Renowned for its capacity to reduce stress, enhance flexibility and improve muscle tone and strength, yoga is not so well known for its contributions to weight loss. Most people don’t think of yoga as a way to burn off the calories, so it can be surprising to discover that it can be an effective way to boost your weight loss efforts.

Yoga is not though of as a particularly active form of exercise. While it works out your muscles, it is rare to become terribly sweaty during yoga (unless you are doing Bikram yoga, but then the room will be heated). The muscle toning effects of yoga do let you burn off calories efficiently, however. This means that a regimen of aerobic exercise in tandem with yoga will produce better results than if you were not doing yoga alongside of aerobic exercise.

Yoga can also give you the discipline you need to stick to a diet and exercise program. It enhances the relationship between the mind and body, giving you the motivation to take better care of yourself. Lack of motivation is a frequent problem among those who want to lose weight, so this is a very important benefit.

New Incarnations of Yoga

If you plan on using yoga by itself to help you drop some pounds, there are some new variations on the traditional practice of yoga, which provide the advantages of both yoga and aerobic exercise in one package. These types of yoga include:

Vinyasa yoga - Vinyasa yoga is centered on shifting from one asana, or pose, to another while concentrating on your breathing. The Sun Salutation is a typical position, but there are many others. Vinyasa yoga is often practiced in a heated room to encourage sweating.

Ashtanga yoga - This is an intricate approach to yoga, integrating six series of individual asanas. They increase in complexity as you progress, so you must perform them in order, improving your skill as you go.

Power yoga - This is an Americanized version of yoga. It combines faster, more active movements with traditional yoga breathing techniques.

These types of yoga are more likely to increase your heart rate and work up a sweat than traditional yoga. While they may not give you as much of a workout as aerobics, they combine weight loss and cardiovascular benefits with the muscle building and flexibility training of yoga. And for those who do not have the time to participate in two separate workout programs, they can be a great option.

Other than being forms of exercise, yoga and aerobics seem to have little in common. But traditional yoga can enhance the effects of more intense workouts, and these newly popular styles of yoga can give you the best of both worlds. If other workout routines have left you disappointed, adding or switching to yoga might be the answer you’re looking for.