On a weight-loss ladder, yoga for weight loss may not feature in the top rung as an effective programme for those seeking to shed immediate weight, but it has proven benefits in long term weight management and overall wellbeing. Despite the concerted focus on breathing exercises and routines that are, generally, slow-paced, yoga has immense potential to meet specific weight concerns and establish a positive attitude towards life. It is all about following a committed yoga practice and balancing it with a diet plan that underscores health at all levels. With asanas or postures that can be practised in different flows and sequences, weight loss can be assured under a trained yoga teacher.
In the following article, Yoga Teacher Prema Arun, who is also the co-founder of Shankara Yoga Kendra in Bangalore, India, and in Oman, highlights the benefits of specific yoga asanas in ridding the body of fat and ensuring long term weight management.
A Power Yoga Teacher, Prema has been instrumental in inculcating lifestyle modifications among busy homemakers and office-goers. She conducts regular classes and ensures that her students are trained in different forms of yoga and continues to monitor their development with constant feedback and advice. She is on a mission to spread awareness about power yoga and its health benefits.
According to her, regular yoga practice has a bigger influence on weight loss when a person’s calorie intake is less than the calorie expenditure. Highlighting the effectiveness of yoga in aiding weight loss and weight management, she says, “Yoga practice will increase one’s mindfulness and the way one relates to his/her body. Many individuals eat more when they are stressed, and yoga can help combat stress factors that influence one’s energy intake. An intense style of yoga, like Power Yoga, can help you burn more calories. This type of yoga keeps you moving almost constantly, which helps you burn more calories and manage weight by improving muscle tone and metabolism.”
She lists the following asanas for weight loss:
- Sun Salutations (or Surya Namaskaras are a series of poses performed in a sequence to create a flow of movement)
- Chair pose (or Utkatasana is a standing yoga posture that tones the entire body, particularly thighs)
- Triangle pose (or Utthita Trikonasana is a triangular shape created by the body when striking the pose)
- Warrior pose (or Virabhadrasana is a focusing and strengthening pose)
- Plank pose (or Kumbhakasana is an arm balancing yoga pose to tone abdominal muscles)
- Lizard pose (or Utthan Pristhasana is a hip-opening posture with multiple variations)
- Cobra pose (or Bhujangasana is a back bend that stretches the muscles)
- Bow pose (or Dhanurasana is an intermediate yoga back-bend that opens the chest and the front of the body)
- Mountain pose (or Tadasana is an active pose that helps improve posture, balance and focus)
- Wind-relieving pose (or Pavanamuktasana is a reclined yoga posture that strengthens the back and massages abdominal muscles)
- (or shoulder-stand yoga pose is a yoga pose that stimulates and regulates the entire body)
- Boat pose (or Navasana tones the abdominal muscles while strengthening the lower back)
In addition to these asanas, Prema suggests vital lifestyle changes to ensure better results in the weight loss quarters. She recommends the following:
- Eat a healthy diet
- Get 6 to 8 hours of good sleep
- Avoid cigarettes, intoxicating drinks and addictive drugs
- Reduce caffeine and sugar
- Focus on proper exercise, proper breathing, proper diet, proper relaxation, positive thinking and meditation.
As far as diet is concerned, her advice is to follow mindful eating to ensure a healthy consumption pattern. In addition, she advocates important dietary considerations like chewing food well, avoiding white flour, having an early dinner, eating freshly cooked food and incorporating salads and fresh fruits into the diet.