"It's been five to six years that I have been doing Iyengar Yoga. I love it because it is based on alignment of the body and is very good for your mental health, too. It is like meditation, it is a great stress reliever and promotes positive inflow, which I really enjoy. That's the main reason I do Iyengar yoga. The physical benefits are secondary," said the 43-year-old actress.

 

On the benefits of Iyenger Yoga, she added: "I feel really calm, it makes you really strong mentally. You can deal with anything. I keep travelling a lot and I don't like long flights. So, whenever I am taking a long flight like 10 hours, I get very stressed. And I have realised Iyengar Yoga really helps me. Also, it has helped me with my food cravings. I used to love sugar. Since I started doing Iyengar Yoga regularly, all the sugar cravings have gone away. The days I do my practice, I sleep more deeply. All these little things help me in my day to day life."

 

Mallika says she prefers not to subscribe to other forms of yoga. She feels the purpose of yoga is to go within yourself, which cannot be done through yoga forms that call for loud music. "Today there is one form of yoga which I call the fashion yoga. They play loud music and do yoga. That is not the real practice. The real practice is going within yourself. So, you should not do yoga with loud music and mirrors around, because that distracts to your senses. For me, Iyengar Yoga works the best," she said.

 

Along with yoga, Mallika is also serious about a healthy diet, which normally comprises homecooked food. The actress revealed that she strictly tries to follow a no-eating-outside rule most of the times and is fond of "ghar ka khana".

 

"I was always a vegetarian and for the last 10 years, I am a vegan. I don't even take dairy products. I follow a very simple diet, mostly 'ghar ka khana'. I feel it is the healthiest thing. I think what our grandparents used to eat was real food full of nutrition. Now there is so much pollution and pesticides, and the quality of food has gone down. So, we have to be careful about what we consume, nutrition-wise," Mallika said.

 

She added: "I eat a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, green juices and nuts. I prefer nuts for snacks. I strictly avoid gluten. People think wheat is very healthy but it is not. Gluten is very acidic for the body."