Transform Your Body: How Yoga Can Help You Achieve Weight Loss and Improve Your Health

By Dennis Bluthardt, Namaste Studios

Recent studies are beginning to link Yoga with weight loss. A standard report that people share is that over several months, they can lose 5-10% of their body weight on average. While this is not a massive number by any means, it is significant in yoga teaching because it shows that more people are starting to use Yoga as an exercise practice, not just a spiritual one. Yoga helps with weight loss and getting fit by increasing overall physical fitness. So yes, you will become more assertive and flexible, but Yoga also naturally enables you to make better life choices.

The thing with Yoga is that it’s not only going to benefit you physically, but it’s also going to have you rethink your entire relationship with food and exercise. This is because the focus is not on losing weight or fitting into a pair of jeans but on becoming more aware of your body. You don’t have to gain the “Freshman 15” if you’re practicing yoga and tuning into your body daily. 

Yoga may help you lose weight because wanting to relax and remove daily stress reduces the tendency to eat away your feelings. The fact is, many of us are emotional eaters who have not yet moved into an area where we socialize or party every weekend. If we are blessed to remove that stress from our days finally, we may never even have to face this initial phase of weight gain. 

Yoga should be your ideal first step in weight loss if you find the gym “too tough” or feel “too emotional” to pull yourself up and go.

Understanding Yoga and Its Benefits for Weight Loss

Someone who enjoys a slower pace may choose Hatha, which focuses more on fundamental postures and is excellent for relaxation or beginners. However, Vinyasa may prefer a more dynamic experience connecting fluid movement with synchronized breathing. Alternatively, Ashtanga is a rigorous style that combines a set sequence of poses with Vinyasa aspects. It is physically demanding but does wonders for strength and flexibility.

Everyone is unique, and everyone’s constitution (dosha) comes with its own health problems and fitness goals.[1] For most people, an increased caloric expenditure can lead to weight loss. Let’s be honest. Every little bit counts.

The daily grind doesn’t allow for extra sessions at the gym. Flexibility might be a problem, but wouldn’t you give weight training a shot if you were prepared for your first time trying it? Doing a couple of sun salutations and core postures in almost all styles of Yoga will raise metabolic rate to jump-start the day, reduce injury rates by stretching major muscle groups, and re-align posture. Guess what, you’ve done some yoga!

A healthy relationship with food is a beneficial side effect of a regular yoga practice. Yoga is the only form of “exercise” that creates more self-awareness and self-love. As a bonus, it improves the mind’s control over the body. Goodbye emotional eating, hello to a new habit-focused lifestyle.

Understand that short-term rapid weight loss can lead to putting the weight back on quicker post-diet. Slow and healthier weight loss includes a strong mental health element. Consistent practice can result in increased self-esteem, self-respect, and body satisfaction. Thanks to the deep breathing and meditation that flow in sync with the yoga practice, a decreased stress level can help reduce cortisol, all referenced symptoms and benefits Yoga promotes.

The strong body-mind connection cultivates a high body (interoceptive) awareness, one that is related to a healthier approach to physical activity, a greater intention to eat healthily, and improved sleeping patterns. Yoga’s integration of mindfulness with physical activity (implicitly through meditation) will cause a rise in awareness of physical discomfort, hunger, and satiety, all food-regulatory and self-care behaviors identified in those 45 years or younger in regular yoga practitioners.

The Science Behind Yoga and Weight Loss

Research has demonstrated the link between certain types of Yoga with weight loss and better overall health. People with regular yoga practices have been shown in studies to have lower body mass indexes and body fat percentages despite Yoga not generally burning as many calories as more intense weight-bearing exercises or cardiovascular activity. The quieting and calming mindfulness aspect at yoga’s heart, quieting the need/desire to reach for foods, perhaps not thought out so well persistently, is a likely contributing factor. Those gaining weight, significantly overweight, or dealing with “emotional eating” issues probably should seek some professional assistance and/or a quality weight and eating healthy/self-esteem promoting yoga class. Practicing yogic breathing and taking time for mindfulness, meditation, and spiritual study might improve metabolism/digestion. Some yogis work hard at linking pranayama breath control with yoga asana postures through breath synchronization. Thinking alone of a fantastic, healthy, positive morning yoga routine and/or drinking celery juice helps you think of the day positively! 

