Yoga teacher Marlien Wright is a fan of the flexitarian diet, which is as balanced as her warrior poses. A mixture of plant-based eating with superfoods plus light meat, fish and dairy is a holistic food plan, she says.A nutritional therapy coach and yoga-retreat facilitator, Wright has studied both movement and wellness through nutrition.Her recently published cookbook, The Yoga Kitchen (Jacana, R330) is a collection of the amateur cooks' 100 easy superfood recipes as well as guide on the basics of eating well.The recipes are gluten-, grain- and dairy-free, and based on the "food combining" principles which promote good digestion and nutrient absorption, weight loss and an alkaline body.mini_story_image_hleft1"I started cooking for people who would come to me for weekend yoga retreats. It was really what worked best for me and for practising yoga. I started to get really wonderful feedback about the meals, which is where the idea for the book comes from," says Wright, who lives in Swellendam, Western Cape.Her own lifestyle change came after working in London's frenetic fashion industry."In 2003, after a particularly difficult day, I was sitting outside a pub having lots of wine to destroy the stress, when I saw a sign for a Pilates studio," she says.It struck her how her lifestyle was not conducive to good health. She did her Pilates, then yoga-teacher training, which automatically led to healthy plant-based eating."I come from a traditional Afrikaans family, so this was unusual and I needed to experiment with it, to put a lot of flavour into the food so I could enjoy it," she says."I have a three- and seven-year-old so I don't have time to prepare complicated meals. We eat eggs in so many ways; they are a wonderful ingredient for their nutritional value and are easy to cook," she says.Her purpose is to get people to make conscious decisions on how to nourish themselves. "It is not about dieting, but leaving out junk, fast foods. You can prepare from scratch in the same time as it takes to buy something."She does not shun wheat, but encourages good-quality pasta and sourdough bread."You will find that you have more energy, you feel better, your skin improves and you sleep better when you eat consciously," says Wright.Try a Butternut & kale 'chip' salad recipe from The Yoga Kitchen...