Mind-Body & Weight Loss

Mind-body therapies focus on the connection between your brain, mind, emotions, body and behavior and their impact on overall health. Therapies include activities such as breathing techniques, meditation, visualization or physical movements. Some common mind-body therapies have been linked to weight loss as they enable you to better manage some of the factors that influence weight gain such as hunger.

Yoga

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle conducted a study in 2009 involving 300 people with an average age of 42 using a Mindful Eating Questionnaire. Regular yoga practice was linked to mindful eating and people who ate mindfully were less likely to be obese. Mindful eating refers to being aware of why you eat and stopping when you're full. It helps you to avoid eating when you're not hungry or in response to triggers such as anxiety or depression.

Tai Chi

Derived from martial arts, tai chi is a gentle mind-body exercise that's part of traditional Chinese medicine. It involves slow movements, meditation and deep breathing to enhance health and emotional wellness. In a study published in the January 2009 issue of the "Clinical Journal of Medicine," subjects participated in a weight management program that included a low-calorie diet, counseling and either conventional exercise or tai chi. Participants in the tai chi group lost body fat at week 10 and at the six-month follow-up. Tai chi helps to reduce stress, anxiety and depression -- factors that can contribute to weight gain.

Meditation

Meditation may also promote weight loss by improving emotional eating and helping you to become more aware of when you're hungry and full. In a 1999 study published in the "Journal of Health Psychology," Indiana researchers investigated the effects of mindfulness meditation on binge eating, a disorder characterized by habitual overeating that leads to weight gain and obesity. Mindfulness meditation decreased binge eating incidents from an average of 4.02 to 1.7 per week among 18 women. Also, the proportion of binges rated as large fell from 70.3 percent before the meditation therapy to 18.11 percent. According to researchers in a subsequent study published in the Summer 2005 issue of the journal "Cognitive and Behavioral Science," mindfulness training resulted in excellent improvements in binge eating symptoms.

Considerations

Although mind-body therapies may be able to help you lose weight, they should only be a part of a well-rounded weight loss program. You should still eat nutritious meals, limit sugary beverages and control portions. Also, you need aerobic exercise for maximum calorie burning and cardiovascular benefits and weight training to build muscle and boost metabolism.