Welcome to Aiko's Podcast, where we explore ways to put theory into practice.

I'm Aiko, and today, I'm thrilled to chat with Emily Zorn, a registered dietitian (RD) and health coach from Palo Alto, California.

Emily is the founder of Emily RD Nutrition Coaching, guiding people through nutrition confusion and freeing them from the stress of diets. She's also the co-host of the podcast RDs vs BS, where she and Marie take deep dives into nutrition topics to determine what's legit and what's not.

In this episode, we focus on how nutrition affects hormones, the menstrual cycle, perimenopause, and menopause, a topic of vital importance to women worldwide. Emily shares three (and a half) essential pieces of advice that women can use to balance hormones naturally. Her expert insights will empower you to make positive changes in your diet and lifestyle to support a happier and healthier menstrual cycle.

Join us to learn evidence-based strategies and debunk myths, empowering yourself with the knowledge to support a happier and healthier menstrual cycle. Whether you seek to improve well-being or love nutrition science, this episode promises to be an eye-opening journey.

Where to find Emily:

Instagram - @emily_rd_

Email - emilyrd@emilyzorn.com

Website - www.emilyzorn.com

Podcast Instagram - @rds_vs_bs_pod

Podcast website - www.rdsvsbs.com

Where to find me:

aikoota.com

In this episode, we name the eight limbs of astanga-yoga and then focus on the first limb which is abstentions (yama).

There are five abstentions: non-violence, truthfulness, refrainment from stealing, celibacy, and renunciation of unnecessary possessions. The yogi following the path of astanga is instructed to follow these on the physical, the verbal, as well as the mental level, meaning, for example, that they are not supposed to engage in physical violence, think of stealing, or speak lies.

Yama is, according to Patanjali’s outline of this system, the first step in yoga, and what to speak of the final goal, even this is a tall order! However, rather than beating ourselves up (for not being able to live up to the ideal) or knocking ourselves out (the over-enthusiasm of the beginner), we should pay attention to the point made by the commentators that non-violence (ahimsa), which includes abstaining from self-harm.

Contemplate the five abstentions and feel out for yourself how far you are able to go sustainably in the present.

In this episode, Syama and I discuss sutras 21 through 27 of the second chapter.

This is the section leading up to the description of the eight limbs of yoga (astanga). In the previous section, we heard that the world of experience is there to provide experiences and liberation for the experiencer (we, you, and I, the sentient beings, are the experiencers talked about here). In the current section, this key teaching is reinforced by Patanjali stating that in essence the experienced world is meant solely for the experiencer.

Does this mean that we are encouraged to treat the environment however we please? Not exactly. In the upcoming section on astanga-yoga, the first two limbs prescribe non-violence (ahimsa) as the very first principle.

But why should there be rules if the world is meant only for us? Because the world is here to teach you about your potential and to act as a springboard to your final goal rather than for you to be entangled in it forever.