Yoga for weight loss

Yoga helps in weight loss by improving muscle flexibility, strength, stamina and circulation of blood. The yoga asanas along with correct breathing technique and correct posture help in creating the perfect balance between the mind and body. Yoga compliments the other forms of more active exercises and can never substitute it.

Yoga Pose(Cr/freedigital)

Yoga is fit for beginners that want to start losing weight but are not motivated enough to start running or lifting weights. Yoga helps increase the flexibility in the body gradually motivating you to start more active form of physical activity.

Over the years some forms of yoga like power yoga, flow yoga  have become extremely popular for weight loss. There are many schools of yoga that have similar benefits as power yoga  and have infact helped people manage  heart diseases, asthama and other lifestyle diseases.. To know what style is most conducive to your lifestyle here are few schools listed out for your information.

Hot Yoga: Hot yoga is doing yoga poses in a heated room Read more

Bikram Hot Yoga- Benefits, Myths

I’m sure you’ve heard that Bikram Yoga is all the rage. We’ve all seen pictures of half naked people sweating their bodies away in super heated rooms while holding all those difficult yoga positions! So, here’s a little bit about Bikram Yoga- it was developed by Bikram Choudhury- born in Calcutta; but currently lives in Beverly Hills, California.

Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 40.5 Celcius (105 Farenheit) .There are 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. [In India, we don't need those heated rooms- it gets that hot in summer without any special heating equipment ]

Since your body sweats a lot performing those positions in the heated rooms, Bikram Yoga claims to help rid your body of toxins and promotes blood circulation.

myyoga @ flickr

People claim to lose a lot of weight after performing these classes, but this weight is primarily water weight. Since the body sweats so profusely in those heated rooms, that losing a half a kg of weight (1 lb) should not be surprising. This is temporary weight loss, since it is water weight and once you consume the water, your body weight will return to normal. From a calorie bruning point of view, Bikram Yoga probably burns a reasonable amount of calories, but running for the same amount of time or playing a strenuous sport for that long will probably burn more calories.

Beginners can feel dizzy and nauseous during and after the first few classes. The Bikram Yoga School of India recommends drinking 64-80 oz (about 2 litres) of extra water when you perform Bikram Yoga.

There is controversy around Bikram Yoga in India, since Yoga traditionalists don’t approve of certain practices. Either way, if decide to try Bikram Yoga, ensure to hydrate yourself before, during and after your session.

We are yet to come across any Bikram yoga classes in Delhi. There might be some bikram yoga centers in Mumbai. If you know of them, please share with us!