How to Practise Ahimsa
“Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu”—”May All Beings Everywhere Be Free and Happy”
“He who sees all beings in his Self and his Self in all beings, he never suffers; because when he sees all creatures within his true Self, then jealousy, grief and hatred vanish.”
― Paramananda, The Upanishads
“Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else? If contributing to the suffering of billions of animals that live miserable lives and (quite often) die in horrific ways isn't motivating, what would be? If being the number one contributor to the most serious threat facing the planet (global warming) isn't enough, what is? And if you are tempted to put off these questions of conscience, to say not now, then when?”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals
“What sort of a world is this, where killing and pain are the norm? What on earth is wrong with us?”
– Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
In the bible, it is said you cannot kill another person, but there is no mention of not hurting them or exploiting them. It is said you cannot steal or commit adultery, but it is not said that you can’t enslave others, destroy the earth, or hurt other animals. Huge value is placed in human life, with little consideration of life quality. I have always found the Eastern code of ethics to be more complete than the 10 commandments in the bible, going beyond the idea that life is inherently valuable, a belief system that enables pro-lifers to oppose abortion but not better the woman or child’s life, and considering all types of suffering—and extending that concern beyond our species. The Sutras of Patanjali, the core text of Yoga to many, lists its own commandments, or codes to live by, in the yamas (self-restraints) and niyamas (recommended actions and habits). The first of the yamas, and the one that we could say covers all the others, is Ahimsa—non-violence. Ahimsa calls for people to practise non-violence in all areas of life, causing minimal harm to oneself and to all beings beyond oneself. A belief in non-violence exists in many dharmic religions. But some seed of Ahimsa exists elsewhere, too: that commandment in the bible to not kill another person is one aspect of it, even if not as all-encompassing as Ahimsa. The extent to which ahimsa is followed, and its interpretation, varies from person to person, from culture to culture.
India is a country of religious plurality: there are Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Muslims, among others. One noticeable quality in all of these religions is a threshold between what can be consumed, and what is sacred. Many Hindus are pure veg, which means they do not consume meat or eggs, though they consume dairy. They place great reverance, in particular, to the holy cow, the mother archetype, who they see as a provider of milk. It has been theorised that the sound OM is from a myth of the cosmic cow gliding through space, mooing ad infinitum, an image (or vrtti) I struggle to exorcise from my mind in deep meditation. Sikhs also practise vegetarianism, allowing dairy. Jains refrain from eating any animal ingredients and aim to reduce harm to the best of their abilities, the most devout are careful where they step. Buddhists, too, practise different degrees of vegetarianism, believing, like Hindus, in the wheel of rebirth; we are all intrinsically interconnected to one another, in this huge web of life. When we die, it is believed the soul can transmigrate into the body of a cat, a fly, a cow. When we become aware of our similarities, how can we eat each other? Muslims eat meat but have clear lines between what can and can’t be eaten, and rituals that delineate what is ethical and what is not. As we’ll know from anecdotal experience, not all who follow a certain doctrine adhere to its rules about what to eat and what not to eat, about what is worth saving.
Returning to the West, we are not immune from placing a line between what is sacred and of value and what is not. We love our dogs and cats as companions, though eat slaughtered cows and pigs. Their death and suffering is invisible to us, hidden behind slaughterhouse doors. The line has shifted throughout history, in response to famine and need, as well as glutton and greed. The Celts, in parts of Britain and Ireland, used to worship chickens and rabbits and did not eat them. We know humans, too, are not immune from devaluing other humans based on the colour of their skin, their sexuality, their gender, their religious identity, among other things. From femicide in Latin America to the violent enslavement of African-Americans, our shadow history is punctuated by a shifting threshold between what is right and what is wrong. Some might argue for moral relativism, and freedom of choice, but to do so would be to justify every atrocity in history (like this guy). No—I believe our most conscientious self does wish to inflict minimal suffering. Sometimes we don’t have that choice, in times of famine, in food deserts, for instance; in hard times, our ancestors had to tell new stories about what was okay to eat and what was not.
In his essay 'The First Step’, Leo Tolstoy recalls visiting a slaughterhouse and having conversations with butchers, remarking: "This is dreadful! Not the suffering and death of the animals, but that man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity—that of sympathy and pity toward living creatures like himself—and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel. And how deeply seated in the human heart is the injunction not to take life!”