That’s winning all on its end. Off go the crumpled bags of cookies.

Effective Yoga Poses for Weight Loss

Yoga has plenty of weight loss asanas, particularly ones that require more than one muscle group and promote strength and endurance. The Warrior II is an excellent example of this. You’ll get a leg-strengthening and hip-opening exercise and build endurance in the pose. This asana improves stamina. To do the pose, stand with wide legs, then turn out one foot. Bend that knee over the ankle and extend your arms parallel to the ground. Those new to the practice can keep the back leg straight without bending so profoundly in the front knee.

The Plank posture is excellent for weight loss, too. Like the Warrior II pose, it works your core and strengthens your arms and legs. To do the basic Plank, align your body with your hands facing forward and keep them underneath your shoulders. Keep the back legs straight and come up on your toes. Also, you can do a low Plank while resting on your forearms to give your wrists a break. It will still work the core, though, and that’s great.

You can use the Boat Pose, which strengthens the abs. The pose helps you lose weight and tone your body. You can also use any other asana that strengthens your body. To do the Boat Pose, sit in a boat shape while balancing your body on your tailbone and sitting bones. It’ll help you work your muscles and build your strength.

Remember: To lose weight consistently, practice these simple yoga poses afterward and engage with your body as often as possible. Listen to your body to see what works for it.

Creating a Yoga Routine for Weight Loss

Creating balance in a yoga routine means paying equal attention to various aspects of fitness. Most pose-oriented yoga sessions are said to build strength and flexibility. Although the heart rate gets elevated during incredibly demanding strength-based poses, these are short-lived breathlessness. Because of this, it is essential to combine other types of Yoga, like yin yoga or psyche dance yoga, which are more “aerobic” styles of Yoga. Most of the different styles of Yoga you might want to include are in the last category of “Feel Good Yoga.”

This is one perspective on fitness, but the argument is strong that this category should not just be about feel-good Yoga. The same dopamine-inducing, feel-good effect that comes from a feel-good yoga class can also be achieved by practicing Yoga an additional two to three times per week. But even more effective than additional yoga sessions for stress reduction can be the “other exercises” you do.

The prior flowchart groups all “other exercises” together for most of the same benefits as the yoga charts covered under the “Doing More Yoga” subtitle. Like the prior example, I suggest scheduling these types of exercises in between yoga practices.

Complementing Yoga with Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Healthy eating and nutrition are critical for weight loss and achieving whatever you want with your yoga practice. Again, a whole-food-based dietary approach is an excellent starting point that emphasizes including a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains instead of the processed foods that can otherwise predominate in the Western diet.

Yoga builds on being self-aware and able to “tune in” to yourself better and quicker. You can learn to tune in in many ways, but sometimes, just knowing the anatomical cues or hints about how to achieve optimal alignment will get you there faster. If you’re too busy figuring out how to get into a pose, you may forget to feel what’s trying to get you into the position in the first place!

Contrary to popular belief, Yoga isn’t just about relaxing; it does help you lose weight and become healthier, too. Vinyasa, the most popular style of Yoga in which you “flow” between postures, and Power Yoga are two styles that will raise your heart rate and help you burn calories. Plus, you’ll gain flexibility and strength from Yoga, two things you need to be considered fit. Yoga can help you create a more balanced approach to maintaining all areas of your fitness.

Weight gain commonly occurs when you’re stressed, so this article would be incomplete without giving weight to the importance of mindfulness and meditation. When you meditate and, therefore, become more mindful, you are much less likely to reach for food and much more likely to deal with your stress in other ways. This often results in weight loss and, afterward, calmer mental states.

Please let me know below if you would like me to pass along any other exercise tips or advice, and don’t hesitate to share your stories about how you’ve lost weight while undertaking your Yoga workouts. What you say will be necessary for another reader or two to hear!