It’s not just about the physical activity you’re doing. “This is where yoga shines,” Khalsa says. The yogis were significantly less likely to have disordered eating patterns than the cardio-based exercisers. Khalsa points to a review published in July 2015 in the International Journal of Yoga that found that yoga has been linked to changes in eating behavior, specifically cutting back on dietary fat and adding more fresh vegetables, whole grains, and soy-based products.Ī study published in 2015 in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology analyzed survey data from 159 women who either regularly practiced yoga or cardio-based exercise. And it’s all of these behaviors that can help you stick with a diet or weight loss eating plan - or in making healthier food choices overall. Over time (and with practice) you may even zero in on which foods make you feel fueled and energized, and which ones have more negative effects (like making you feel lethargic or bloated), Khalsa says. Mindful eating is recognizing hunger cues and limiting binge eating. Your instructor may be asking you to monitor your breath and pay attention to what your mind and body are telling you, which is a way of learning and practicing mindfulness.Īnd practicing mindfulness on your yoga mat can help when it comes to practicing mindful eating habits, too. When you’re holding a posture for an extended period of time, you’re connecting with how your body feels, Dr. You’re strengthening more than just your muscles on your yoga mat, says Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, PhD, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston and director of research at Yoga Alliance. If you’re trying to lose or maintain weight, here are three big ways that yoga may help, according to Bar and others: 1. The participants’ answers pointed to five factors the researchers concluded helped with weight loss: a shift to healthier eating, impact of the yoga community and culture, physical changes, psychological changes, and the belief that the yoga weight loss experience was different than past weight loss experiences. RELATED: Can Practicing Yoga Help You Not Get Sick?Īnother study, published in 2016 in a special issue of Yoga in Prevention and Therapy, analyzed data collected from interviews with 20 adults who reported losing weight through a yoga practice.
The data showed that yoga is tied to weight loss and weight maintenance because of a handful of factors, including: energy expenditure during yoga sessions, encouraging more exercise by reducing back pain and joint pain, heightening mindfulness, improving mood and reducing stress, and by helping yogis feel more connected to their bodies, their satiety, and eating habits. And her research says so, too.īar is coauthor of a review published in July 2013 in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, in which she and her team reviewed dozens of studies evaluating the effects of yoga on weight loss.
And it can help you manage stress, which can also help with weight maintenance, she says.īar says she’s seen yoga help with weight loss in people she works with in her practice. “Yoga, if done right, becomes a lifestyle change,” she says, which in turn can help increase physical activity and decrease emotional eating. There are a few different ways yoga can help with weight loss, and it’s not just a matter of the calories you burn on your yoga mat, says Judi Bar, the yoga program manager at Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative Medicine in Ohio, who is certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Yoga Alliance.
Yoga comes with many health benefits, from strengthening muscles to improving sleep to reducing stress.
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