Larger Bodies
Larger-bodied people benefit from yoga’s positive physical and mental effects. However, they may feel intimidated by a "regular" yoga class
This class is specifically designed for larger bodies. Chairs , the wall and straps are used to more comfortably enter poses. You advance in stages and progress at you own rate, you keep the pace that feels right to you. The more you learn how to relax, the more your bodies open and heal. The more you practice , the stronger and more empowered you become!
Yoga also works on an even subtler level to help prevent over-eating: it relieves the stresses and strains of our hectic day-to-day life, quieting inner conflicts that can trigger craving and emotional eating.
Yoga and Weight Loss
Yoga can help you attain a slimmer figure by cultivating body awareness. The postures, breathing exercises, and mental focus required in yoga all develop an attunement to your body’s needs and natural signals.
Here are five additional ways in which yoga helps create natural weight loss.
1. Yoga improves bodily functions.
Yoga asanas (postures) put the body through more varied types of movements in one practice session than most people have in a month: forward bending, twisting, and backward bending - all increasing circulation. Yoga facilitates natural weight loss by improving function of internal organs and strengthening heart, lungs, kidneys, and digestive system.
2. Yoga increases muscle mass.
Holding asanas strengthens muscles. Muscle tissue has a higher metabolic rate than fat tissue, so people with more muscle mass automatically burn more calories both when active and resting.
3. Yoga Creates Greater Mental and Emotional Balance
Yoga breathing techniques are an important part of yoga. Yoga philosophy teaches us that what we call mental stress or emotional imbalance results from stagnant energy in the body. When there is blockages to the flow of the life force, it affects us both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Yoga asanas in general and pranayama in particular helps facilitate the flow of prana (energy) in the body.
4. Yoga Improves GI Health
Twists massage internal organs, facilitating detoxification and increasing GI health.
5. Yoga Reconnects Mind and Body
The body has its own weight-regulating mechanisms, which will naturally keep our weight normal-as long as we don't override them. Most of us, unfortunately, lose touch with our natural appetite-regulating signals over time. Yoga facilitates natural weightloss by increasing connection between mind and body. As our mind becomes more attuned to the body, it becomes more and more difficult to ignore the body's signals of when to stop eating.
Another byproduct of increased mind-body connection is that as you learn to listen more to your body, you not only become more sensitive to how much you eat, but also what you eat. As a result, many people who practice yoga report that over time they eat less processed and more whole foods.
Students may drop pounds as they challenge their bodies, but yoga's true focus remains set on the mind-body journey toward self-awareness. Sally Pugh, a San Francisco Bay Area teacher who has been instructing plus-size students for six years, sees the spiritual side of yoga as the core of her classes. "I think that we've kind of commercialized yoga, and made it into this athletic sport, and we've taken out the spiritual aspects and the personal growth aspect," she says. "I think that [the mind-body experience] is really very healing for everybody, and especially those who are uncomfortable in their own skin" .
