Today we have a great guest post from a friend of mine over at How To Lose Weight Quickly… I know I don’t often do guest posts but I was excited to do it to see from a Yoga guru’s point of mind!
Losing Weight With Yoga
Yoga is well known for the many benefits it brings to health and wellness. What many people wonder is whether yoga can help you lose weight? The answer to this question is definitely YES; by practicing some types of yoga you can lose weight. Let’s see below how yoga can assist your weight loss efforts and what you can do to get the most of your yoga sessions.
Yoga can relax your body and mind, can help you get rid of stress and can make you stronger both physically and mentally. These are also some of the essential ingredients of weight loss: relaxed mind, willpower, patience and a physically strong body. Of course there are some dependencies on how yoga will help you lose weight and these depend on the type of yoga and on the frequency you practice it.
Losing weight is about eating less and doing more cardio exercises. Cardio exercises raise your heart rate and your body gets into a mode of burning calories because it needs more energy to cope with the extra requirements. Some types of yoga (ashtanga, power yoga, Vinyasa) are able to do that for you.
Get Your Yoga On
The form of exercise is such that your heart rate is increased and the burning process is triggered. The frequency and duration of yoga sessions is also important. If you are planning to concentrate your weight loss efforts on yoga alone then you need to practice for 90 minutes at least 3-4 times per week. This is more time than any other cardio training but it is necessary so that you get some good results. You can of course combine your yoga sessions with other forms of exercise (running, walking, and weight lifting) and get even better and faster results.
The effectiveness of yoga in weight loss is not only theoretical but it has been proven by several studies. These studies (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research, 2005) showed that people who practice yoga regularly were able to lose weight easier than people who did not do yoga. In fact the numbers were amazing as the ‘yoga people’ lost a lot more pounds while those that did not practice yoga gained more weight in the same period.
So, if you are convinced that yoga can do something good for your weight problem, the following tips can help you get the most from your sessions:
1. The main focus of yoga is the internal experience and for better performance you can practice your sessions is a room with mirrors so that you can watch yourself and understand your body.
2. Enjoy the exercise and feel every movement. Yoga can help you feel your body better and every movement you do is to that direction. Try to stay focus and with a clear mind while exercising.
3. Some yoga poses are more difficult to perform than others. During your session try to spot those poses and concentrate on them because these can give you better weight loss results than the ‘easy’ exercises.
4. Don’t overdo it. Do not try to push yourself too hard especially at the beginning. Make sure that you get enough time to rest between sessions and as you become more experienced you can increase both the duration and frequency of the sessions.
5. If you are new to the yoga world then you better start with a professional yoga trainer. This will give you the basics and later you can continue on your own or with the help of a video.