It is true that for many of us, the idea of hurting another being causes pain. Yet our mere existence causes harm: we tread on insects all the time, we trample on the grass. In this complicated capitalistic world in which we find ourselves, we cause more harm yet: this laptop I’m typing on was likely made by underpaid workers in China, we all have blood and sweat on our hands. The difference between most moments in history is that now most of us living in the west do have a choice to cause minimal suffering. We can choose to re-use items, to recycle, to consume minimally rather than excessively. We can minimise our consumption of plastic and become more self-sufficient. We can speak out against racism, homophobia, transphobia. We can become activists and campaign for a better world, all the while making our life choices more aligned with our principles. We can make choices thinking about future generations, like those of the past who used to build cathedrals they would never see in their lifetime. The climate crisis is coming now, and we have the choice to nihilistically consume the world until it is a dead thing, making ourselves part of a giant black hole, or we have the choice to once again make the world a receptacle of our caring.
A few years ago I learned that a road construction plan was halted in Iceland, due to a widespread belief there that elves live on the land. A similar thing happened in Ireland, when people campaigned against the felling of a tree, lest it anger the local fairies. What might seem silly to our current way of understanding has protected the earth for a long time, and still exists among indigenous communities. We have a lot to learn from people who still value the world, who see it is a living thing worthy of protecting.
Often I hear ahimsa described in yoga studios as giving people more space and being kind to oneself. This is true, also for compassion and activism. We have to be kind to ourselves if we are to be kind to others; if we hate ourselves, we will likely project a whole load of terrible things onto the other people we meet. But I think this Neo-liberal self-care focus is detrimental to the deeper message of ahimsa, that is, seeing oneself as deeply connected to the greater web of life, and wishing to live harmoniously with all other beings with whom we share this world. For example, most arguments for eating meat, when living somewhere with much abundance and choice, boil down to: “I like the taste of it.” This is honest and true, but the question then arises: can we do anything just because we enjoy doing it? Can we rape? Can we kill others? Enslave them? Physically, we can, but should we? Ahimsa, I think, is about overriding attachment or aversion, glutton, and greed in a bid to do the right thing. In this way, it is also about being kind to oneself, aligning our ideals with our actions.
One of the easiest ways of practising ahimsa in countries like the UK and US is by going vegan. Certainly there are parts of these countries where it will be harder. I was raised vegetarian in the rural West Country. Then there are the food deserts in the US, where fresh produce is hard to come by. For many living in these regions, particularly African-Americans, most affected by poverty and inadequate healthcare, going vegan is an act of protest and of empowering themselves. I am not talking about a plant-based lifestyle but the ethical intentional veganism. Most of us who adhere to this lifestyle see that it is not just about what you eat or don’t eat, whether you are healthier or happier. It is about preventing poverty and famine overseas, where land space is being used to raise cattle or cattle feed instead of providing crops to local people; it is about not directly contributing to the generation of new zoonotic illnesses, such as coronavirus, caused by eating meat; it is about not deforesting the Amazon, the lungs of the world, to grow soy used to feed cattle; it is about not eating the food pumped with antibiotics and hormones, designed to make you sick; is about not having the underpaid migrant worker do the dirty job you don’t want to do, getting blood on their hands so that you can eat your steak; it is about protecting the world for future generations of humans and animals; it is about not consuming more plant life than necessary (we will save more plants if we consume the plant directly rather than feed millions of animals raised for slaughter); it is about giving all beings the freedom to live long and healthy lives, as we wish for ourselves. You see, we are all libertarians if we think we have the right to choose when our choices harm others.
Going vegan is a choice, for many, that involves self-sacrifice—for a while you might miss a food group they have grown attached to. I was fortunate to be brought up vegetarian and have never craved meat, nor do I see it as edible. That will be your grandchildren, too. What world do we wish for them to inhabit? We are part of that decision. It’s the long game, but if the world survives this age of violence, I hope it will be a kinder place, not the world envisioned in visions of apocalypse. If the future exists, what do we want to tell our grandchildren about the choices we made for their future? Self-sacrifice is not easy. It is like breaking an addiction. I took many years to give up dairy and go vegan, which finally happened about five years ago. I didn’t like the taste of eggs but they were in many convenience foods like cakes and biscuits and restaurant food. The truth is, in the last ten years, veganism has become so easy. There is nothing I can’t eat anymore. In hindsight, the shift should have come earlier. It is not a sacrifice to be kind. It might feel like one when the cravings come, but whose life is more valuable than my five minutes of pleasure? It is a privilege to have this choice in this land of plenty, one I am grateful for. I invite you all to try veganism, this January, even if just for the month. What starts as a sacrifice becomes, so often, a way of making peace with oneself, ensuring our principles align with our actions. It is one of the best choices I have ever made for myself and for others.
