I often hear people say if they start practicing yoga they might have to quit meat, processed food, and alcohol - completely change their whole diet. Sometimes, those reasons are enough to stop people from even beginning.

But I think if you want to practice yoga just start it right now, you don’t have to become a stone-sober vegetarian to practice yoga. You don’t have to change all your habits in one night.

I’m not saying to have a healthy life style is not important while doing yoga. My point is just listen to your body. If you practice constantly, over time you will want to give up your negative diet. There is a saying from Swami Sivananda, “Purity of mind depends on purity of food.”

To help you on your way to better eating, below is a dessert recipe I saw the other day from “Yoga Mind & Body”. If you interest in cooking, try it see if you like it.

Stuffed Baked Apples (a tasty, warming winter dessert)

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 large apples
• 50 g（2 oz）raisins and/or chopped dates
• 50 g（2 oz）chopped walnuts or sesame seeds
• 60 ml（2.5 oz）apple juice
• Yoghurt to serve（optional）

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark4.
2. Core, but do not peel the apples.
3. Place them on a baking tray.
4. Combine the raisins and/or dates, walnuts or sesame seeds, and apple juice.
5. Fill the cored centre of each apple with some of the raisin mixture, until the mixture is used up.
6. Bake the apples in the oven for about 50 minutes, but do not over-cook.
7. Serve hot, with yoghurt if you wish.

PS: Be sure to leave a comment on how you liked it.