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Regular Yoga Practice will help towards weight loss!

So what could be easier .. get out there to a class, or buy yourself a video or DVD ... and give it a go!

Did you know that obesity is one of the causes of diabetes and that diabetes is one of the greatest

killers of Americans each year. Just think ... diabetes affects some 19 million Americans .. do you want to be a statistic? ... if not, get out there and do something about it!

Yoga, through regular practice of its asanas can help you manage your weight ... now nothing comes from nothing, so you need to put in the effort and do the exercises as well as taking care of how many calories you actually eat.

The two go hand in hand whether you like it or not ... because weight loss will only follow if you burn more calories than you consume.

Now yoga helps on many planes, for instance, some of the yoga asanas help to stimulate your glands to get them to increase their hormonal secretion. One of the main glands which has a dynamic effect on weight gain and inversely also loss, is the thyroid gland ... if you can get that working then it will increase your body's metabolism and help to burn more calories resulting in the start of weight loss.

Yoga positions such as the shoulder stand and the fish pose specifically help to move a sluggish thyroid along.

So when you increase your metabolism and you reduce your intake of calories, your body will start to metabolize the fat in your body and convert it to muscle.

Doing yoga will not only help this conversion but will tone and trim the muscles that your developing into long lean muscles.

You may also have noticed that after a yoga class or even an exercise class, if you've been working good and hard you often don't feel hungry after the class. One of the explanations for this is that with the stimulation of the endorphins in your body your desire for food is reduced. Also yoga helps to reduce stress and anxiety and this, in turn will reduce the binge eating that people often do when they're stressed or anxious!

In breathing deeply in doing the yoga positions you're increasing the oxygen intake to your body cells which increases oxidation or the burning up of fat in the cells.

Yoga helps to get your metabolism working!

Using Yoga For Weight Loss

Contributed by: Michael Paetzold

Yoga can be put to good use for taking off excess pounds through the power of creating a state of mental and physical well being. The basic tenets of Yoga promotes a healthy lifestyle and when combined with a calorie reduction can help to speed up your weight loss.

Yoga will increase your metabolism by increasing the caloric burning process. All weight loss is based on using more calories than you take in. It will also allow you to increase your ability to concentrate and focus.

Your thyroid regulates your metabolism and is responsible for the chemical processes that transform food into energy. Yoga uses a series of twisting poses that will help to stimulate the work flow of the internal organs. This will cause your metabolism to increase and burn more calories which will eventually cause you to have a lower body weight. Another side effect is that it will help to improve your circulation and increase your energy level.

The various back bends combined with the forward bends will help to stimulate the metabolism. The poses that affect the neck region can be helpful in stimulating the thyroid if the weight problem is caused by a hormonal imbalance. Poses that will help the most for this include the camel, rabbit, plow, bridge and head stand.

Going quickly between the various poses can help to accelerate the weight loss. Beware though that those seriously overweight may find some of these poses extremely difficult and should start slowly with the easier poses and add others as they become more confident in the easier ones.

You can use standing poses to increase muscle strengthening such as the warrior. These will help to create higher endurance and increase your caloric usage.

Remember that a gradual approach is best with all Yoga practices. The long term effects on your weight loss regime will become evident and even more so the inner peace and general well feeling that Yoga will promote within you.
About The Author
Michael Paetzold is the webmaster of http://innerselfimprovement.com where you will find information to improve the inner you. Weight loss, better self image, time management and much more are addressed there.

Obesity and diabetes are modern day diseases, but the regular practice of yoga can keep the effects of both in check!

In a way diabetes is a lifestyle disease.

The more disposable income we have to buy take away and pre-prepared foods rather than cooking healthier alternatives, the more we buy home entertainment systems and sit and let ourselves be stimulated rather than going outside to play sports or just walk the dog or even go for a walk with your kids or your partner, the more sedentary our lifestyles become... and home life isn't the only one to blame, but also the work environment, the more we will be plagued by modern world diseases.

With longer working hours, we're sitting more and more on our .... ah...backside ... and just packing on the pounds, and not doing any exercise as we're too tired, it's too late or we just can't be bothered and there's some reality TV show on that we'd rather watch.

And this change in lifestyle is part of the cause of these modern day diseases...in some instances it is genetic though!

Well as mentioned diabetes and obesity go hand in hand. Obesity and stress together can also cause diabetes. By the way stress also increases the blood glucose levels and so the associated risks of heart disease, and stroke.

Yoga can help regulate the impact of stress as well!

Diabetes is when the body doesn't produce insulin or use it properly . As you may have heard, insulin is the hormone in the body that converts, sugar, starches and other foods into energy.

I mentioned above there are some 19 million Americans with diabetes and about 90% odd have type 2 diabetes.

You'll probably recognize type 1 diabetes more easily, it's the one where the pancreas is no longer able to make insulin and therefore type 1 diabetics are insulin dependent and need to take insulin shots or use insulin pumps.

Type 2 diabetes is not insulin dependent and is the most common type of diabetes. Young or old no one is immune but you can take precautions!

Type 2 diabetes is where the pancreas doesn't create enough insulin and the muscle, fat or liver cells don't properly utilize what is produced.

Fat and obese people have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes ...

(Can you see where I'm going with this ....WEIGHT LOSS SHOULD BE ON YOUR AGENDA .... everyone has an obligation to themselves to remain as fit and healthy as they possibly can ... and practicing yoga is such a great way of doing this) ....

as both body fat and the fat in the bloodstream seem to interfere with the ability of the cells to utilize the bit of insulin that is produced.

Just so that you know ... diabetes is often diagnosed when someone has excessive thirst, is constantly urinating, has extreme hunger regularly even though you eaten normally, or you're always tired, and so irritable, blurred vision is also an indicator. If you have some of these indicators OR even worse ALL, get yourself to the doctor ASAP and get yourself checked out!

Think about it, if you have type 2 diabetes it may still be able to be regulated without medication, depending on whether you have the strength of character to modify your diet and do the right exercise. However, with type 2 diabetes, depending on the severity any or all of the following may be necessary - diabetic medicine, regular and constant exercise, healthy - no fatty or sugary food choices, blood pressure and cholesterol control and maybe a daily aspirin.

If you have type 1 diabetes then you'll need regular insulin shots, definitely regular exercise and daily aspirin and blood pressure and cholesterol control.

You don't want to ignore diabetes ... that can be dangerous! It can affect all your major organs ... I think blindness, at least for me, would be one of the worst, but not only that, it can affect your heart, kidneys, nervous system.

So the upshot of this is do yourself a favor and get moving, choose your foods carefully and do yoga!

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