Lose Weight Trough Yoga

  In today's society carrying excess weight is becoming the norm rather than the exception.  Lifestyles are increasingly sedentary, people’s diet is becoming increasingly processed and fatty and food contains more and more calories, additives and preservatives.  Children prefer television over playing with their friends, which is perhaps a direct reflection on parents who prefer television over socializing or even making time for their children.  This only scratches the surface of the social move towards a sedentary and unhealthy society which is making more and more people fat. 

  Yoga is a discipline designed to make the body strong and flexible and enhance the overall health of the digestive system as well as the hormonal and circulatory systems.  It also assists us in controlling mental stress and achieving peace and clarity of mind.  Yoga also has strong spiritual benefits which will see you becoming more content with yourself and more comfortable with whom you are all aspects which will lead to emotional stability.  This mental component is often neglected in a physical approach to weight loss, but it is critical and should not be overlooked.  So called "Comfort food" is a frequent problem for people who yo-yo diet (rapidly lose and gain weight) and the ability to be happy with your health and who you are reduces the need for this.

  Yoga is based on deep and controlled breathing which is a method for enhancing our oxygen intake.  This allows oxygen to travel to the fat cells in our body and assist in their processing.  One has to ask given the benefits why more people don't practice Yoga.

  Many people think of Yoga as a passive or mystical discipline - something for hippies - not them.  This is a shame as Yoga improves the physical body as well as our mental health.  While it is practiced by a great many people in Eastern Populations only about 2% of the population in the United States has clicked on to the many benefits.

  Yoga considers all the aspects that contribute to obesity - not just the physical but also the mental and spiritual reasons behind them.  Regular Yoga is not only relaxing but it does bring the body back towards its ideal weight and at the same time enhance strength, flexibility and stamina.  Yoga nuts tend to end up slim, agile and efficient in everything they do and what's more it is suitable for people of all ages.

  A more active form of Yoga, Kundalini, was introduced to America in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan.  It is a more active form of Yoga combining different methods of breathing, meditation and movement to compensate for the fact the American population has been conditioned to see exercise as requiring sweating.

  Yoga can also be used to resist the temptation of snacking between meals.  Techniques learned from yoga can be used to suppress impulses such as that we think of as hunger between meals (if you eat proper meals you cannot be hungry between them - merely bored or restless). 

  Yoga is not just a method of losing weight, it is actually a method which restores a natural balance to our body and moves us towards our natural state.  This has an interesting consequence with weight.  It we are overweight then yes, regular Yoga will cause us to lose weight.  However if we are at our ideal weight we will not drop weight, and if we weight too little we will gain weight until we are at our biologically natural size.

Yoga as a Life Philosophy

  Yoga is different things to different people, so what it means to you will depend greatly on how you were introduced to it and how you enjoyed your initial experiences with it.  For some people Yoga is simply a method of exercising that ensures they have a healthy supple body.  For other people Yoga transcends a method of exercise and is a spiritual experience that allows them to find the balance and centering their lives need.  This type of Yoga comes closer to a life philosophy than any other.

  Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is often placed in this final type when assessing its place as a Yoga discipline.  It descends from a document known as Korunta Yoga which deals with the 8 spiritual movements which are described by Patanjali in Sutra Yoga.  Today most Yoga disciplines are directly descended from the descriptions of Yoga exercises in these documents, and so most forms of Yoga are variations of Ashtanga Vinyasi. 

  Getting a complete understanding of Ashtanga Yoga is important as its proponents treat it as more that a form of exercise.  While it's base is in physical movement it is suggested that its power in fact comes from the strength of spirit that is developed from regular and disciplined practice of the 8 stages of Yoga.  Through the eight stages of Yoga the body and mind become pure, and so they are seen as a purifying discipline. 

