How Can “Om”ing and Bending Help You Lose Weight?
by Jill Miller | January 8th, 2009 | Comments (12)
topic: Fitness, Health & Wellness, Weight Loss, Yoga | tags: benefits of yoga, healthy-eating, weight-loss
Yoga has long been known to increase flexibility, reduce stress and improve well-being. But does all that “OM”-ing and bending have a significant impact on weight loss?
Bridge Pose with a Twist, from my Yoga for Weight Loss Workout Kit DVD
Losing weight is simple in theory but much more challenging in practice. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume — in other words, eat less and exercise more. Practicing yoga certainly qualifies as the exercise component of this strategy, as yoga is a terrific calorie-burning exercise that strengthens and tones every muscle of your body, waking up deep muscles and using more of the body more intelligently than many other exercise modalities. (See one example in this clip from my Yoga for Weight Loss Workout from Gaiam.)
Yet while the math is clear on paper, once you begin your yoga practice with weight loss in mind, your mind can turn to a thousand other distractions to pull you from your weight loss goal.
This is precisely where the mental benefits of yoga step in to help with weight loss. 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 that 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.
Because yoga also helps you be totally present, it also helps you eat more mindfully — so you pay more attention to the taste of food and learn how to savor each bite instead of wolfing food down unconsciously. Yoga teaches you to feel true satiation instead of eating until you feel stuffed.
Couple that with the breathing and relaxation techniques yoga teaches us, and you have a system that acknowledges your total health every time you practice. Stressed out bodies are overloaded with cortisol, which packs on intra-abdominal fat. The stress-reducing properties of yoga help you relax more effectively so that fat cannot accumulate.
The physical changes from yoga are evident immediately: Your muscles burn, you break a sweat, you feel loosened up and relaxed for hours afterwards. But it’s the mental transformation that really keeps the weight off. A mind tuned in to the body’s deeper thoughts and feelings about itself is a mind that is no longer willing to accept extra weight or excess mental baggage.
Hello,
I am curious, do you know of any pilates exercises that can be performed using the yoga blocks?
Thanks
Many pilates mat exercises can be performed while perched on top of the disc from my kit or yoga blocks. This forces your body to deeply engage the transverse abdominals (the cumberband shaped muscle wrapping around the deep core) so that you don’t “fall” off the disc. For example, try doing “The Hundred” perched on the disc or block, this will amplify the intensity of that exercise to a new degree. As a bonus, you can use the disc much like you would use a magic circle!
[...] body awareness, which can help you realize when you are truly hungry and stop eating when you’re [...]
[...] Check out Jill’s Yoga for Weight Loss Workout Kit from Gaiam and her related post How Can ‘Om’ing and Bending Help You Lose Weight? [...]
[...] That may be uncomfortable, but it is only when we quiet our exterior chatter that we can deal with the inner chatter of our mind. By removing the veil of noise, we allow our true luminous selves to emerge (just like in weight loss!) [...]
[...] Check out Jill’s Yoga for Weight Loss Workout Kit from Gaiam and her related post How Can ‘Om’ing and Bending Help You Lose Weight? [...]
Are both 30 minute sessions of your yoga for weight loss dvd, plus the bonus core abs, to be used in one day and count as one 1 hour 15 minute session? How many times a week should I practice to see results?
I quit smoking and have had digestive issues and weight gain ever since (4 months). My stomach is so distended that I actually look pregnant. My doctor recommended yoga and I really hope your DVD can help, but I want to be sure I am following the program correctly. Any info is greatly appreciated.
With thanks.
Hi Michelle,
Congrats on quitting smoking! If you are just starting to exercise, I would recommend just doing one section per day for 10 days to 2 weeks. Throw in the Core bonus at least 4 times in order to carefully build up your core muscles. You will probably be sore for a while! Then as you build endurance and time permits, you can do both sections and add the core bonus every other day. You will definitely see results! To address your digestive issues and bloating, I would also recommend my other Core DVD called Yoga Link: Core Integration, you can find it here: pranamaya.com/miller_core.html
There are many brilliant techniques on this nearly 2 hour video that will rearrange your core from inside out!
Belly Blessings! Let me know how it works for you!
Jill
Hi,
Great site!!!!! Good health is very important with the high cost of medical coverage. We need to have a healther lifestyle by taking care of our health eating and exercising. I am a cancer survivor and I know. Our health is our greatest asset. Keep up the Good Work!!!!!
Hi,
nice site and nice information about how to loss weight.As i’m currently using Gaiam weight loss work-out kit…and follow the instructions by Jill Miller.The DVD is excellent and this yoga kit is really helpful.It’s my suggestion to start yoga from today.
Hi, I have a question. Can I pregnant woman do yoga?
and how to loose weight after pregnancy?
Pregnant women should always consult first with their doctor before doing any type of exercise program, including yoga. Give your body time to heal after child birth, and then begin slowly to address the weight gained during pregnancy. Your doctor should give you the green light in order to make sure your body is ready for it.