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...