Reading/watching/listening
The World Will Go Vegan Without Realising it - Klaus Mitchell
The Secret Reason We Eat Meat by Dr Melanie Joy
This is Vegan Propaganda by Ed Winters (and his entire Youtube channel)
Comprehensive Oxford University Study concerning impact of the meat on global warming
On Self-Sacrifice: What this BIPOC vegan you to know by Juhea Kim (in the Fire issue of Cunning Folk Mag).
The ChickPeeps - a Podcast about veganism
A few of my own writings on veganism and animal and human relationships
Can a Book Make You Vegan? - BBC Culture
I Have Never Eaten Animals - Tenderly
What the Caged Bird Feels: A list of Writers in Support of Veganism - The Millions
How to make the switch?
I have been asked, by several friends, what I eat on a typical day. I am always a little thrown by the question. I eat as varied a diet as you do, if not more varied. I understand that there are so many resources it can be overwhelming. Eating plant-based food has been proven to lower the risk of suffering adverse symptoms of coronavirus, getting cancer and heart disease. It is naturally lower in cholesterol and a good vegan diet can be high in antioxidants. Many athletes are turning to a vegan diet and doing well with it, and many African Americans, in particular, are choosing to go vegan to reduce health bills. Of course, you can also eat badly as a vegan as you can eat badly as a meat-eater, focussing on processed foods. A lot of people have asked me what I eat, and what a typical day of eating might look like. I like to eat everything in moderation, generally eating healthily but allowing myself to eat whatever I want. We cook a lot at home but also eat out, sometimes eating vegan junk food such as burgers and fries, or going to our favourite vegan, Japanese, Thai or Indian restaurants.
Prepare for another onslaught of information, below, but hopefully structured in a way that is more helpful than overwhelming. I am more than happy for people to get in touch with questions about going vegan.
What to eat?
Here are some UK-focused recommendations for how to make vegan food choices.
What might I eat in a typical day? No day is typical but some ideas for meals:
Breakfast
A few suggestions:
Banana Cinnamon Smoothie
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp almond butter or peanut butter
1 tsp maca powder
1 tablespoon vanilla form protein powder (optional)
200 ml almond milk
1 tsp cinnamon
Blend until smooth and enjoy with cocoa nibs on top.
Note: you can adapt this, adding frozen strawberries or cherries, cocoa powder, chia seeds, ground flax seeds, spirulina or whatever you want or need on a particular day. You can throw in a date or two to make it sweeter. I tend to have this before doing yoga in the early morning. I sometimes also make a smoothie bowl with red fruits and top with sliced fruit, granola, cocoa nibs.
*
Porridge
I make porridge using about 30g gluten free oats with 100 ml water, 100 ml almond milk and add a little salt. I cook it on a medium/low heat on the stove, until creamy.
Some topping suggestions:
Sour cherry and almond: I cook down frozen cherries and serve with almond butter.
Poached pear (cooked with cinnamon) and creme fraiche and ground flax seed.
Sliced banana and vegan hazelnut spread
Cereal: many cereals are vegan. I don’t eat cereal often but sometimes have Jordan’s Country Crisp. It’s nice with almond milk.
Toast: Most bread is vegan. Sometimes I’ll have sourdough bread with naturli and jam or almond butter or mashed avocado or scrambled tofu. If you like the taste of egg (I don’t!) you can add some kala namak, or black salt, which tastes just like it, and a bit of turmeric to give it that yolky colour.
Cooked breakfast: I rarely eat this but there are so many options for vegan sausages, vegan hash browns; you can serve with scrambled tofu, baked beans (Heinz or a fancier version like suma organics), mushrooms cooked with garlic and parsley, and a little salt; sliced or mashed avocado. You can also make a breakfast burrito. Whatever you like!
Pancakes: Very rarely I like to make pancakes. This recipe is incredible. Top with maple syrup and more sliced bananas or blueberry compote, if you like.
Snacks
I might have oatcakes with vegan butter or almond butter or hummus. A bit of dark chocolate. A smoothie. Some nuts. Fruit. Seaweed. Tortilla chips with guacamole. A turmeric latte or hot chocolate. Or a homemade or shop-bought cake or biscuit with good coffee or tea. We sometimes make these vegan madeleines and banana bread.
