Posts Tagged ‘yoga for weight loss’

Hatha Yoga for Weight Loss – True or False

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

There are many myths that are spread to encourage people to consume a product or sign up for a service. Is losing weight as a result of taking Hatha Yoga classes a fact or pure marketing fiction? Let’s look deeper at this issue to see if Hatha Yoga helps people lose weight.

Losing weight, and keeping it off, has never been easy. There are many products, diets, and exercise programs that promise you fantastic results. Yet, it is a proven fact that the best dietary, and behavioral changes often result with less than optimal results. Many people point to the study of Yoga for weight loss at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

The results were promising. It is a shame that there have not been more publicized studies about the results of practicing Hatha Yoga and the ability to control weight. In truth, this study left many doctors and weight loss experts baffled that Yoga was considered a factor in weight loss, weight prevention, or weight control.

One study does not tell the whole story. Science and medicine constantly scramble for more studies; yet, there are no studies getting publicity at this time. This is curious because Yoga classes, and the practice, itself, are far less expensive than the many diets, drugs, and fitness equipment that are constantly advertised to be effective for controlling one’s weight.

With a large portion of the world population in middle age, the demand for products and services, that helps people control or reduces weight, is the highest it has ever been. With middle age, the body becomes much less efficient at burning calories. This is the primary reason why there is such demand for a solution. There are also other age groups, who are concerned with controlling or preventing weight gain.

Hatha Yoga was not created as a weight-reducing exercise program. Why would the practice of Hatha Yoga help people control their body weight? One factor, not considered in any Yoga-for-weight-loss study, is that Yoga is a lifestyle. All forms of Yoga, whether they be physically-oriented, or not, would make a practitioner mindful of dietary habits.

Hatha Yoga, and its many sub-styles, are often considered physical, health-maintenance programs. This is not completely an accurate view of what Hatha Yoga is, but it is the general public’s perception. For the sake of argument, let’s think of the most physically-oriented style of Yoga that we know of, and consider the amount of calories burned in one hour. For a student to have optimum calorie burning results, he or she would have to practice two hours per day, every day of the week. Therefore, it is not actually the burning of calories that is the reason why Hatha Yoga has helped people control their weight.

In this world today, it seems everyone complains about stress. We know that stress causes people to eat too much. If we have occupations that are not physically demanding, but stressful, and we don’t burn calories as a result of our work, we have a recipe for weight gain. Every form of Yoga helps its practitioners manage daily stress.

In summary, Hatha Yoga has many aspects and practices. It would seem they all come together to help a person live a healthier lifestyle. The combination of all these factors should help each of us manage our weight, even though middle-aged years.

© Copyright 2010 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Yoga for Weight Loss

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

By Stephenie Zagorski

Yoga, meaning union, is an incredible system unifying the body and mind through breath. It is the blend of specific postures (asanas) for your body while focusing your mind with breathing techniques. Filled with simple movements, some pay attention to balance while others invite one to move about with the sounds and sights in the atmosphere creating a flow. Yoga serves both individually and universally having no expectations or comparisons, rather that you be honest with yourself.  This art of personal discipline helps to connect to one’s roots.

Ensuring all parts are recognized, respected and healthy. Yoga naturally calms each component of a person and encourages a tranquil state. Capturing the flow of breath, good intentions are felt by the most important person in the room…you!

The loyalty of daily yoga as a general overall health aid is ideal.  However, for this composition the focus will be on weight loss as the end result. Although it is primarily a physical goal of the outside body, take into consideration the mind reins the approval and overall satisfaction of oneself.

Yoga’s postures help to build lean muscle which is a healthy long-term weight loss solution versus a strictly cardio regiment. Examples include The Eagle Posture. In this posture the benefits are on the abdominal muscles and internal organs, as well on the sex glands. Warrior’s posture helps to strengthen the legs and hips while firming the muscles of one’s back, chest and arms, not to forget toning your nervous system. The classic Wheelbarrow Posture stimulates circulation and improves posture promoting the toning of the arms, shoulders, back, legs and feet.

Moving into the triangle pose, this posture removes superfluous fat from the waistline and expands your chest while stretching your upper body. All the while, your spinal nerves are nourished. Twisting postures are slowly controlled by one’s breath and a twisting motion from right to center, then left. Twists help to release toxins from the kidneys and aid in digestion.

