| Yoga can make you more flexible. Yoga can help you | | | | able to keep up with others. |
| relax. Yoga may make your mind sharper and give | | | | Second, yoga teaches you to respect your body. All |
| you better concentration. But can yoga be the key to | | | | of that stretching and balancing makes you more |
| unlocking weight loss? Yes, yoga can help you to | | | | aware of what your body can do and of how what |
| change your relationship with your body and unlock the | | | | you do affects your body and its ability to perform. |
| secret to losing and maintaining your weight. | | | | Once you've done yoga for a while and learn to enjoy |
| I've struggled my whole life with weight issues. I've | | | | the graceful stretches and the improved look and feel |
| done the Adkins diet, Weight Watchers, 7 day Fasts, | | | | of your muscles, you start to think about honoring your |
| and Dr. Ornish's extremely low fat diet. I've run my | | | | body by providing better fuel in the form of |
| body ragged around the track. I've pumped iron until | | | | wholesome foods instead of junk. If you yearn to |
| my biceps ached. I've done step aerobics, jazzercise, | | | | improve your yoga poses, you may be more |
| and bought just about every exercise video produced. | | | | motivated to lose weight; it's hard to do seated |
| I've tried it all. But it wasn't until I started doing yoga that | | | | forward bend and many other poses with a belly in |
| I found the key to lasting weight control. How did doing | | | | the way. |
| yoga bring about this ephiphany? Yoga leads to weight | | | | Finally, yoga teaches you to relax. In yoga, you learn to |
| loss and lasting weight control in three ways. | | | | use your breath to ease away stress and strain. You |
| First, yoga in and of itself is a workout. You are | | | | reduce anxiety, which can help you to lose weight in |
| moving and breathing and causing your metabolism to | | | | two ways. First, anxiety is one reason why many |
| be active. Obviously, you move faster and use | | | | people overeat in the first place. When anxious, they |
| muscles more in some types of yoga than in others. In | | | | seek out food for comfort. Yoga is a non-caloric |
| gentle or serenity yoga, the pace is slower but the | | | | healthy substitute. In addition, reducing stress and |
| poses might be held longer. In vinyasa flow or | | | | anxiety can reduce cortisol. Cortisol is a substance |
| ashtanga, the pace is quick but the poses are not held | | | | produced and needed by the body, but in a limited |
| as long. The pace and the length of the hold of the | | | | amount. Excess cortisol has been linked to weight gain, |
| poses impact the amount of cardio exercise and the | | | | especially around the middle of the body and cortisol |
| amount of weight-bearing exercise a particular yoga | | | | goes up when stress is high. By teaching you to let go |
| practice provides and thus influences the number of | | | | of stress and anxiety, yoga will help you keep cortisol |
| calories burned during the session. Multiple sun | | | | and your weight under control. |
| salutations raise your heart rate, but poses like | | | | Yoga has allowed me to unlock the key to permanent |
| extended side angle, three-point balance, and half-plank | | | | weight loss and control. My days of yo-yo dieting are |
| build muscle especially when held for longer periods of | | | | over. I have found a way to enjoy being physically |
| time. Sources estimate a calorie burn for an hour of | | | | active that makes me respect my body and treat it |
| yoga to range from 175 for hatha yoga to 450 or | | | | right by eating healthy foods and not loading up on |
| more for a vinyasa or ashtanga class, but I do not | | | | junk. Yoga helps me to jettison the stress of the day. |
| believe that these count estimates adequately account | | | | By keeping you moving and breathing mindfully, |
| for the movement/pose-holding differential in the styles | | | | teaching you to appreciate and respect your body, and |
| of yoga. I have found that all of the styles of yoga | | | | helping you to alleviate stress and anxiety, yoga can |
| adequately raise my heart rate and work my muscles | | | | help you to unlock the key to your weight loss as it |
| so that when I engage in other activities, I am fit and | | | | has mine. |