Many messages about losing weight focus on raising heart rate, training often and training hard in order to burn calories. This often leads people to dismiss yoga as too soft, too slow, too relaxing. The perception is that without sweat and grunt, yoga can’t possibly be of any value in weight loss.
Yoga is not about the grunt, although it can certainly raise your heart rate and make you sweat. It can also help build strength, balance and joint mobility. Most importantly however, yoga asana (postures) challenge you to move your body not just for movement’s sake, but as a stepping stone towards a steady mind.
When it comes to weight loss and weight management, a steady mind is your most powerful tool.
Some yoga postures are physically demanding, which can make the idea of practising yoga a little intimidating. However there is no need to include anything extreme in your yoga practise. You do not need to stand on your head to qualify as ‘practising yoga’. Every posture has value.
Each of us brings to the mat a unique set of beliefs, ideas and goals. Each of us brings to the mat a unique physical, mental and emotional state of being.
Start where you are, and over time, you will build a practise that is uniquely yours. Just like learning a language, it is built from the ground up, move by move, breath by breath. Improved strength, flexibility and control will come as a natural consequence of regular practise.
Yoga for weight loss: where do I start?
If your goal is to burn calories, consider a dynamic practise. This is often called Vinyasa, Vinyasa Flow, Flow or Slow Flow. The name may vary according to who is teaching and where, but it generally involves moving through a series of poses linked with the breath. Don’t worry about trying to ‘keep up’ with the other participants. Everyone in the class will be at different stages of their yoga journey, and once practise starts, they will be immersed in their own experience, not watching everyone else.
How often should I practise?
An effective, sustainable yoga practise is the one you actually do. That might be one posture a day, or 100! I often suggest to beginners or those returning to practise after a break to start with just one posture. If you can find a few minutes to do that one pose (or more) each day, even better.
Not sure which pose to start with? Try a supported posture such as ‘Legs up the wall‘ (Viparita Karani, or Waterfall if you are practising Yin) in which you lie on your back with legs are elevated, with a block or blanket placed under your sacrum, to support the hips and lower back. Aided by gravity, this posture boosts the flow of blood and lymph, and creates what is often described as a sense of weightlessness in the legs. This can be very soothing, particularly if done at the end of the day or just before bed. If you are required to sit in a chair for long periods (at a desk or in the car), I highly recommend taking a few moments to lie in this pose during your break. The effect can be quite restorative.
In summary, yes, yoga for weight loss can be a thing. It can help you lose weight, when part of a long term plan for wellbeing. Slowly and steadily, it will give support to both your body and your mind. Best of all, unlike the ‘miracle diet’ and ‘lose fat fast’ strategies we see all over social media, it is a sustainable, holistic and adaptable practise you can take with you wherever you go. For life.
Like a quick and simple way to bring more mindfulness to your everyday? Try this 🙂
