Yoga and Weight Loss (with digressions)

Something which I've just recently begun to fully realize is that I've lost 12 lbs. since June.  When I began taking yoga at the Willis Knighton Wellness Center in February of 2008, I thought I might lose a little weight, a few lbs., to bring me back down from 118-120 to about 115.  It just didn't happen and those classes were the faster-paced Yoga Fit classes.

I loved the active yoga, but began looking for a "deeper" approach, and after reading The Vigorous Mind, I decided to devote more time and effort to yoga, both in practice and study.  So in January of 2009, I stated my intention on my book blog and began reading more widely.

Wider reading led to looking for classes that had a more philosophical aspect; a class that viewed asanas as more than exercise or fitness.  As I searched the internet for information on teaching intensives that were close enough to attend, I also began looking at what other kinds of yoga were offered locally.

Not a lot.  We are, as usual, a bit conservative in our area; but I did find an Iyengar class at Lotus Studio and tried it.  The teacher was going to be gone all summer, and I was only able to take 2 classes before she left in May.

Another teacher, however, was teaching at Lotus Studio,  so I tried her class.  Marcia's classes are much slower than Yoga Fit classes, with a strong Viniyoga influence.  This
was exactly what I'd been looking for and with Marcia's encouragement, I enrolled in the Summer Hatha Intensive at Yoga Yoga in Austin. 

I spent a little over a month living in Austin and studying and practicing yoga all day, every day.  Asanas, pranayama, history, philosophy, meditation from 8:00-5:30 every day.  Then taking other classes, especially Kundalini, at night.

Although I've wandered from my initial point, I discovered that doing slower, more thoughtful yoga resulted in a loss of about 12 lbs. in a couple of months.  I had no intention of losing that much and didn't need to, and it came as a surprise that after a little over a year taking an active, athletic yoga, no weight loss occurred.  Then within a month of beginning a slower yoga, I'd lost 8 lbs.  and have continued to lose.  Now, I'm eating more to maintain my weight...which is not all bad!  :)

Mind you, I'm not only doing my own sadhana each morning, but attending classes, and have just begun teaching a class...so there is a lot of yoga going on.  Nevertheless, my weight loss with the Viniyoga-influenced Hatha yoga--was almost immediate.  There really is something to dynamic stillness...

Two Good Links

Reading Yoga in My School today, I found this link to The Namaste Book Club, described as Yoga-Books-Discussions-Community.

I also found this article about altered breathing patterns among those who suffer chronic lower back pain to be informative.

Tips for Improving Your Practice

I like what Paul Jerard has to say about Improving Your Hatha Yoga Practice. Summarized to a ridiculous degree, he says practice, look for guidance, and study. So simple when reduced to these terms; not so simple to put in practice.

One point about looking for guidance resonates with me, because even if you aren't able to have a Guru or Swami or study in India or stay in an ashram, a good yoga teacher who is willing to share knowledge is a wonderful gift. Not all teachers even know their students, but a teacher who "sees" each student and provides inspiration and encouragement is precious. I've been very lucky in this regard and am so appreciative.

As far as study goes, Jerard recognizes that a lifetime is not sufficient to learn all there is to know about "technique, the subtle body, the physical body, various forms of meditation, pranayama, history, and philosophy", but that shouldn't discourage regular, disciplined effort in the form of study. I rarely pass a day without reading about yoga, either by sitting with one book or by looking up a topic in several books, but what if I did as Jerard mentions and studied for an hour a day, each day? Imagine the accumulation of hours and knowledge.

Don't get me wrong, an hour a day every day is beyond me, but I could certainly become more systematic about scheduling time for study. It reminds me of my Self-Challenge from the beginning of the year that led to finding a new teacher, further study, and teacher training.

Unity, not Uniformity...

I've been contemplating a yoga blog for a while. Not just as a place to record my own thoughts and progress, but also as a place to begin recording links to the thoughts, ideas, practices, and meditations of other yoga practitioners.

Because I've been considering the way my personal sadhana has changed and the kind of yoga I see as "right" for myself and for certain individuals (i.e. this individual's practice should be gentle & restorative, this one's practice should be more active, etc.), I appreciated this post on Everything Yoga. "Group think" and "perception" -- whether to be rigid in your view or open, whether to accede to a certain line of thinking or to feel comfortable with your own feelings about what is appropriate.

Which is why I like T.K.V. Desikichar's comment about "unity, not uniformity" as the goal of yoga....