Yoga at Home for Absolute Beginners!

Can You Lose Weight with Yoga?

Yes -yoga can help you lose weight - but not on its own!

As much as I love to tout yoga's benefits, I dislike hyperbole!  I believe yoga poses can indeed help you lose weight. However, the other day I was outraged when I came across an article that claimed,

"If the party next month is making you whine and cringe because you cannot fit into a pretty black dress, here is your best friend in disguise, that is, yoga...It cannot only help you lose weight almost magically but also make you feel good about your body. Find below yoga exercises that will help you lose weight like the swirl of a magic wand."

Yoga can help you lose weight "like the swirl of a magic wand?"

Really?  Not quite!

Granted yoga poses such as the shoulder stand and the plough do stimulate the thyroid and pituitary glands which regulate your metabolism-accelerating it if it has been too slow and slowing it down if it has been too fast.  Also poses such as the side bends and the cobra can help you trim and firm up the areas around your abdominal core that tend to get flabby and fatty as the years pass by.

But, you cannot do yoga poses in a vacuum!  

If you practice the slower type of gentle yoga that I present in this blog and my book, you can lose weight if you also engage in other healthy practices.  I have been able to maintain my college weight and physique because I combine a gentle slow yoga practice with daily aerobics (jumping on a mini-trampoline while pumping 3-pound weights) and healthy eating that is centered around whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, oats), lots of greens and colorful veggies and salads, fish, and no dairy, red meat, or poultry and a minimal intake of sugar and processed foods.

Unfortunately, I have seen a number of people who have practiced yoga for years, but who are still overweight because they haven't changed their eating habits.  I indulge once in a while in some sweet treats or other foods that are for taste only - but it is once in a while.  

In my book, Yoga at Home:  Gain Energy, Flexibility, and Serenity in 20-30 Minutes a Day, I share a couple of amazing weight loss stories of individuals several hundred pounds each.  Yoga was just one part of these individuals' life style changes, not the only one!  They also engaged in regular fast-paced aerobic exercise and changed their eating habits.

I love what Timothy McCall, MD says in his book, Yoga as Medicine:  The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing, "Although people somtimes don't realize it, proper diet is an integral part of yoga."

McCall also explains that "From a yogic perspective, you are not just what you eat but how you eat. Yoga encourages you to be aware of every bite you put in your mouth, oticing its taste, texture, and temperature.  Yogis suggest you think about where your food came from and feel gratitude toward those who grew it and prepared it."

McCall adds that it is important to make eating a form of meditation.  When you do this, you will savor your food more, eat less, and then lose weight.

So can you lose weight with yoga - yes indeed! Especially if you practice daily. But, it's not a magic wand that you can wave over your body and have the pounds melt away without out combining other healthy practices to create an overall healthy lifestyle!  

 

Yours for combining gentle yoga with an overall healthy lifestyle to lose or maintain your weight,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginner's At Home Yoga Coach

  ^TM

Also see:  http://www.DoYogaAtHomeNow.com

 

 

 

 

Yoga for Beginners: Yoga Palm Stretches for Carpal Tunnel

 

The backward handclasp shown above can prevent or alleviate carpal tunnel syndome and so can some yoga palm stretches that I just learned  from a video.

A few days ago, I received a most interesting article and accompanying yoga video. I found them so helpful and inspiring that I decided to share the information and video with you.  I always seek to expand my knowledge of the myriad ways yoga can enhance our lives. 

I spend 8 hours a day in front of a computer for my current work as a international trade analyst. Although I set my timer regularly to remind me to stand up and stretch my body,  I have neglected to stretch or "flex" my fingers and hands which probably need it the most given the number of hours of typing I do. 

No more!  The 4-minute video that follows teaches you several finger and hand stretches that you can easily do at your desk (or at home) for a few minutes break to help prevent getting painful carpel tunnel syndrome (i.e., ----- write definition here) or relieve it if you are suffering from it.

What I like about this video is the simplicity and practicality of the exercises that you can slip it throughout your work day. I find that Stasia Bliss, the instructor, explains the process clearly. I especially like her advice about linking up the movements with your breath.

Pardon the cliche, but an ounce of prevention truly is worth way more than a pound of cure.  If you are a desk worker, please add the following yoga palm stretches to your regime and reap the rewards!

 

 

 

Yours for flexing your hands and fingers with yoga to prevent and alleviate carpal tunnel,

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginner's At Home Yoga Coach

  ^TM

Also see:  http://www.DoYogaAtHomeNow.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacationing Yogis Can Take Their Practice Everywhere! (Re-post)

Summer is just a few weeks away!  Time to remind you to take your yoga practice on vacation!

  Vacationing Yogis Can Take Their Practice Everywhere!

Here's another great, paradoxical reason for developing the habit of a home yoga practice- you can take it anywhere!  No need to interrupt your practice while you're on vacation far from a yoga studio!

Once you have ingrained a home yoga practice into your very being, you won't want to miss more than a day or two no matter where you go.  All you require is enough floor space to spread out a travel mat (lighter and thinner than a usual mat) and to be able move your arms and legs about a foot from the mat.  It is as simple as that!

What better way (except maybe sex...) to get the kinks out of your body after a long airplane, train, or car ride than with yoga?  Several years ago I bought a travel mat from Barefoot Yoga that has served me well in myriad hotel rooms and even a tiny cruise ship cabin.  The Yoga Journal often features yoga travel gear such as "Toe Sox" that have sticky soles to support standing poses and "Yoga Paws" that are supposedly like "mini-mats" that you wear on your hands and feet in lieu of a mat.  (However, for me, a mat is essential for face down poses that bring your face and head in contact with the floor.  Sorry, I don't think many places have floors that are so clean you could eat off of them!)  

But, really, all you need for practicing yoga while vacationing is whatever you usually wear for yoga and a travel mat.  With these you're good to go to do yoga anywhere and everywhere.  That's the advantage of practicing on your own and not being tied solely to doing yoga in a class.  The one caveat about doing yoga on vacation is that your schedule may be upside down with many other activities. If that's the case, make a point of squeezing in poses throughout the day.  Maintaining your yoga practice while traveling will enable you to return home even more relaxed and refreshed than you would be otherwise!

Yoga will travel,

 

Laura Venecia Rodriguez, the Beginner’s Yoga at Home Coach

  ^TM

Also see:  http://www.DoYogaAtHomeNow.com