Can Yoga Help with Weight Loss or Gain?

By Yogi Joe

Many people are first drawn to Yoga as a way to keep their bodies fit and supple. Others come seeking relief or help for a specific ailment like tension or backache. Whatever your reason

is, Yoga can help you find what you seek.

Though the practice of Yoga is closely associated to ancient texts, beliefs, and values, it also yields benefits useful for people's practical daily lives.

Here are some reasons why more and more people are practicing Yoga:

1. Yoga relaxes the body and the mind, even in the midst of stressful environments. Yoga helps control breathing and clears the mind of cluttered thoughts, leaving only deep physical and mental refreshment.
2. Yoga can help normalize body weight. For people who are either overweight or underweight, Yoga exercises can help achieve the desired weight. The principles of balance and moderation in physical activity and diet under Yoga can also lead to a healthier lifestyle.
3. Yoga improves your resistance to disease. The postures and movements in Yoga massage the internal organs, enhancing blood circulation and functionality, thus lessening the risk of illness.
4. Yoga increases your energy level and productivity. In as little as 20 minutes, Yoga can replenish the mind and body with precious energy needed to respond to daily tasks and challenges.
5. Yoga leads to genuine inner contentment and self-actualization. Meditation - one of the aspects of Yoga - focuses the mind. It screens out the distractions of the highly materialistic world and leads to genuine happiness.

Yoga is a method of learning that aims to attain the unity of mind, body, and spirit through these three main Yoga structures: Exercise, Breathing, and Meditation. The exercises of Yoga are designed to put pressure on the Glandular Systems of the body, thereby increasing its efficiency and total health.

The body is looked upon as the primary instrument that enables us to work and evolve in the world, a Yoga student; therefore, treats it with great care and respect.

The Breathing Techniques are based on the concept that breath is the source of life in the body. Yoga students gently increase their breath control to improve the health and the function of both body and mind.

These two systems prepare the body and mind for Meditation, making it easier for students to achieve a quiet mind and be free from everyday stress. Regular daily practice of all three parts of this structure of Yoga produce a clear, bright mind and a strong, capable body.