Believe it or not, one of the most searched keyword phrases with yoga is “weight loss”. When it comes to exercise, health, and wellness, a large percentage of people researching options are looking for something that will help them shed the pounds. We know that our method of exercise is incredibly important for health + wellness. If you haven’t been moving much, any yoga practice may help you toward your weight loss goals. Any style of yoga that increases your heart rate, stresses your muscles, and improves respiration will provide a larger calorie burn than slower styles or no movement at all. But, as for us here at Ignite Yoga, we don’t market weight loss as a primary benefit.
For this reason, I thought for this post it might be fun to uncover 5 things other than weight that students lose when they discover yoga. Let’s get into it!
Self doubt
Imposter syndrome has been a buzz word for years now, and for good reason. In our society, often times we are thrust out into the world quickly with little to no grace for mistakes as we learn on the job. Yoga helps students to trust their own intuition and inner knowing. We are able to listen to our own bodies and minds when we slow down and practice our yoga. A regular yoga practice will instill confidence in oneself, not only on the mat, but out in the real world in our day-to-day lives.
Insecurity
Much like imposter syndrome, insecurity is very common in our world today. In an environment where we not only want to be the best, but we are held to very high expectations, people can feel quite vulnerable and unsure of their own worth. Yoga teaches us that we are right and worthy without ever lifting a finger. Yoga is a very individualistic form of exercise; one that looks and feels very different for each person. For this reason, we can all find confidence in our practice by listening to and honoring what our body is telling us.
Guilt about setting boundaries
A lot of times, we feel obligated to give everything to everyone, especially those we love; and a lot of the time, we feel guilty if/when we ever say no to something. However, what ends up happening is that we run ourselves into the ground trying to be everywhere + do everything, which leaves us tired, irritable, and prone to mistakes, injury, or worse – dropping the proverbial ball completely.
Yoga teaches us that in order to maintain a healthy body, mind, and life, we must create clear, consistent, and honest boundaries with the people around us as well as ourselves. I hear it a lot with our yoga instructors who will often choose one day of the week to purposely NOT schedule anything. It’s a great boundary to have in order to no overextend or burn out doing something you love.
Feeling weak
When we think of strong, we usually picture the body builder type with bulging muscles, but this time, we are talking about losing the sense of feeling weak both physically and mentally. It’s no lie that physical strength is a component to most yoga practices, but the real transformation is the strength of mind one can build when practicing yoga. Maintaining a clear and calm mind despite outward distractions is key in yoga and something that is very helpful in our daily lives. Losing the chaotic or unorganized way of thinking is absolutely something yoga can help with.
Emotional + physical reactions to triggers
Knee jerk reactions often never lead to positive outcomes. When we react and respond from a triggered emotional space, we often aren’t using our logical center of our brain. Learning to encounter a stressful situation or even a true trigger, yet be able to maintain a level head long enough to process emotions leads to healthier relationships and lowered stress levels.
