she uses. Thus, she does not cook with onion or garlic because they are 'Rajasik food'. In Ayurveda, Rajasik food is believed to agitate the mind and is counterproductive to the practice of meditation and yoga.
What Is The Food Like?
Food served at Punyah Yoga is not spicy, usually is not fried in oil, devoid of garlic and onion, and is prepared according to Ayurvedic beliefs and practices. You can expect your meals to be filling and immensely nourishing. They are predominantly vegan meals, with only the occasional dish including curd, a milk product. If a student has a specific dietary restriction (vegan, gluten-free or has any allergies), Chandra is able to cater to those needs.
Chandra uses specific ingredients to alkalize food such as digestive seeds and herbs. She is conscious of what type of metal pot she cooks in to make sure the food retains its minerals, as per Ayurveda’s belief system.
Chandra also sources most of her ingredients from nearby Himalayan villages. She only purchases products that have been made in India and tries to purchase as many organic and locally sourced ingredients as possible.
What Our Students Say
Our students habitually rave about the cooking here. We keep hearing 'feeling full while not feeling heavy'. They usually make comments of surprise about how two meals are enough and how they don’t feel hungry but they don’t feel overly full. Chandra has achieved the perfect balance in her cooking to sustain the students through their yoga teacher training course.
Chandra is also happy to teach cooking classes to her students and to share her knowledge of Ayurveda and Indian cuisine.
