Can You Lose Weight Doing Yoga?

learn yoga is not all about lose weight also to keep you healthy

It is always important to invest in health and well-being, and this year has made that stark clear. The number of options for exercise and weight loss regimen can be overwhelming. Our advice? Keep it simple. Yoga is always a good place to start.

 

How Much Weight Will I Lose Doing Yoga?

Many people want to know: how much weight will I lose doing yoga? Today we are going to attempt to answer that simple/difficult question.

 

So…is yoga good for weight loss? Well, yes. And no. Mostly yes… but not always. Not in the way you might think.

 

The reason why that question is so hard to answer is that yoga is a different thing to different people. There are yogis who are dedicated to their practice and seemingly do acrobatics as part of their routine. They are often lean, toned, and flexible individuals. For them, yes, yoga has helped sculpt their bodies and reduced their fat stores and increased their muscle strength.

 

But What About For Those Just Starting Out? Is Weight Loss Expected For Beginners?

 

Again, it depends! There are many different styles of yoga out there. Hatha is where many people begin their journey, and it is a slower style practice where the focus is on breathing and holding asanas (poses or postures) for longer periods of time.

 

Weight loss depends on how often a person is doing yoga, how much they are exerting themselves, and of course on other factors like diet and sleep. A person can be doing yoga every single day but still eating unhealthy meals, be ultra stressed at work, and not sleeping at night. There’s no judgment on that. It is meant to illustrate that even power yoga is no end-all solution against an overall unhealthy lifestyle.

 

One of the amazing things about yoga, however, is that it tends to begin to wind its way through other areas of a person’s life. There’s no doubt that even beginners begin to see the benefits of yoga shortly after they start practicing. The deep breathing, the chance to slow down, and the opportunity to connect with the body do wonders for other things.

 

Suddenly, a yogi is sleeping better, is less stressed out, and has a growing awareness about the body. This might translate into a healthier diet, fewer calories at meals, and a desire to get back on the mat again and again. And then the body really does begin to change and weight loss is often the result. But it’s a process.

 

Hopefully, that demonstrates why it’s hard to say one way or another if yoga leads to weight loss. Yes, it can. But not always in the way one thinks. Yoga is really a mind/body/spirit practice and when that is in balance, many good things start to happen. Weight loss is a great goal, but overall health is a goal that has much greater benefits.

 

If you are expecting to lose weight from yoga right away but it doesn’t seem to be happening, give it some time and keep showing up on (and off) the mat. You will likely find a positive outcome just around the corner. Yoga is kind of magical that way. If you are looking for yoga teacher training programs, please contact us.