| Yoga practice helps middle-aged people lose weight | | | | people to stay with the discomfort that is caused |
| and keep it off, suggest new studies published in the | | | | when they deny themselves junk food. |
| online journal Alternative Therapies In Health and | | | | In order to accurately measure the effects of yoga |
| Medicine. | | | | on weight maintenance and loss, these preliminary |
| Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research | | | | findings will need to be replicated, Kristal cautions. |
| Center surveyed 15,500 men and women to assess | | | | Yoga Tips |
| their weight and yoga histories between the ages of | | | | The following tips for enhancing one's yoga practice, |
| 45 and 55. | | | | offers Benitez, may be particularly helpful for those |
| For purposes of the study, regular yoga practice was | | | | who wish to maintain or lose weight: |
| defined as practicing at least 30 minutes once a | | | | 1. Practice in a room without mirrors and pay more |
| week for four or more years. | | | | attention to your internal experience than to your |
| 20-Pound Gap | | | | outer performance. |
| Statistics showed that the subjects who were of | | | | 2. Learn to feel sensations more and more subtly, so |
| normal weight at the age of 45 and did not practice | | | | that you become deeply involved in and curious |
| yoga consistently gained about 10 pounds, while | | | | about small movements -- sometimes called |
| those who performed regular yoga routines lost 3 | | | | micro-movements. |
| pounds during that same 10-year period -- a | | | | 3. In your poses, find an edge for yourself where |
| difference of 13 pounds. | | | | you are challenged but not overwhelmed. At this |
| There was a wider gap between people who were | | | | edge, practice maintaining a clear, open and accepting |
| overweight at the age of 45. The non-yoga group | | | | mental state. |
| gained about 14 pounds, while the yoga group lost 5 | | | | 4. Give yourself permission to rest when you feel |
| pounds -- a difference of almost 20 pounds. | | | | overworked. |
| It is not likely that yoga's fat-fighting potential is due | | | | 5. Pay close attention to what you are saying to |
| to the physical activity itself, according to the study's | | | | yourself as you practice, and make an intentional |
| lead author, Alan R. Kristal, DrPH. | | | | effort to appreciate your own efforts and innate |
| "During a very vigorous yoga practice you can burn | | | | goodness. |
| enough calories to lose weight, but most people don't | | | | 6. Go to class faithfully, arrive early, and talk to a |
| practice that kind of yoga," he notes. | | | | few people before class begins. |
| Body Awareness a Factor | | | | 7. Buy your own yoga mat and bring it to class. |
| "From my experience, I think it has to do with the | | | | 8. Realize that the development of qualities like |
| way that yoga makes you more aware of your | | | | patience, discipline, wisdom, right effort, kindness, |
| body. So when you've eaten enough food, you're | | | | gratitude and many others will arise from your yoga |
| sensitive to the feeling of being full, and this makes it | | | | practice. These qualities create a steady and soft |
| much easier to stop eating before you've eaten too | | | | mind. |
| much," Kristal explains. | | | | 9. Find a teacher who offers a balance of gentleness |
| "Most people practice yoga in a way that's not | | | | and firmness and whose teaching inspires you to |
| aerobic enough to burn a lot of calories, so it has to | | | | practice from your highest self. |
| be some other reason," adds study co-author Denise | | | | 10. Recognize that simply attending class is a major |
| Benitez, owner of Seattle Yoga Arts. | | | | statement of courage, self-care, and positive |
| "People who regularly practice yoga develop the inner | | | | momentum. Realize that you are inspiring others as |
| resources to stay with a little bit of discomfort," she | | | | you become more true to your deepest desires. |
| says, hypothesizing that those inner resources help | | | | |