Furthermore the discipline of Ashtanga Vinyasa deals with a profound and deep way of relating to others.  The closest word to describe this aspect of the Yoga discipline is manners, but it really does go beyond that.  Yoga is a discipline of balance, and the physical balance required to complete many of the exercises should be mirrored by an internal balance or harmony of the soul.  It is said that a hyperactive person cannot be successful with Yoga and this is true on several levels.  Firstly they lack the discipline to sit calmly through the exercises, but they also lack the mental calm to focus wholly and completely on a single task.  Yoga requires deep concentrating on the simple act of breathing and feeling the breath brings life to different areas of your body.

  The power of Yoga is found in its combination of the physical strength and flexibility needed to complete movements and the mental discipline that is required to maintain them.  Yoga is not just a form of exercise but most often it is thought of as a form of meditation.  Meditating successfully with Yoga requires a pureness of thought and singularity of focus that is not found in most modern exercise programs.  It seeks to bring the body back into balance and focus on maintaining that balance.

  This aspect of Yoga is often misunderstood, but balance plays a huge role in Eastern Medicine and the purpose of Yoga and similar meditative techniques is often no more than to achieve and maintain the level of balance that keeps our bodies healthy.  Yoga teachers will often talk about oneness and inner harmony, and this can be misinterpreted by people who lack a holistic understanding of what Yoga seeks to achieve.  Simple the harmony that is achieved through Meditation and Yoga is a self-contentment or acceptance of oneself.  This shows that the first step to becoming completely happy and healthy is to be content with yourself and your life.

"Do You Know Your Yoga?"  The Quiz

This is a short quiz to see if the ideas you have about Yoga are correct.  Yoga is a very broad description that takes in a number of different types and styles so the questions and the explanations given for the answers are equally broad.

Question One:  What is Yoga?

A/ an Exercise Program.

B/ A Meditation Program.

C/ A Healing Program.

D/ All of the above.

  If you answered (D) then you get a tick.  Well done.  Yoga can be any of these things and often is all of them at once.  At its simplest level it is an exercise program which, when practiced regularly will increase strength and flexibility in the body.  Because of the speed that positions are changed and the emphasis on static exercise many Yoga classes put an emphasis on breathing and directing energy and thought to different parts of the body.  This aspect of Yoga is where it most closely resembles a Meditation program, though exactly what meditation means in each person's individual case is going to be different depending on him or her.  Finally, Yoga is most definitely a form of healing.  It allows the increased flow of blood, which carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body, greatly accelerating the healing rate.  The stretching actions are also good for healing tissue injuries providing they are done to the right depth.  Overextending can lead to re-damaging an injury, so it's important to know your limits.  Yoga can also be a fantastic pre-emptive healing strategy and this is why prenatal yoga classes are so popular.  They prepare a women's body for childbirth and because of the strengthening of the specific muscles women who undergo prenatal Yoga find it much easier to recover and get back into shape after a birth.

Questions Two:  Yoga Exercises are________?

A/ Fast.

B/ Slow.

C/ Static.

D/ All of the above.

  Yoga is usually a static exercise regime so (C) is your answer here.  However an argument can be made for (B) because the movements between exercises are also part of the Yoga equation.  Often an exercise will involve a long slow stretch, gradually pushing a little further, but ultimately the stretch needs to be held for a certain amount of time to gain its full benefit.  Fast exercise programs are all about getting the heart and blood pumping, whereas Yoga is about releasing blockages and getting the blood flowing to all parts of the body.  This difference is quite important and a key element in the success and popularity of Yoga.

Question Three:  Do You Have to Do Yoga In Classes?

A/ Yes.

B/ No.

  The answer is no (B) - of course you don't.  Yoga is something that can be a fantastic group activity, but it doesn't need to be.  You are quite capable of doing Yoga sitting in your bedroom and no-one will ever know.  Other people go to the part to do Yoga in the sun with some friends.  Others will do Yoga in an airport between stopovers.  How and where you do Yoga is up to you.  What's fantastic is you don't need much room, and all it takes is a little time to work through your routine.  Also, if no-one sees you doing it, nobody is going to know, unlike going for a run you won't be panting like a dog or sweating like a big at the end of a session.