Puddings
As someone with a sweet tooth, I do eat pudding a lot. A few easy homemade puddings include:
-Fruit crumble with custard
-Poached pears cooked in wine with cinnamon and brown sugar, served with vegan creme fraiche.
-Shop bought vegan ice cream (e.g. Booja Booja).
-Fruit
-Rice pudding. Here’s a good recipe.
-Thai banana in coconut milk
-Mango sticky rice
There are also a growing number of prepared vegan puddings available in supermarkets.
Lunch and Dinner
I like to base meals around whole foods. I eat a lot of Asian food, naturally better for vegans than Northern European cuisine. Think: Thai curries, Indian curries, Indonesian food, Korean stews, with lots of vegetables and tofu or tempeh; noodle dishes such as Pad Thai with cashews and flavoured with tamarind. I might sometimes eat a hearty stew such as this one topped with chopped coriander and lemon juice. I might make a chickpea pancake and fill it with veganzola and cooked mushrooms and served with a big salad. When looking to eat frugally, I often make red lentil Dahl and serve with brown rice and topped with coconut yoghurt, or a hearty minestrone soup with chopped vegetables such as celery and carrot, pasta and beans. This can be made into a Mexican soup by blending flavoursome chillis with the broth and favouring black beans and pinto beans and serving with corn tortillas or tacos and topping it with avocado. I sometimes eat pasta with pesto or a homemade or shop bought tomato sauce; I mix things up by sometimes cooking edamame pasta which is very high in protein. I sometimes have broth-based ramen or Vietnamese pho, paired noodles, tofu, mushrooms, and other veggies. In summer I might have a big salad with avocado, toasted nuts, marinaded or smoked tofu or vegan cheese, olives, and leaves, dressed with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
Some brilliant vegan recipe blogs/books I have tried and tested:
Vegan Richa - Mainly vegan Indian cuisine
Dora’s Table (Mexican cuisine)
Dairy replacements
Butter? Naturli is incredible and made of coconut oil and shea butter. Mouse’s Favourite is also nice. You can also have fun experimenting using other oils and spreads such omega-3-rich rapeseed oil, mashed avocado and seed butters.
Cheese? To begin with, I recommend going cold turkey on cheese. It contains casein, an addictive protein. Similar unami and savoury tastes can be found in: Hummus (homemade or shop bought); miso paste (you can make soups or use as a marinade for tofu); smoked tofu with sauce/seasoning. With a long time away from cheese, the thought of it is honestly not appealing. When you are over cheese, it is well worth trying one of the incredible cheese replacements now on offer from artisan makers. La Fauxmagerie delivers nationwide and has a UK shop. They sell incredible cultured cheese, including veined Veganzola with a roquefort culture, shamambert and vegan brie which are incredible. Note: these are more expensive than most cheeses available in supermarkets, but they are not subsidised like the dairy industry, they are small-scale and often made with almonds or cashews, making for a nutritionally rich as well as delicious food. Similar offerings are available from local Edinburgh deli Black Rabbit. Supermarket options are a little less inspiring at present, cheese there bearing more resemblance to that plastic-like American cheese. But it’s getting better: Boursin has just released a vegan variety, available soon. Many people like Applewood’s smoked cheese.
Milk Many people drink milk daily, once hailed as a health food after a huge marketing campaign, the claims of which are now being put into question. Now a wide range of vegan milk alternatives are available. I like soya milk (bonsoy) and almond milk (rude health) but many prefer the taste of oat milk, such as Oatly or Minor Figures, which goes well in coffee and doesn’t curdle. There’s also hemp milk, sprouted pea milk, rice milk, and a plethora of other options. I like to mix it up with means my diet is more varied and hopefully more nourishing than it was pre-veganism. I can usually intuit whether I need more protein or something sweeter. You can also make nut milk or hemp milk at home with a nut bag and a good blender.
Yoghurt For me it took a while to get into vegan yoghurt, but now I love co yo! I sometimes have it with fruit or put it in a smoothie. There are also soya, almond and cashew yoghurts widely available in supermarkets and health food shops.
Eggs
This is a hard one for me as I never liked eggs. As mentioned earlier, scrambled tofu with turmeric and black salt will probably satisfy any cravings, without the cholesterol and chance of accidentally eating a chicken fetus. Here’s a recipe. You can make a good omelette or frittata out of chickpea flour (also known as gram flour).
