Can Yoga Help Weight Loss?

Yoga doesn't burn as many calories as activities such as running or speed cycling, but it can help you shed extra pounds. Furthermore, yoga provides other weight-loss benefits besides boosting your activity level.

Yoga Controls Stress

Yoga is a well-known stress-relieving technique. Stress increases hunger and levels of the hormone cortisol, which causes your body to store fat. Through its series of breathing exercises, poses and in some cases meditation, yoga induces the relaxation response, which is opposite to the stress response. In a study in the journal "PLoS ONE" in July 2008, a team of American researches found that by producing the relaxation response, mind-body therapies such as yoga changed the way short-term and long-term practitioners responded to stress on a genetic level.

Yoga Controls Hunger

Keeping hunger and cravings in check can be very challenging when you're trying to slim down. Instead of popping hunger-suppressing pills, try practicing yoga. Yoga can increase your awareness of feeling hungry or full. In a study conducted by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that was published in 2009, regular yoga practice played a role in preventing middle-age spread in people of normal weight. Researchers also found that regular yoga could help overweight people shed extra pounds.

Yoga Boosts Metabolism

Increasing muscle mass is one of the few ways you can increase your basal metabolic rate. Some yoga poses help tone and build muscle, thereby increasing your metabolic rate and helping your body to burn calories more efficiently. Several yoga poses, such as the plank and side plank, also work muscle groups in your upper and lower body simultaneously. This makes yoga an efficient way to tone if you're pressed for time.

Yoga Enhances Sleep

A lack of sleep can inhibit weight loss in various ways. For instance, it increases fatigue, which makes you less likely to exercise. It also interferes with levels of hormones, such as ghrelin, that control your appetite. Yoga can help you get the sleep you need each night. In a study in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback in December 2004, yoga was effective in treating chronic insomnia. It helped improve sleep factors such as falling asleep, wakefulness and total sleep time.

Beginning Yoga for Weight Loss

If you've never practiced yoga, it's best to take a beginner's class with a qualified instructor instead of relying solely on DVDs or books. Once you learn the proper techniques -- which will lower your risk of injury -- you can continue on your own at home. Also, yoga can be strenuous, so it's best to get a medical check-up if you've been inactive for a while or have a medical condition such as heart disease or high blood pressure.