Yoga Asanas and Pranayama Plus Hatha Yoga for Weight Loss

When the world, in the present times, talks about yoga in context of yoga for weight loss, it does so colloquially about a selective part of it, i.e., hatha yoga, comprising yoga asanas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. On the other hand ashtanga yoga has two more limbs named yama and niyama being practiced before one embarks upon the next six limbs mentioned above.

Hindu mythology states that that Shiva Himself was the founder of hatha yoga that passed down through generations via Guru-Shishya (teacher-disciple) tradition.

Hatha stands for two opposing energies of fire and water that are hot and cold in nature just like the yin and the yang or the male and the female are.

Hatha yoga tends to balance the mind and the body through asanas and pranayama. Once the balance gets established, weight loss easily gets executed as a natural corollary to the mind-body connection achieved in the process.

The described results of the successful hatha yoga practice are listed as developing a slim body, a bright face, glowing eyes, a feeling of lightness in the body and in the mind, and a greatly enhanced gastric fire in the digestive system.

Pranayama is a joint word created by joining prana, meaning life-energy or breath, and ayama, meaning to elongate or to control. Hence the breath is controlled in any one variation out of three, i.e., exhalation, inhalation and retention – known as rechak, poorak and kumbhak in Sanskrit. The practice develops the physical, the mental and the spiritual strength in the body and in the mind.

Hatha yoga has been reported to effect sounder sleep, enhanced energy level in the body and in the mind, and a greatly relaxed muscular disposition in the entire body. Heart rate and blood pressure are considerably benefited by the process as well.