Yes, yoga can be used to help with weight loss! Yoga is a wonderful addition to a weight loss program. Not only can Yoga help improve your mood but Yoga also helps improve strength and flexibility, while improving muscle tone; although not all types or forms of yoga raise the heart rate enough to be considered cardio. Ivengar Yoga is a great example of using yoga as strength training as it requires holding poses for long periods of time. Vinyasa or flow Yoga is the best choice for weight loss purposes – forms of Yoga that fall into this category include Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, and Hot Yoga.
Alan Kristal, DPH, MPH with funding from the National Cancer Institute has studied the medical connection between Yoga and weight loss. The findings of this study include that one can be considered practicing Yoga if they do at least one 30 minute session of yoga per week over the course of four or more years. People that practice Yoga under these conditions tend to at the minimum not gain weight and at the maximum lose weight. If the practitioner is overweight then they tend to lose weight – typically about 5 pounds in comparison to about a 14 pound gain by those not practicing Yoga during the same time period. Scientifically the study was unable to pin point a reason that Yoga is so beneficial with weight loss, but the study does emphasize the importance of the mind-body connection found in practicing Yoga.
One Yoga pose in particular that especially seems to be helpful in achieving weight loss is the Sun Salutation. For maximum benefit the Sun Salutation should be done at a rate of 4 rounds per minute for a total of at least 24 rounds per day.
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