Meat
Even harder, I admit I have never eaten meat thus do not know what it tastes like. I have however eaten (and despise!) impossible burgers and the beyond meat burger, which my husband says taste just like a McDonald’s burger. The only meat substitute I’ve ever really liked is at Temple of Seitan in London (though they sell to BrewDog pubs around the country). I like the fried seitan smothered with sauce. I don’t think I need to recommend much here; supermarket aisles are now brimming with meat alternatives for you to try. With time, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your taste for it and instead opt for a good bean burger or tofu steak.
Convenience foods
Ready Meals. Most supermarkets now have vegan ready meal ranges, including Tesco (Wicked Kitchen), M&S (Plant-Based Kitchen), and Waitrose. The vegan food aisle is growing larger in every shop. Vegan ravioli can now be found in most supermarkets. Amy’s Kitchen is an old-school ready meal company which offers many vegan foods including soups, frozen vegan lasagna and vegan burritos. I could list alternatives I have tried or seen endlessly, honestly, there is now so much choice and it keeps increasing.
Pre-made cakes and biscuits. These offerings are growing regularly too. Check out the free-from section and the cake section to see what they have. A few easy to find options include:
-Plenty of accidentally vegan options. In the dark ages of veganism, when it was still a socially unacceptable lifestyle, many of us were glad to find accidentally vegan items that we didn’t expect to be vegan—there are many more than you’d expect! A few highlights: Co-Op filled donuts (custard or jam); jammy dodgers; hobnobs; digestive biscuits; bourbon biscuits; speculoos (the biscuits and the spread; many packaged baked goods including some mince pies, hot cross buns and iced buns (always check ingredients—it will vary between shops and brands).
-the entire Lazy Day’s range (also gluten free, they offer chocolate tiffins, Millionaire’s shortbread, ginger biscuits, among others).
-Oggs cakes (I have seen these in Waitrose and Co Op) https://www.loveoggs.com/cakes/
Chocolate and sweets
-Candy Kittens (these do not contain gelatine, unlike normal sweets, which is obtained from pig or cow bones or eyeballs).
-Love Raw Bar: it tastes just like kinder bueno.
-Om Bar.
Eating Out
When I was a child, vegetarian options in restaurants were pretty poor. Sometimes I’d be told the chef could make me anything and then when I made a suggestion I’d get a glum look and be told they could make me an omelette. These days are diminishing, thankfully, and more and more vegan options are available.
Happy Cow is your friend for finding new food in your city, and for traveling; it’s an app and website with listings for vegan options in different cities and different countries.
Basically, in the UK, vegan food can be found almost everywhere.
Chain restaurants Most chains now have vegan options. 50% of Wagamama’s menu is now vegan. BrewDog has a huge vegan menu including vegan fried chicken from London’s Temple of Seitan and they offer 2-for-1 on vegan mains on Mondays. All pizza delivery services I have seen now offer at least one vegan pizza. Dishoom has a vegan menu and currently has restaurants in London and Edinburgh. Pho Cafe has plenty of marked vegan options. Gregs now offered vegan doughnuts and sausage rolls, among other things. Wahaca has a vegan menu. Crosstown always has a vegan range on offer. Rosa’s Thai has many vegan options. Even McDonalds, Burger King, and KFC now have vegan options. Pret a Manger now has several vegan sandwich and pastry options, and its veggie branches offer vegan croissants!
Vegan Chain restaurants: Loving Hut is an international chain, founded in Vietnam, that offers all vegan food. You can find a branch in Archway, London, as well as branches in different cities worldwide. I’ve tried it in Argentina, South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Netherlands, the UK and it has never disappointed me. Mildred’s is a London-based chain restaurant with great food.
Independent restaurants The situation is much the same in independent restaurants, most of which have caught up with the times and offer ample vegan options. A few of my local favourites include Harajuku Kitchen (an Edinburgh-based Japanese restaurant which has incredible vegan sushi and teriyaki tofu, among other things), Sen (a delicious omni restaurant with a good vegan menu—the lemongrass tofu is amazing and the portion sizes are generous). Kalpna is a vegetarian South Indian restaurant but has lots of vegan options. Argyle Place has a daily changing menu and lots of vegan options and the most incredible cinnamon vegan buns. In London, I love the Oliveira Kitchen (vegetarian except parmesan, which contains animal rennet, taken from the stomach lining of a cow) which has exceptional vegan food based on good produce.
