Thread by @Satyamshakti9

Interesting question: Almost every sadhu/baba/yogi meditates without anything on top, how do they manage mosquitoes? Whenever I’m practising in the forest, I get too many bites.
#meditation
#yoga

Diet is a big factor. If you eat very little sugar, little processed food, and mostly a very simple diet of roti, dal, some fruits and nuts, etc., like most sadhus/babas/yogis do, insects are much less attracted to your body. You smell and taste different.
#meditation
#yoga

This has been widely reported by many people practicing “primitive” diets and the like. It takes a while to cause this change though.
#meditation
#yoga

This is also one reason why many of them rub their bodies with ashes. Mosquitoes & most other insects hate the scent of ash, associating it with dangerous forest fires & the like, and are repelled by it. Even better, sit near an actual burning fire, as many sadhus do.
#yoga

Also, there are various herbal remedies that they use to protect themselves from insect bites and stings. Some of these are given in the Atharva Veda, in the Sanhitas of Ayurveda, and in various other Shastras, and many more are passed down orally.
#meditation
#yoga

Once you start getting into a deep Yogic state, your body’s metabolic functioning shifts. You sweat less, breathe less, emanate less body heat, etc. - all the ways that mosquitoes locate hosts. And if such an advanced yogi does get an occasional bite, it won’t bother him.
#yoga

If you want to meditate in forest, go ahead & wear clothes, use natural bug spray. You don’t have to emulate these intensely devoted specialists. They didn’t just walk into a forest & start doing what they’re doing; they learnt from a Guru, over many years.
Credit: Devala Rees