Yoga’s Secret
Like so many things in life, the manner in which yoga promotes weight loss is crazy and wonderful. The scientific secrets behind yoga’s uncanny ability to control weight gain are subtly revealed in the Sanskrit root word “to unite.”
By joining the body and the mind, This is exactly what we focus on during our 200 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh, where yoga provides the physical benefits of exercise while soothing the emotions and breaking down the mental barriers that make it difficult to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The Inner and Outer Workings
Yoga is an ancient discipline, yet scientists are just beginning to understand how it works. From the outside, it’s easy to see that most yogis and yoginis have svelte bodies and muscles made of iron, but what’s on the inside also counts. People who practice yoga are famously cool-headed, unflappable and stress-free.
This inner peace and calm that yoga fosters is the secret behind its ability to transform.
On average, yoga burns anywhere from 180 to 360 calories per hour depending on the style and intensity. For men, the expenditure is slightly higher. Skeptics say that you’re better off walking your dog briskly or cleaning the gutters. After a tough yoga session, you probably won’t huff and puff.
That’s exactly why yoga’s immense benefits stump scientists. The big question is how can a barely aerobic activity help people lose more weight than step aerobics, kick-boxing and intensive cardiovascular workouts?
The Physiology
Yoga is a miracle worker because it turns off the bad hormones that make us feel stressed out and stimulates the ones that make us feel good. A good yoga practice alters involuntary responses that are controlled by the autonomic nervous system. This includes breathing, hormone production, digestion and metabolism.
The frantic mile-a-minute pace of daily life tells the body to generate adrenaline and the fight-or-flight hormones that make us feel anxious and stressed. Then, we partake in stress-induced binge eating followed by an overload of guilt for giving in to our cravings. Yoga stops this craziness.
Studies show that yoga changes the structure of the brain and enlarges stress-regulating sections of the hippocampus and parts of the superior parietal cortex that govern concentration. A body that isn’t stressed doesn’t generate as much cortisol, a nasty hormone that tells fat to stick to the belly.
Yoga also helps increase insulin sensitivity. This makes the body turn food into energy instead of fat. In addition to arresting the padding, it is easier to lose weight.
Mental Fortitude
Weight loss is a mental game. In the battle against the bulge, being in tune with your behaviors and emotions is the biggest asset. Psychologists agree. One important study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle assessed 15,000 adults in the 45 to 55 age group.
As you know, this is when your metabolism starts to slump. People who didn’t practice yoga during this important time gained about 14 pounds. Those who practiced yoga at least once every week lost 5 pounds. The difference between losing a little and gaining a lot is nearly 20 pounds.
You don’t have to do a power-packed ashtanga yoga routine or sweat your eyes out in a Bikram yoga studio to reap the benefits. Even the mildest, gentlest restorative forms are beneficial. Plus, these are more accessible for people who might be overweight, have a poor sense of balance or don’t have the confidence to try one of the more challenging forms.
Of course, working out before your routine or increasing the pace of the flow will boost your metabolism as well. Weight loss can be stress-free. With yoga, it is. Roll out your mat, and be inspired to drop the pounds.
In Conclusion
Yoga is good for weight loss. It works, it’s not hard on the body (like a marathon). Measure it and test for yourself.
Start your 500 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh and see if you lose any weight loss