Vegan restaurants
When I can I always prefer to eat at vegan restaurants, knowing their kitchens are free of meat and dairy contamination, and their owners are offering vegan food based on an ethical stance rather than to meet new market demands for plant-based food. A few of my favourites, though this list isn’t exhaustive. I have had incredible vegan food world-over and it always makes travelling more exciting, trying new foods made by vegan locals.
London
Pastan: incredible vegan pasta including ravioli, in Farringdon. The speculoos-filled doughnuts are stunning.
Cook Daily: Comforting, healthy and filling home-cooked vegan Pan-Asian food.
Wulf & Lamb: upmarket vegan eatery in Chelsea.
Unity Diner: Earthling Ed co-founded this diner, which serves up vegan fish and chips, burgers, cheesecake, milkshakes, and raises money for the Surge Sanctuary.
Palm Greens: Simply the best salad in the world, and food inspired by Mexican and Indonesian flavours. Find it in London Fields. There’s a cool interior with views of the city and an outdoor terrace.
Edinburgh
Holy Cow Lounge: Beautiful space in the Printmaker’s building with lots of light. Incredible Reuben sandwich and bean burgers, all on homemade bread or buns, and great cakes. Dalry/Fountainbridge.
Beetroot Sauvage: Wholesome and healthy food with offerings such as homemade vegan halloumi and harrisa salad and chili sin carne, as well as comfort foods like macaroni cheese, french toast, waffles and pancakes. Newington.
Considerit: Vegan doughnuts and chocolate in Newington! Good ice cream in summer.
Hummus: Incredible vegan lebanese food in Morningside. The falafel wrap is unparalleled (note: they do offer a couple of non-vegan options so do ask for vegan).
Harmonium: Good pub food with great vegan fish and chips, burgers and indulgent puddings.
VGN Bakery: a stockist rather than a restaurant, they make the most delectable vegan baked goods and stock them at The Source Coffe and the Milkman, among other places.
Beyond food
Veganism is about being conscientious of all things we consume, not just the things we eat. It is a philosophy, after all, not a diet.
Alternatives to leather shoes/wallets/belts:
Most shoe shops now have good vegan options.
Keeping warm
Wool It’s a personal decision regarding whether you want to hold onto leather and wool you have already, or replace it, or whether you’re open to recycled leather/pre-owned leather or wool. There are some good alternative fabrics such as soy cashmere, bamboo, hemp and cotton, as well as synthetic materials which tend to be cheaper.
Down Here’s a good list!
Taking on an intersectional lens
Remembering that all exploitation is interlinked in a web of capitalism. Veganism isn’t just caring about not eating animals, but reducing the harm caused to them in other ways such as being kept captive in zoos, vivisection, trophy hunting, etc. Read more about abolitionism here. It is also not just about other animals, it is caring about the plight of other people too, those in the global south, future generations, workers who have to do the work we don’t want to. Carnism is also deeply interwoven with patriarchal values, as Carol J. Adams conveys in her book The Sexual Politics of Meat.
Being of service to the wider community
Ahimsa, and veganism, can entail not only a passive rejection of food or garments procured through a system of violence; it can include an activist opposition to it. This often entails getting involved with grassroots organizations, campaigning for a better world; it can be volunteering with animal sanctuaries or campaign groups and fundraising for them, actively trying to raise awareness about the impact of the meat and dairy industry, and other exploitative industries, or speaking out against injustice/showing solidarity to whatever demographic is disempowered. Of course, ahimsa also means being kind to oneself; we aren’t perfect. We all, as Jains have long known, cause suffering just by our very existence. But we do have a choice to minimise it, knowing every life counts. We can change our little corner of the world. Also, maybe that ripple becomes a wave and we can change the larger world, in turn making choices that better reflect what we authentically think and feel—choices that make us ever more interconnected to the others with whom we share this strange planet.
Win a copy of Cunning Folk Magazine
Ready to make the switch? I am doing a giveaway (totally based on trust) of Cunning Folk Magazine, offering 5 copies from our archives (it could be the 1st, 2nd or 3rd issue) to 5 people who try veganism this Veganuary. All you need to do is let me know via email or an IG direct message and share a post about trying Veganuary by 1st January 2022.
In January 2022, I will graduate from Meadowlark’s 200-hr teacher training programme. Upon graduating, I will offer accessible, modified ashtanga-inspired classes focussed on consent and self-acceptance, as well as vinyasa and restorative classes, and classes for writers. Sign up to my newsletter to receive updates.