By Chris Maginnis
It seems everybody I know these days has learned yoga from a class or a DvD but the biggest majority of them don't know it's possible to use yoga for weight loss. In fact most of the time when I mention it to my yoga friends I get laughed out of the room - but it's true!
Yoga naturally promotes body wellness and can be a great way to relieve stress and improve your core, most people know this, but what they haven't noticed is if you decrease the rests in between each pose and increase the length of time you hold them for - you could really get that heart rate going which means calories burning and everything you need to lose that excess weight.
I'm really not a fan of any of these fad diets or expensive work out setups but yoga is probably the cheapest thing you can start with - all you really need to do is find enough space on the floor to get started. It's not really as easy as it looks to learn but there are frequent classes and trainers not to mention a load of books and DvDs you can learn from. If that's not enough choice for you yet, there are also loads of magazines or internet guides (and videos). So you can pretty much learn from the local gym or your own bedroom.
Now, as you have surely realised, the generic form of yoga taught is not really enough to use yoga for weight loss. It's very slow and relaxing but that can be changed. After you have a basic understanding of the techniques and sessions you can adapt them to get that heart rate up and that's what it's all about. Yoga can be combined with loads of different techniques (cycling, jogging or swimming are the obvious ones) as well as pilates and (most importantly) healthy eating. Learning how to adapt your yoga for weight loss can take a lot of practice but is highly rewarding.
Christopher Maginnis is a Journalism student from the United Kingdom. He writes on varying subjects usually relating to human interest or cyberculture. He writes for several publications and websites.
