| Yoga can be a fun and fulfilling part of an overall | | | | certification, minimum. |
| weight management strategy with the added | | | | Next it's important to develop a yoga practice that's |
| benefits of stress reduction, control over cravings | | | | suitable for your body as it is today -- not how you'd |
| and impulses, even spiritual growth. | | | | like it to be. With that in mind, yoga can be a very |
| Or, as is too often the case, yoga can lead to pain | | | | powerful tool for weight management. |
| and joint injury. | | | | Use yoga to breathe more deeply and simply relax. |
| Yoga-related injuries have grown exponentially over | | | | Yogic breathing (pranayama) increases the delivery |
| the last few years. This is due in part to the rapid | | | | of oxygen to the cells, allowing the organs to |
| spread and "Americanization" of yoga -- it is now | | | | function as they should. This will give you more |
| socially acceptable, even en vogue in many parts of | | | | energy. |
| the country to practice yoga, whereas just two | | | | Deep breathing also triggers the "relaxation |
| decades ago yoga was seen as suspect, even cultish. | | | | response," reducing stress and the production of |
| It could be argued, however, that yoga, intended to | | | | cortisol. Cortisol is one of the "fight or flight" |
| be a spiritual practice, should have no injuries | | | | hormones that your body produces when it gets |
| whatsoever. | | | | stressed -- like when a tiger is chasing you, or its |
| Two factors are to blame in the rise of yoga-related | | | | modern equivalent: traffic and work. Overproduction |
| injuries: | | | | of cortisol can lead to damage in the cardiovascular |
| - Yoga instructors with inadequate training. Many | | | | system as well as -- get this -- weight gain. |
| gyms employ yoga teachers with no more than a | | | | Conscious relaxation, as opposed to unconscious |
| long weekend of formal education in the instruction | | | | relaxation like sitting in front of the tv, activates the |
| of yoga. | | | | parasympathetic nervous system and the creative |
| - Students overeager to "achieve" poses their bodies | | | | side of the brain. This allows you to explore creative |
| aren't ready for. As a culture we are obsessed by | | | | possibilities for your life, maybe showing you choices |
| being more successful, rich, and beautiful. | | | | you didn't know you had and new ways to meet |
| Unfortunately this spills over into yoga when students | | | | life's many challenges. |
| try to force their bodies into the poses they see | | | | Secondly, explore yoga postures, also called asanas, |
| models "performing" on magazine covers. The | | | | slowly and easily while your body builds strength and |
| problem is compounded by weight. A person | | | | flexibility. There's no need to force yourself into |
| struggling with obesity or even just a few pounds | | | | anything. Take your time. |
| over optimal weight has more stress on the joints | | | | The experience is what is most important, not what |
| already. Force the body into a pose it's not | | | | you look like in the mirror. When your body becomes |
| accustomed to -- or enter or exit the pose unsafely | | | | stronger and more flexible, your mind and emotional |
| -- and you will soon have an injury on your hands. | | | | well-being will become strong and flexible, too. A daily |
| One of the first precepts of yoga is the Sanskrit | | | | practice of yoga could very well open the door to |
| word ahimsa, which most often is translated as | | | | self-acceptance. It's a spiritual awakening. |
| "non-violence." It's ironic that yoga is used sometimes | | | | When you accept yourself as the beautiful |
| as a tool of violence against the self, when someone | | | | expression of the divine (however you define it) that |
| strives to be someone else with a different body, | | | | you already are, self-nurturing will automatically arise. |
| rather than accept, love, and nurture themselves into | | | | Profound and lasting change -- including weight loss -- |
| health. | | | | can occur much more easily when we accept who |
| It doesn't have to be this way. | | | | we are, not when we reject and commit violence |
| First, find a teacher with at least a 200-hour | | | | against ourselves. |