Hi Kimmie,
I agree with everything claybird says about the physical aspects of yoga. For me, I started doing yoga for relief from back pain but have stayed with it because of the sense of calm and peace it has created for me.
I call my yoga mat my magic carpet. No matter how bad I am feeling, I know I can go to my mat, do my practice (which is different depending on what I need) and walk away a kinder, gentler person - to myself and others.
I don't think the yoga/weight loss connection has much to do with the calories burned. I think it has to do with the awareness you develop. I have a history of weight struggles that began when I was about 11. I struggled gaining and losing the same 10 to 30 pounds for decades. I've done all the diets, aerobics, weights, am a weight watchers life time member, etc...
With yoga, I lost the weight without a lot of struggle and have kept it off. I am kinder and gentler to myself and am much more accepting of my body. I know what my body needs and have learned to pause and ask what I really want before dipping into the cookie jar. If it's a cookie I really want, I eat it and enjoy it without guilt. But if I really want or need to talk to a friend, take a walk, or get in a hot bath, I opt for that. I have learned to eat for fuel and for pleasure. Food is no longer my enemy.
I also recently finished a 20 week tele-course on The Psychology of Eating since food, weight, and the whole mind/body connection are so interesting to me. I think the biggest thing I learned from the course was that the weight is usually just a symptom of something else. When we figure out what we want to be happy and allow ourselves to get happy, the weight issues usually just evaporate!
And don't underestimate the value of yoga's ability to reduce stress. There was just a huge piece in the Wall Street Journal (of all places) about the negative effects of stress on our bodies -- It basically said that stress will make us old, make us fat, sabotage our sex drive, weaken our immune system, ruin our sleep, and be a catalyst for catastrophic events. I took that to mean that if yoga reduces stress, it can reverse all those negative effects!
If there is anything I can do to help you give yoga a try, please let me know...I have lots of book and dvd reviews on the yoga site.
I know I can be an evangelistic on the topic of yoga but it has helped me so much I just want everyone to have a little taste of its power.
Last edited by Mexican Food/Yoga Editor; 04/21/09 06:49 PM.