e're not just another grocery store. And we're not just another gourmet food shop. Integral Yoga is New York City's oldest and most well-respected vegetarian market. We provide whole foods for the whole person, and have served our customers for 30 years.
oga means living with the body, mind, and spirit in a harmonious union. Yoga recognizes all spiritual traditions as equally valid paths to the same goal of realizing our spiritual nature.
Integral Yoga Natural Foods seeks to provide our customers with the foods, supplements, and personal care products needed to maintain a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle.
We are committed to providing the highest possible service to all our customers in a spirit of friendliness and fairness and to creating a pleasant, community-oriented environment.
We will do all we can to fulfill the customers' need for natural products. We welcome customers' requests and suggestions for any way we can improve our service to them.
our philosophy
oth Integral Yoga Natural Foods and Integral Yoga Natural Vitamins embrace the teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda, a world-renowned yoga teacher and the founder of more than 40 Integral Yoga Institutes on six continents.
As taught by Sri Swamiji, Integral Yoga combines hatha yoga, breathing practices, meditation, and selfless service to create and maintain a healthy body, peaceful mind, and useful life. In the words of Sri Swamiji, "Food not only makes the body, it makes the mind. So always look for the most natural foods. Everything you take into your body should nourish you."
To help promote health and well-being, Sri Swamiji founded the Integral Yoga Institute of New York, which is next door to the food store. He has written several books on yoga, including Integral Yoga Hatha, To Know Yourself, and Beyond Words. Sri Swamiji influenced Dr. Michael Lerner, the creator of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. He also inspired Dr. Dean Ornish, whose landmark studies were the first to prove that lifestyle changes (a vegetarian diet combined with meditation, relaxation, psychosocial support, and moderate exercise) can reverse heart disease. The head of California's Preventative Medicine Research Institute and a leading author on alternative health, Dr. Ornish recently published the first research showing that lifestyle changes can also slow the progression of prostrate cancer.
As an advocate for peace, Sri Swamiji has met with Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and Mrs. Coretta Scott King. His awards include: the U Thant Peace Award; the United Nations' Juliet Hollister Interfaith Award; and the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award. His commitment to peace infuses everything we do.
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ounded in 1967, the Integral Yoga Institute of New York thrived under the guidance of Sri Swami Satchidananda, who helped hundreds of people discover hatha yoga and vegetarianism. To help meet his students' needs for affordable whole foods, Sri Swamiji founded Integral Yoga Natural Foods, which opened in 1972 on the ground floor of the Institute's 13th Street building. Staffed by volunteers and by institute residents who served there in exchange for room and board, this snug shop was a far cry from our modern-day store. "It looked like a Turkish bazaar," says Lucia Hamet, a long-time customer. "All the grains, beans, and vegetables were in barrels or bags on the floor."Though selection was limited, sales boomed. By 1979, customers were lining up outside the door to buy the best vegetarian food available in New York City. Since then, the Integral Yoga Institute has renovated the entire building to create the food shop's current home -a 2,200 -square-foot space adjoining the institute, with full-time employees, an enormous selection, and the newest advances in health and body care. We now offer:
More than 7,000 items in our produce, bulk,
body care, deli, cooler, freezer, and bakery
sections;
The Integral Yoga Natural Vitamins store, with
5,000 supplements, as well as books,
magazines, and housewares; and
Ever-changing products and services, like our
expanded raw food section and phone order
and delivery service.
Despite our success, we remain true to our original mission. With the motto "whole foods for the whole person," we strive to help our customers maintain good health -and, in many cases, improve it.
t's not just the mangoes and milk chocolate. Our 12,000 products aren't the only reasons that customers crowd our food and vitamin shops. They actually come for the crowd itself, for the sense of caring and community that makes them feel right at home.Many of our customers have been with us since we opened in 1972. More than 90 percent of our shoppers visit us at least once a week. We know their names. They know ours. We share outlandish recipes, outrageous jokes, and a serious commitment to natural foods.
Each day, we look forward to seeing our regulars: the retired magician who pulls candy from thin air; the "bandana man" who hands out free scarves; and the "milk lady" who schedules her visits in sync with dairy deliveries. We also look forward to making new friends when first-time shoppers stroll through our doors.
Our connection to the Integral Yoga Institute helps to create the "relaxed atmosphere" that our customers say they love. What other grocery store has people meditating on a wooden bench outside?
ri Swamiji, our beloved teacher, passed away August 19th, 2002 in Chennai (Madras), South India. He was 87 years old. His yogic example and teachings continue to be our guide and inspiration. For more information about Sri Swami Satchidananda and Integral Yoga, visit www.integralyogany.org
According to the Vegetarian Resource Group, famous vegetarians include: Paul McCartney (musician), Fred Rogers ("Mr. Rogers"), The B-52's (musical group), John Harvey Kellogg (cereal maker), Martina Navratilova (tennis player), Isaac Bashevis Singer (novelist), and George Bernard Shaw (playwright).t's hard not to let it get to our heads. Fans and admirers showered us with praise when we first opened 30 years ago. The standing ovation continues today. New York Magazine has repeatedly named Integral Yoga Natural Foods the "Best of New York." Zagat Marketplace Survey gives us higher ratings for quality than any other natural food shop in the city. More importantly, we've established a reputation that keeps customers coming back for more. But don't just take our word for it. Here's what critics have to say about our top-notch selection and service:"Athletes, nutritionists, and runners love this focused Villager, an old-time organic temple where they give it to you straight."
—Zagat Survey, New York City Marketplace
"Integral Yoga boasts a natural-foods store that is one of the best in the city."
—Time Out New York
Integral Yoga, with its calm, quirkily happy employees and superb organic produce section—mangoes, bok choy, red chard, mustard greens, bananas, and all manner of tubers—gets our vote."
—New York Magazine
"I shop at Integral because the people there are willing to help. You ask them a question, and they always answer it. They're incredibly friendly, and that's what makes it such a pleasant experience."
—Miguel Mercado, customer for 12 years
"I ordered a mixed-vegetable juice . . . It was the most delicious food I'd ever tasted."
—TONY reporter Cathay Che
"From veggie chips to whole grains by the pound, you"ll discover a great selection of healthy foods here. The produce is gorgeous (and organic, of course) and the variety is impressive."
—NewYork Citisearch.com
