Yoga is an ancient practice from India dating back nearly 5,000 years. Many think of yoga as stretching or simply another form of physical fitness. However, traditional yoga teaches proper diet, breathing and meditation in addition to principles of ethical living. Incorporating the teachings of yoga into one's life is believed to bring the body, mind and spirit into a state of balance and harmony. This can be the foundation of natural, permanent weight loss.
Proper Diet
Proper diet is essential in any weight loss program. The traditional yogic diet is lacto-vegetarian. It includes whole grains, legumes, dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables. Guru Swami Sivananda, a pioneer who brought the teachings of yoga to the West, teaches that yoga is a journey and that dietary changes should be made gradually. He teaches that adequate protein can be obtained through consuming legumes, nuts and seeds as well as dairy products. He also counsels avoiding stimulants or harmful substances such as alcohol, coffee, tea and meat. The primary change in diet should be a shift to whole foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables.
Proper Breathing Techniques
Pranayama, or yogic breathing exercises, are designed to help calm the body and mind. They prepare the body for asana practice--in other words, exercise--and they can help undo the stress of the day. Before you begin to exercise, you should spend a few minutes practicing the full yogic breath. That is performed by expelling all the air from the body, then inhaling slowly, first into the abdomen, allowing it to fill like a balloon, then into the chest allowing it to expend fully. The air is released in the opposite manner, first compressing the chest, then squeezing the abdominal muscles. Other yogic breathing exercises such as Kapalabhati (cleansing breath) and Ujjayi (ocean breath) help to release toxins and stress.
Yoga Postures
Asana practice constitutes the fitness portion of yoga. Yoga postures are designed to increase flexibility, strength and physical endurance. You should begin with five to 10 minutes of warm-up exercises, such as pranayama and gentle-seated stretches for the neck, shoulders, back and legs, followed by 10 or 12 minutes of sun salutations to stretch the entire body. Next is 20 to 30 minutes of core asana poses to build strength and endurance. Those may include warrior pose, triangle pose, boat pose, dolphin pose, locust, crane and bridge pose. Each session should always end with 10 minutes of cool-down stretches such as forward bend and lying spinal twist, the corpse pose and final relaxation. A typical yoga session lasts from 45 minutes to an hour.
Meditation
The principle of "positive thinking and meditation" is a fundamental point of traditional yoga. Various disciplines teach varying methods of meditation, but the basic goal is the same: to exercise control over the mind and thoughts. Yogis such as Swami Sivananda teach that if you can control the mind, you can control the body. Some key points to remember when practicing meditation are: 1) find a quiet place to be alone; 2) sit up comfortably; 3) let go of all thoughts; 4) practice deep breathing and slow the breath; 5) focus the mind on one point, such as the heart or third eye (the "ajna chakra" in yoga); 6) repeat a positive phrase or mantra over and over for several minutes; and 7) practice daily.
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