The last posture of all practice sessions is Savasana or Corpse Pose. Lying on your back with hands and legs limp at your side. A towel or blanket is placed under one’s knees or neck for added comfort. This lets the body and mind soak up all the benefits that the practice provided, and rewarding it with much desired revitalization.  Overall, these postures are clear examples of the added effects of yoga. Though each stretch feels good, they also improve one’s inner being.

Next, nutritionally, Yogis eat a natural diet consisting of fruits, legumes vegetables and water. Some decide to be vegan, while others will incorporate protein with animal meat. It is a personal decision along with respecting one’s personal and cultural beliefs. Yoga next to a natural diet balances brilliantly. Together they provide the desired nourishment for the body to perform well and the ease of digesting natural foods. This harmony creates a smooth current for the body to flow with simplicity and efficiency.

Yoga’s relationship with weight loss is not about losing anything, rather gaining the natural state of the body. The postures and stretches support individual goals in a compassionate way as opposed to more competitive health exercises. Yoga maintains the minds focus on the end purpose, yet appreciating the journey that yoga keeps a priority. This in particular supports the theory of “Yoga as a system of techniques and disciplines to reach the end goal.” in this case, weight loss (The complete Yoga Book, James Hewitt, pg 1).

In conclusion, yoga serves one’s intentions clearly within the journey in all areas of one’s life, including weight loss. When you begin any regiment with the end goal being weight loss, be mindful that personal discipline is important, physical effort is a must and also the much-needed balance of relaxation is essential. Consider the all around transformation for a better lifestyle rather than only a physical change.

© Copyright 2010 – Stephenie Zagorski

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Yoga for Weight Loss – Is it a Big Scam?

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Yoga - pigeon poseBy Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Could it be possible that Yoga for weight loss is just a marketing strategy?  How could Yoga help you burn sufficient calories to lose weight?  Is the public being taken for a “sleigh ride,” with a holistic approach to weight control?  Let’s take a deeper look and get to the bottom of an issue that has puzzled researchers.

1. Could it be possible that Yoga for weight loss is just a marketing strategy? To be honest, anything is possible, when it comes down to marketing services and products.  Why should Yoga be different?  The most common style of Yoga, taught outside of India, is Hatha and its many sub-styles.

On the surface, Hatha Yoga practice doesn’t seem like it would burn the necessary calories to lose weight – let alone control it.  Hatha Yoga was not created to be a solution for an inactive population that suffers systematic complications from obesity.  When Yoga, in its physical form, came about – people still performed their fair share of physical labor.

Therefore, it is possible that exaggerated claims could happen, but Yoga is a great addition to a completely healthy lifestyle.  It’s not the calories burned on the mat, as much as the reinforced behavior from eating right and performing other beneficial physical activities throughout the day.

2. How could Yoga help you burn sufficient calories to lose weight?  Every time this subject is brought up, Yogis from everywhere refer to the 2005 study conducted by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. 

With the aid of funding from the National Cancer Institute, medical researcher and Yoga practitioner, Alan Kristal, performed a medical study on the weight reducing effects of Yoga.  The findings were positive, for those who feel that Yoga is a good adjunct to a weight control strategy.

Yet, science and medicine do not come to conclusions on the basis of one study, and questions about the calorie burning properties of Yoga practice abound.  Even, if you have the temperature of a room increased to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and run through faster sequences of postures, physical Yoga practice is still low-impact movement.

Claims about calories burned can range from 200 to 650 calories per hour, depending on the sequence of movements and the temperature of the room.  One snack could easily surpass the number of calories burned, so there is more to this mystery than calories burned.

Long-term Yoga practice opens an awareness that runs contrary to unconscious eating.  In other words: If you are conscious of what you eat, you will consume better food, and you will consume less, during the day.

3. Is the public being taken for a “sleigh ride” with a holistic approach to weight control?  Actually, the answer is “no.”  Weight control is not easy, especially during middle age, but Hatha Yoga does have solutions in the Yoga diet, postures, and living a healthy lifestyle.  The problem is: The public demands a magic bullet for weight loss; namely, pills that will temporarily reduce weight, but can have serious side effects and even cause death.

Yoga is part of a logical solution toward managing body weight.  Eating less, wise eating choices, drinking clean water, walking, weight resistance, and other physical activities are also part of the solution.  One point to consider about the intake of calories is sugar, or salt, hidden in drinks and processed food.

Yoga practice alone will help manage weight, but the practice of living healthy must be with us throughout the day.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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