Aah! Here you are, worried about your weight. Probably surfing your phone while taking a dump in the toilet or while trying to sleep at night. You are either stressed out about your tummy or the growing fat in your hips. Maybe you really don’t care about weight loss. But, your partner or parents or classmates keep nagging you about your weight and that has led you here.
To answer your question: Yes, yoga can help you lose weight. But, yoga is not your “sweat it out and burn calories” kind of exercise. That’s aerobic exercises like running, walking, cycling and so on. Yoga is more about finding a balance between the mind and the body. When you find that balance, you will end up with habits that will lead to a healthier body.
This post talks in detail about how yoga can change your lifestyle and achieve better weight.
Why do you want to lose weight?
Before we dive into how yoga can help you manage your weight, let’s take a pause and ask yourself why do you want to lose weight? Are you really overweight or is it peer pressure that is forcing you to hate your body?
We live in a world that is obsessed with a lean body and six pack abs. You surf the Internet and everyone is looking for ways to increase their protein intake. Everyone is going to the gym and lifting weights way beyond their body weight. It’s very easy to feel FOMO-ed. If your reason for weight loss is external like social media and peer pressure, STOP. You need to take a step back. Cut out the noise around you. Yoga can help you with that as well. When you start connecting with yourself, you realize what you truly want. You stop listening to others, especially those who make you feel inferior.
But, if your reasons are truly genuine like following a healthier routine or a recurring health problem due to increased weight, then, it makes sense to focus on managing your weight.
In the next section, we discuss how yoga changes you and helps you manage your weight.
Yoga helps you manage stress
Stress is the root cause of a lot of bad habits. A stressed mind cannot think clearly. This leads to adoption of bad habits like stress eating. Such bad habits can lead to increased weight.
Yoga helps in reducing stress, which in turn leads to better habits that can help you manage your weight. Your overall mood becomes better after practicing yoga. You are automatically inclined to eating healthier. This, in turn, can help you reduce weight.
Yoga helps in mindful eating
Yoga, in general, improves mindfulness. A lot of the time, we do things without thinking about them. A lot of our habits run on auto-pilot. Yoga helps you become aware of such habits. It helps you take a pause and ask yourself if your actions need any change.
One such habit is eating snacks. Some people eat cakes and sugar based items when stressed. Some people eat at night when they can’t sleep (that’s me!). Eating unhealthy items or eating at the wrong time can also lead to increased weight. Yoga helps you become mindful of these habits. When you are in a better mental state, you make better decisions. You will automatically eat the right items and at the right time. This will automatically lead to a better weight.
Yoga helps you build muscle
A lot of yoga asanas force you to carry your own body weight. They put stress on your arm and leg muscles. This helps you build muscle as well. As stated earlier, yoga doesn’t burn fat at the same rate as cardio exercises, but it still burns fat. So, if you are not in a hurry, yoga is a really good way to burn excessive fat and build muscles in the long run.
Yoga Guru Near Me
It’s great to read about such stuff and think of doing it at some point. But, it's tough to adopt a new habit. That’s where a teacher comes in. A yoga instructor can help you slowly adopt a healthy mindset and a body. Guru Near Me is on a mission to help you connect with good teachers. If you are looking for a yoga classes near you, visit our yoga classes page, select "Near Me" or a city of your choice.
