Yoga is not a magical practice for losing weight, but it is useful for toning the body and building it harmoniously. Yoga, in addition to helping with weight loss, is a natural anti-depressant. It helps you release your stress and negative thoughts.
The yoga and slimming theme seems to fascinate Internet users, especially in the spring when the sunny days arrive Therefore, I decided to talk about it after the summer. Logical, right? “Indeed, as much to say to you that associating yoga and slimming is a very recent (received) idea and that it is therefore not an article here to lose weight while doing yoga. And yes, sorry to disappoint you, but in my opinion, yoga does not make you lose weight any more than any other activity!
The goal here is above all to show you that yoga is for everyone and all bodies, not just for the people doing the circus of the sun in swimsuits on Instagram. They do it super well and it’s beautiful, they are often super thin but that is far from representing the “ordinary” reality of yoga practice.
So I will try to make a point on this subject which comes out a lot in conversations when we broach the subject of yoga. Note that: this is by no means an article about sports and diet, nor a medical article!
So know one thing, all builds and ages can do yoga. There is not ONE yoga but Yogas, everyone’s yoga! You are the one adapting your practice. By practicing, you learn to listen to your body, not to go too far, not to force your body. You learn patience there. And you will find that the world of yoga is advancing on networks to promote a positive image of bodies, in all their forms. So we do yoga because we want to do yoga, not because it supposedly makes you lose weight, burn calories, or build muscle. Even if it feels good, obviously, to strengthen.
If you force yourself to go to yoga because you have seen such a model, 1m80, 60kg, the taper of madness doing Adho mukha vrksasana … you risk falling from the top of your posture. That’s not how it works. So first of all do an activity that you enjoy, that makes you feel good, and go try yoga to see. You may be charmed. And yoga mats are good for other activities!
Yoga: a physical activity, but not only
Challenge yourself in a physical practice, it’s great! Go forward, progress, etc. that is gratifying. But it doesn’t have to become a slimming or fitness obsession. It’s your activity as a whole and how you fit it into your daily life that matters, not just the muscles that appear or the folds that disappear – even if sometimes this is necessary for physical and mental health.
Yoga is not a sport but yes, it is a physical activity
SPECIAL EDITION: like all physical activities, yoga is good for your health! Whether you want to lose weight or not, getting moving and being active is essential to your overall well-being. So don’t do yoga because those around you are beating your ears with it. Test to see if you like it but don’t just try yoga, try other activities and do whatever you like to feel good. Yoga is also an opening to another culture, another world, another language: read texts on yoga, let yourself be carried away by mantras in class, meditate, etc.
Yoga diet
There is no such thing as a yoga diet. I note, however, that people who practice yoga tend to review the way they eat: reduce animal products, find a balance and stop abusing sugar, alcohol, etc. In short, practitioners become more measured in their daily food. And that’s good, for them and for the planet. And these people usually don’t forget to indulge themselves with a little apple pie or chocolate cake (big rab for me), a little glass of red once in a while. This is also the balance.
In classical yoga writings like Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the author explains that the practitioner in withdrawing from the world (in a cave) to meditate must adapt his diet and live frugally so that the body focuses on the essentials. , tend towards the meditative state. I’ll keep it short for you, but I recommend reading some ancient texts that may surprise you, particularly on the subject of food: dairy products and fatty and creamy food are, for example, on the program for certain aspects of life. It is a text from another era, but it is interesting for learning about the history of yoga and how the practice and related themes evolve over time. You can also go for a walk in the Ayurvedic diet that can inspire you on a daily basis.
Here I am taking up some elements already mentioned on the Yogamatata blog: physically speaking, in yoga we mobilize the energy of the muscles to strengthen us, soften us, balance ourselves in the proper sense, evacuate toxins, and stimulate our metabolism. There you release tension and you can even free yourself completely from it. Here we will not go into the details of dietetics for people for whom slimming or losing weight is a real health issue and for whom yoga, like any other physical activity, can be beneficial. However, the practice of yoga generally leads to a greater awareness of oneself and the world around us, especially regarding what we feed our bodies.
So if you do yoga just to say, “I did a sport from 6 to 7 p.m. so I can binge on burgers from 8 to 9 p.m.” it will be totally counterproductive. Eat, move, as the slogan says! Hey yes Move well, eat well and the body thanks us. We eliminate better, we work better and this necessarily has positive consequences. Afterward, everyone has their own morphology and you cannot deny it. We all have this buddy who stuffs himself during the end of the year celebrations and who won’t take a gram or the friends who go for a marine and slimming cure and who eat like birds a week and lose … 500 grams! There is no justice my little lady. This is life, so let’s try to find what makes us feel good! I’m repeating myself, right?
But I feel like it is necessary …
Thank You.