How to Eat Like a Yogi: Ayurveda Basics | Breath of Fire

Q: What materials we use

We work with three fabrics. Three. Not thirty.Brushed Organic Cotton Jersey (220g, made in Portugal) soft, slightly thick, with a peach-skin touch. Our flagship. The Sohang, Yamala and Mahan are knitted from this.Mercerized Organic Cotton Jersey (180g, made in Portugal) lighter, smoother, with a subtle natural sheen. Our new Essence Collection uses this for models like Ankaa, Nashira, Maia.Bamboo Viscose blended with Organic Cotton (made in Turkey) cool, breathable, fluid. Used for the Lilii pants and the Mizar Kimono. Bamboo regrows in three to five years, without replanting and without irrigation.Most pieces include around 8% certified elastane, enough to hold shape over years of wear, without losing breath.We use every meter of yarn we knit. What we don't sew, we save for repairs and samples. Nothing goes to waste.

Q: Three generations of women

Three generations of women.My grandmother Johanna sewed evening dresses by hand. Long, careful, beautiful work, a kind of patience that has all but disappeared.My mother, Cornelia, learned from her. In 2004, she founded Breath of Fire. The very first piece she designed, the Sohang, was created on the floor of her living room in Switzerland, with a yoga teacher friend named Christina. It is still our flagship today.Today, I ( Pernelle) run the brand. I do not redesign what works. I extend it. The Essence Collection, launched in 2025, sits beside the Evergreen line. New silhouettes, same intention.We do not design for trends. We design for the body in practice, for the moment when the breath deepens, when the posture lengthens, when you forget what you are wearing.That is the test of a piece. Forgetting it on. Returning to it.

Eating like a yogi is not a diet. It is a relationship: with food, with the body, with the slow attention it takes to know the difference between hunger and habit.

In the yogic tradition, food is more than fuel. It is prāṇa, life force, entering the body. The way it is grown, prepared, eaten and digested shapes the quality of our practice and the quality of our day.

Here is what we have learned, and what we return to.

The principles, in plain language

Choose whole foods, close to their natural state. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds. The less the food has been processed, the more prāṇa it carries.
Eat in a relaxed setting. The mind eats with the body. Standing at the counter, scrolling a phone, half-watching a screen: digestion suffers in any of these. Sit. Breathe. Begin.
Listen to hunger and fullness. The body knows. Eating to satisfaction, not to discomfort, is one of the oldest yogic disciplines, and one of the hardest in modern life.
Avoid the rush. Chew slowly. Notice the texture, the warmth, the salt. Eating quickly is one of the easiest ways to overeat without realising.
Respect the season. What grows where you live, when you live there, is what your body is best prepared to receive. Tomatoes in February travel from far away. Apples in October are simply ready.
Honour the body. Notice what makes you feel light, clear, energised, and what makes you heavy or distracted. Eat more of the first. Less of the second.

For more everyday habits, from sattvic meals to herbal teas and screen-free dinners, read our companion guide Being a yogi at heart: a joyful guide to healthy eating.

Where Ayurveda meets the plate

Ayurveda, the traditional Indian science of life, born from the same Vedic culture as yoga, has a great deal to say about how to eat well. Its central idea is the doṣa: three constitutional types that describe how each body digests and responds to food.

Vāta (air and ether): light, dry, mobile. Benefits from warm, cooked, grounding foods. Soups, stews, kitchari, root vegetables.
Pitta (fire and water): intense, sharp, hot. Benefits from cooling, calming foods. Cucumbers, leafy greens, sweet fruits, dairy if tolerated.
Kapha (earth and water): stable, dense, slow. Benefits from light, warming, spiced foods. Spices like ginger and pepper, lighter grains, lots of vegetables.

You do not need to know your doṣa to begin eating well. You simply need to pay attention to how different foods feel in your body: warm or cold, light or heavy, energising or dulling. The body is the teacher.

Woman in saffron Sohang yoga top and pants in organic cotton by Breath of Fire — Saffron, the colour of turmeric and warm spices: the Sohang set. See our saffron yoga clothes

Kitchari: the everyday Ayurvedic meal

If there is one yogic recipe to know, it is kitchari: a simple blend of rice, mung dal, ghee and spices, gentle on digestion and traditionally said to balance all three doṣas. We wrote about it in detail in Kitchari, the ideal Ayurvedic meal for a mono diet, including a simple mono diet for seasonal resets.

Three Ayurvedic drinks for the everyday

Turmeric golden milk

The classic. Warming, comforting, traditionally valued for its soothing qualities. Heat one cup of milk (dairy, oat or almond) over medium heat. Add half a teaspoon of turmeric, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a generous pinch of black pepper (traditionally added because it helps the body absorb curcumin, the active compound of turmeric). Bring just to a simmer, remove from the heat and sweeten with a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup if you wish. Drink warm, before sleep or after practice.

For more on its tradition, see our article on golden milk, a drink well known to Kundalini yogis.

Ayurvedic chai

One cup of water in a small pan. Add one black tea bag, one cinnamon stick, one star anise, one crushed cardamom pod and a few peppercorns. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat. Simmer three to five minutes. Add one cup of milk. Strain. Drink slowly.

