When you think of yoga, your mind goes to thoughts of spiritual wellness and flexibility, but weight loss? Not so much. However, according to fitness expert Lori Hall Steele, ‘Yoga may not conjure up the same images of a calorie-burning, sweat-inducing workout as bootcamp workouts or cardio dance-party routines. But don’t be fooled by yoga’s deep breathing and sometimes-slow poses: Doctors and personal training experts say it can seriously trim and tone your body — and also work on your mind and spirit to help you get healthier overall.’ So how can yoga help you to lose weight?
1. Burning Up Calories: ‘Calories burned during yoga vary widely — from 180 to 360 per hour — depending on the type of yoga you practice,’ notes Hall Steele. ‘Fitness director Guy Caracciolo at the Dedham Health and Athletic Complex in Dedham, Mass., places Vinyasa, Ashtanga and other forms of “power yoga” at the top, along with yoga fusion workouts that accelerate calorie burning by mixing it up with dance or kickboxing.’ While Big Apple Power Yoga owner Nanci Muriello in New York City agrees, and recommends power yoga for its weight-loss triple force of strength, flexibility and cardio, she points out that there’s a bigger benefit to yoga; you’re tuning in to your body. Muriello details, ‘Suddenly you actually get the signal that you are full or that a particular food doesn’t digest well, or you notice after you eat something that you feel amazing.’
2. Less is More: Yoga instructor and physician Baxter Bell, MD, comments, ‘It’s not necessarily the hardcore class that’s going to help.’ Hall Steele explains, ‘Ironically, gentle and restorative yoga can help with weight loss, by kicking on the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates breathing, digestion and hormones. As you jet through the day in fifth gear, your body is often in fight-or-flight mode, and high-octane hormones are circulating. By activating the parasympathetic nervous system, you’re stepping (gently) on your internal brakes, which lets everything take a rest: Hormones rebalance, injuries begin repairing, and digestion proceeds normally — all of which can aid weight loss.’
3. Tuning In: YogaTuneUp® creator Jill Miller, whose method headlines classes at Equinox Fitness Clubs, comments, ‘Practicing yoga helps to increase your sensitivity to your inner signals such as hunger and cravings. There are physical components to both of these sensations, but true hunger to feed our body’s basic needs is a totally different experience than craving foods that do not nourish us. Yoga helps to slow you down mentally, so you can learn to distinguish between the urge to eat and the emotional impulses that sometimes drive us to eat to quell our feelings. Yoga can help us discern what we are truly hungry for, and knowing what makes us tick internally can help us lose weight by making better food choices. Gentle yoga is also a good way to start slowly, which is crucial if you’re new to yoga to avoid injuries that could immobilize you and blow all hopes for weight loss at least for a while — and serving as enough of a buzzkill that you write off yoga altogether.’
4. Fat-Burning Poses: Some of the asanas or poses of yoga have ‘benefits that far exceed mere calorie burning and muscle strengthening,’ says Nicole Persley, a teacher at Yoga and Inner Peace. ‘Yoga speeds up the metabolism by stimulating endocrine glands that regulate the metabolic rate.’ Hall Steele recommends the ‘Shoulder stand and fish pose: Both rouse the thyroid, helping to give your body a metabolism boost. Valrasana (spinal twist), a lengthening child’s pose, and cobra pose: These twisting poses massage the abdomen, target internal organs and aid with optimal digestion. The dogs: Downward-facing dog and upward-facing dog poses are particularly helpful in toning hips and thighs.’
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