Yoga and Weight Loss (Warning, this article contains NO asanas for weight loss)

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One question that I am now frequently being asked is, "will yoga help in weight reduction?" Well, speaking from my own experience, I have to say no, because I hardly lost any weight during my one month stay in the ashram, where we did yoga for almost 3-4 hours per day, had 2 meals a day and rarely ate any junk food. That being said, a lot of my course mates lost a lot of weight. So, what can I say? Maybe depends on your body?

But there are some things that I can say with conviction. Regular practice of yoga absolutely gets rid of the obsession about body weight. I feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin. My body feels lighter and very flexible. My food cravings have drastically reduced. In fact, my family members thought something was seriously wrong with me when I told them I don't want curd! Me, the same person who licks ladle full of curd right out of the plate, after breakfast, lunch and dinner, and sometimes in between, completely stopped having curd!

I am still sticking to the two meal a day plan. Not out of compulsion, but simply because I now don't need that much food to function. My hunger has drastically reduced. This is the same me, who HAD to snack every two hours to prevent me from becoming a hangry (angry because of hunger) monster. It feels as if the pranayama practice is feeding my body. I have stopped eating compulsively -like munching things while reading a book or watching TV, raiding the fridge out of boredom, gobbling some yummy snack simply because it is there and so on.

It no longer feels as if I am depriving myself or controlling myself as far as food is concerned. And believe me, I know how it feels- to look at a chocolate cake and not eat it. Nowadays, even if someone comes and shoves a chocolate cake in my face, I can barely take a few bites, after which I am pretty much done. My body, with its own intelligence and awareness is now consciously choosing the type of food that it needs -and it is pretty much simple home cooked food with less salt and spice. I no longer control or exercise my will power as far as eating is concerned. It is an automatic setting, where the body simply knows what it wants and takes only those things, and only in that much quantity.

I also managed to break this highly irritating and extremely disrespectful practice of reading a book while eating. I was this annoying person who always eats with a book in hand. While I have tried on and off to break this habit, it has been sticking on to me like a leech. But now, when I sit down to eat, it is with full focus and gratitude for the food that is in front of me. I eat mindfully, paying attention to the food alone, chewing it carefully and eating without any hurry. I eat without any guilt or fear of putting on weight. I eat till my hunger is satiated. This is something so new to me! All these years, I have been reading about mindful eating, mostly WHILE eating, but now I can't believe that I can eat like this.

Yet, even after so many positive changes, I haven't lost a single kilo. But, I really don't care about my weight. This body of mine is a wonderful instrument given by God which can do amazing things. It is a sacrilege to look at this body as something that has to conform to the beauty standards of others, or even my own self, influenced by the society or media. This body is a vehicle that houses my soul and I respect it for enabling me to do so many wonderful things through it. I am not my body, but it is my responsibility to take care of this wonderful creation by doing all the right things to it.

Yoga is so much more than twisting the spine or bending into a pretzel. It is a science gifted to us by great Masters and Sages as a tool to reach our highest potential. Yoga is a path for Self-Realization. When it can offer us so much, why should we confine ourselves to the idea that yoga should be practiced for weight loss? Why should we limit ourselves only to the physical aspect of this practice when it can help us transcend the mind, body and intellect and put us face to face with our own soul?

So, coming back to the question, "will yoga help in weight reduction?" Maybe, I can safely say that weight loss CAN be one of the minor benefits of yoga, but then, it depends on your body type 😛