Rose and lemon cooler

For warm days. Blend one cup of cold water, two tablespoons of lemon juice, one teaspoon of honey and half a teaspoon of rosewater, with a handful of ice. Cooling for pitta, gentle on the digestive fire on hot afternoons.

The deeper rule

Eat in a way that lets you arrive at your practice clear, not heavy. That lets you sit cross-legged without the abdomen straining. That lets the breath move freely through pranayama. That lets sleep come easily.

That is the whole brief. The rest, the lists, the doshas, the recipes, is detail in service of one principle: eat so the body can practise.

Woman wearing the Nashira jumpsuit in sienna organic cotton by Breath of Fire — Soft at the belly, free to breathe: the Nashira jumpsuit in sienna. Discover the Essence collection

Frequently asked questions

Do yogis have to be vegetarian?

Many yogic traditions recommend a vegetarian diet, in the spirit of ahimsa, non-violence (Yoga Sūtra 2.35). But eating like a yogi starts with attention and moderation. Each person finds their own way, step by step.

How long before practice should I eat?

Ideally two to three hours after a full meal, or one hour after a light snack. Practising on a full stomach makes twists, forward folds and breathwork uncomfortable.

Are these drinks suitable for everyone?

Usually, yes, in normal food quantities. If you are pregnant, take medication (especially blood thinners), have gallbladder problems or a health condition, ask your doctor before drinking turmeric or spices daily. Honey is not suitable for babies under one year.

Eat slowly. Breathe. Let the body practise.

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What you wear matters. The texture against skin. The breath that moves freely. Pieces that soften with the years.

Our clothes are certified organic cotton, knitted and sewn in Portugal in small batches since 2009. Natural fibers. Slow craft. Clothing for those who pay attention to what touches the body.

Near Porto, in Portugal, two small family businesses work side by side for us. The first, in one village, knits our organic cotton from scratch and dyes it to our specifications. The second, in the next village, cuts and sews. We have been visiting both every year since 2009. We know the people by name. We share meals when we visit. They have watched our collections grow alongside their own children.

During the Covid years, when organic cotton and bamboo became briefly impossible to source in Portugal, we found a second family workshop in Turkey — also ethical, also certified, also personal. About 5% of what we make passes through their hands today. The Mizar Kimono and a few Lilac pieces from past collections come from there.

Most yoga brands buy fabric from a market — pre-made rolls, ready to cut. We don't. Every meter of jersey we use is knitted from scratch to our specifications. That is why the Sohang feels the way it does. That is why a five-year-old pair softens instead of wearing thin.

A slower way of making clothes. Sometimes inconvenient. Always worth it.

Sustainability for us is not a marketing department. It is a series of small, sometimes annoying choices we have made since 2009.

We chose certified organic cotton when it was 40% more expensive than conventional or plastic fabrics. We still pay that premium today. We grow without external capital which means we cannot afford to overstock, so we don't. We use every meter of yarn we order, even when it means smaller runs and longer waits. We are 100% self funded and all the money is placed in ethical funds in a local bank.

We focus on evergreen pieces, the Sohang, the Amrit, the Amba instead of seasonal collections. Some of these designs are over a decade old and still our bestsellers. A garment worn for ten years on a body is the most sustainable thing a fashion brand can make.

Our fabrics are dyed with processes gentle enough for a baby's skin. We package in either recycled or biodegradable bags. We ship from our small warehouse in Cully (Switzerland) or our partner in Germany, never overseas.

We don't tick every box. We are not perfect. But these are the choices we make, and we make them visible.

We work with three fabrics. Three. Not thirty.

Brushed Organic Cotton Jersey (220g, made in Portugal) soft, slightly thick, with a peach-skin touch. Our flagship. The Sohang, Yamala and Mahan are knitted from this.

Mercerized Organic Cotton Jersey (180g, made in Portugal) lighter, smoother, with a subtle natural sheen. Our new Essence Collection uses this for models like Ankaa, Nashira, Maia.

Bamboo Viscose blended with Organic Cotton (made in Turkey) cool, breathable, fluid. Used for the Lilii pants and the Mizar Kimono. Bamboo regrows in three to five years, without replanting and without irrigation.

Most pieces include around 8% certified elastane, enough to hold shape over years of wear, without losing breath.

We use every meter of yarn we knit. What we don't sew, we save for repairs and samples. Nothing goes to waste.

Three generations of women.

My grandmother Johanna sewed evening dresses by hand. Long, careful, beautiful work, a kind of patience that has all but disappeared.

My mother, Cornelia, learned from her. In 2004, she founded Breath of Fire. The very first piece she designed, the Sohang, was created on the floor of her living room in Switzerland, with a yoga teacher friend named Christina. It is still our flagship today.

Today, I ( Pernelle) run the brand. I do not redesign what works. I extend it. The Essence Collection, launched in 2025, sits beside the Evergreen line. New silhouettes, same intention.

We do not design for trends. We design for the body in practice, for the moment when the breath deepens, when the posture lengthens, when you forget what you are wearing.

That is the test of a piece. Forgetting it on. Returning to it.

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How to Eat Like a Yogi: Principles, Ayurveda and Three Drinks