Fat Camp Articles
Yoga: Uniting Mind, Body, and Spirit for Weight Loss
By Meghan Vivo
Yoga has been proven effective in increasing flexibility, strength, and agility for people of all ages, genders, sizes, and fitness levels. Using yoga positions and postures (asanas), deep breathing (pranayama), yamas (restraints), niyamas (observances), and dyana (meditation), yoga practitioners believe this healing art is the ideal way to bring balance into your life.
Yoga may not be the exercise that burns the most calories, but studies have repeatedly linked yoga to weight loss. Why? Because it awakens the connection between mind, body, and spirit.
In most cases, overeating is an emotional rather than physical phenomenon. If we use our minds to focus on what our bodies actually need, we are less likely to turn to food to ease emotional pain. This fact was documented in research presented at the American Heart Association’s 46th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, which showed that a structured yoga and breathing program decreased body mass index among obese teens.
Developed in India 5,000 years ago and brought to the United States in the early 20th century, yoga has become increasingly popular in Western culture over the past decade. According to Mediamark Research, Americans spent almost $3 billion on yoga classes and retreats, books, DVDs, mats, clothing, and related items in 2004. And about 3 million American adults practiced yoga at least twice a week in 2006, more than doubling from 1.3 million in 2001.
“Yoga is no longer considered some ‘out there’ New Age fad,” says Laura Inscho, a certified yoga instructor at Wellspring Camp in New York, the nation’s premier all-girls weight loss camp for young ladies ages 12 and up. “In the past five years, Americans have slowly opened up to Eastern philosophies and practices and have begun taking advantage of yoga’s many health benefits.”
Yoga is one of the few exercises specifically designed to affect the body on a physical, mental, and spiritual level. There are at least 27 types of yoga practiced in the U.S., ranging from the Iyengar style of deep, slow stretching to the high-heat, high-intensity Aschtanga “power aerobic” workouts.
Among the physical benefits, yoga tones the muscles, increases flexibility and blood flow, and has minimal impact on the tendons and joints. More importantly, yoga synchronizes the mind and body, boosting body awareness, reducing stress, increasing concentration, balance, and coordination, and encouraging an overall sense of peace and well-being.
“Yoga is a deep and complex system with thousands of poses. Most experts don’t even fully know what yoga is,” says Inscho. “My goal as a yoga instructor at Wellspring is to give our campers a taste of the healing arts and use yoga to open the door to a mind-body connection that can be further explored when they get home.”
Inscho, who has taught at yoga studios across the country, sees each group of Wellspring campers once a week, and those who particularly enjoy yoga can sign up for a one-week yoga club. Every session begins with a breathing exercise, followed by a warm-up, strength-building segment, and higher intensity work, and concludes with five minutes of deep relaxation.
From Inscho’s perspective, the countless health benefits of yoga can be boiled down into three major advantages for weight loss. First, she says, the fundamental belief system behind yoga is about changing the dominant patterns of the brain. Because the purpose of the Wellspring program is changing habits and making lasting lifestyle changes, yoga is an ideal match philosophically.
Studies suggest that the practice of yoga can actually result in physical changes in the brain. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine and McLean Hospital have found that practicing yoga may elevate brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels, the brain’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. The findings, which appear in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, suggest that the practice of yoga may be effective in treating depression, anxiety, and other disorders associated with low GABA levels.
In addition, yoga (like most forms of exercise) can help regulate levels of the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, and can trigger the release of endorphins, producing a natural high.
Second, yoga is proven to reduce stress and bring about a deep state of relaxation. Chronic or severe stress can be damaging to every part of the human body, including the brain. Research has shown that the basic components of yoga, including relaxation, meditation, and breathing exercises, can alter the body’s response to stress.
Scientific evidence has also established a strong correlation between stress and the hormonal response in the body that triggers weight gain. Since teens’ lives are filled with stress, finding ways to reduce the stress will automatically facilitate weight loss.
Through yoga, it becomes possible to achieve a state of calm that allows the practitioner to feel unaffected by the noises, pressures, and worries surrounding her. The result of being present in the moment is a positive outlook, which in turn improves the physical health of the body.
“Teens rarely have this deep of an opportunity to relax and center themselves,” notes Inscho. “Through yoga, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and other activities, our campers learn to cope with stress in constructive ways, without turning to food.”
The third major benefit of yoga for weight loss is enhanced body awareness. By getting in tune with your heart rate, breathing patterns, and muscle strength and flexibility through yoga, you become more aware of what your body needs in terms of diet and exercise. And the more in touch we are with our bodies, the less likely we are to misinterpret our body’s signals and overeat.
Increased body awareness also means young people are better prepared to play sports and engage in more strenuous workouts with less worry about injury or physical stamina. Through yoga, practitioners learn to push their body’s limits, knowing when to push harder and when to slow down.
“Yoga not only gets young people moving, but it also makes them conscious of themselves,” says Inscho. “One of the critical lessons for our campers is how to pick up on their body’s cues and move intelligently within their musculature. Although we work with each child wherever they are in their abilities, we always try to push them to explore new things and get out of their comfort zone.”
Incorporating the Practice of Yoga
Inscho believes the key to success in maintaining a yoga practice in everyday life is to find a teacher you really like who is located conveniently near your home, school, or work. Although yoga videos can be useful for maintenance, Inscho believes beginners will get the most out of a live instructor who can offer instant feedback and direction.
Yoga is more than exercise – it’s therapy. After a few sessions, most practitioners report less anxiety, lower blood pressure and heart rate, improved posture, a better night’s sleep, and a more positive outlook. Since lasting weight loss relies on a combination of diet, exercise, and behavioral change, the mind-body connection developed through the practice of yoga can facilitate far greater weight loss success than diet and exercise alone.
