Interview: Tokyo-Based Yoga Teacher Em Bettinger Talks about Raw Food and Veganism in Japan

Interview by Dylan Robertson.
Edited by William Bolt.

Em Bettinger is a popular Tokyo-based yoga instructor known for her classes at Sun & Moon Yoga and KAIS International School. She is also an expert on raw food and veganism. While these dietary practices are commonplace among the yoga communities in the US and Europe, they are still quite new to many here in Japan. Em will soon be offering an innovative program that will help people transition into a raw vegan lifestyle, and so I was very interested to learn more.

When did you first get into raw food and veganism?

I think it is easier if we go back to the beginning, when I turned vegetarian around the age of eleven or twelve. It was for moral reasons; I simply didn’t understand why I would eat a creature I loved. I was a vegetarian for around twenty-one years. As I got deeper into my yoga, changes started to transpire away from the mat, as they do for most people. The natural step for me was to go vegan. This way of lifestyle had been in the back of my mind for a couple of years, so I thought, “Okay, I’ll just play around with the vegan thing for a while.” I lost more weight, felt lighter, and the asthma that I had developed in Tokyo disappeared. I’m always one to take a step further and push boundaries, which led me to the The Garden Diet website. I started to absorb myself in all this raw food knowledge and thought. It was if I’d had an epiphany. I’ve been raw vegan for three or four years, and it’s pretty easy. I feel if you can do it in Japan, you can do it anywhere.

What do you feel is the biggest misconception about the raw food lifestyle?

That it’s boring; people think it’s just salad. That, and lack of calories and nutrition. I can remember when I went vegetarian all those years ago and people would ask in shock (and disgust) why I was vegetarian, and did I just munch on carrots? Raw veganism really is the new vegetarianism. Something out of the norm is always going to be misunderstood.

Are there many restaurants offering this kind of food at all in Japan? Are there any?

Manna in Daikanyama sells raw vegan desserts, all made by Andi and Angie Wolfgang.

How did you first get started with what you’re doing now?

I wanted to integrate my yoga with another area of health and wellness. A couple of years ago, I attended one of Leza Lowitz’s Abundance Courses at Sun & Moon Yoga, and out of that came the goal of creating a wellness plan, specializing in the raw food lifestyle for those who are or have suffered with eating disorders. This is something very close to my heart. I recognized a lot of work was needed and spent a long time searching online for the right school and course. Last year, my search led me to a correspondence course in New York. As we speak, I am training to be a Holistic Health Counselor. I am still interested in working towards healing those who suffer with eating disorders, but will be working with many types of clients.

What will your qualification allow you to do?

The programs I will offer will be on a one-on-one basis. It will be a six-month program comprising of two counseling sessions per month. I would like to stress that it isn’t just diet that will be discussed. Overall lifestyle is approached: work, relationships, spirituality. Two private yoga lessons a month will also be included in the program. I feel mixing holistic nutrition with yoga is a natural step and makes this program unique when compared to other diets or exercise regimens.
Although I am raw vegan, I recognize that this is not a lifestyle that will suit everyone. I will be advising on a wider scale of food choices, although I will be able to provide more specific advice on specialized vegetarian, vegan, and raw vegan lifestyles.
The key word is “integrate.” If changes are made in one area of life, this will ultimately have a domino effect in other areas. Positive changes unfold for the client organically.

To the average office worker, how can they bring raw veganism into their lifestyle?

I wouldn’t want to be too specific here, as it will depend on each person’s specific situation. To keep it simple, add a salad, a green smoothie, or natural juice to your day.

How is this all going to happen?

I graduate in September, but I am able to take on clients now. I also have plans for raw food workshops and am currently planning a six-week raw food course where I am asking people to commit to an 80 percent raw food diet. This was an idea given to me by a raw food teacher I studied with in Bali. It’s designed for six weeks, and food preparation will be covered. There will be workshops on the benefits of raw food, group counseling sessions, and yoga classes. Six weeks is needed to really feel the benefits of this approach to eating.

Do you mean a physical reaction or just in terms of just trying to figure it out, lifestyle-wise?

The body will go through a cleansing and purification process, both physically and emotionally. I’m wanting to set this up as a group program so the members will be able to support each other and create a small sense of community.

So the people can integrate it into their daily lives and it becomes sustainable.

Yes, anything is possible. If you want to make the changes, believe that you can, put the work in and all will fall into place. Yes, it will be a challenge at the beginning, but something new often is. As I mentioned before, adding a natural juice to your diet is something simple and the benefits of this new daily habit could make a huge impact on your well-being.

Why don’t we have juice bars in this country? Is it just the cost of the fruit or is it a cultural thing?

I dream of opening a juice bar here. There are some. Smooch at Ebisu Garden Place offers a good selection. It’s still a new concept. One reason might be the cost of the best appliances can be steep, and to get ones that come highly recommended you often have to order them from overseas.
I need to manifest my dream.

Back to the sessions, these will be one-on-one. Are you going to do it kind of at your home?

They can take place at the client’s home or my place. Some of the sessions may be focused on cooking or uncooking (raw), so a place with a kitchen will be required. Other sessions will be discussion based. The client’s comfort is of utmost importance.

When will you be ready to do this?

I can actually start seeing clients now. It starts off with an initial forty-five to fifty-minute interview, which is free. I send out a form—a health history. It covers your basic questions: age, weight, height. Then it goes into family related questions: parents’ health. And then it looks at your current diet, or the eating habits that you had as a child compared to the those that you have now, and then goals that you would like to look at. I send this health history out to a prospective client. They e-mail it back to me, and then we arrange a time to sit down and actually go through it. This is time to give the client time to talk, and open up about themselves. This opportunity for people to talk about themselves, people do not get the chance to do this often. I won’t be offering advice at this stage as it’s not about me talking, it’s about the client. At the end, we can discuss the program in more detail and if they are interested, they can sign up and I will work on tailoring the program for their needs.

What kind of pricing will this have?

The initial health history interview is free. The tailored program will consist of two counseling sessions per month plus two private yoga classes at a cost of ¥20,000. So the program would come to ¥120,000.

For more information on Em, raw food, veganism, and yoga, please Em’s website, www.em-yoga.com.