The American science of exercise is based on the cardiovascular workout which helps to bum fat and reduce body weight. Can gentle exercise such as yoga and t'ai chi provide any benefit for those who desire to lose weight? "Aerobic yoga" is an oxymoron which may have originated as a marketing tool. In actuality, the methods employed in aerobic exercise and traditional strength training are diametrically opposed to the yogic approach of the body. There is no authentic lineage or school of yoga that is rooted in the desire to burn fat or to strengthen the cardio-vascular system by increasing the heart rate.

Yoga offers its practitioners tools to quiet and calm the mind. Yoga, as well as many other Eastern health practices, seeks to regulate the breath, strengthen the bones and skeletal structure of the body, and elongate the muscles. It seeks to soften and relax tension which impairs the functioning of the circulatory system, organs and glands.

When yoga practice results in weight loss, it is as a result of the development of compassionate self awareness. The exploration may take a student up or down 20 to 100 pounds on the scale, or may leave the student more accepting of his or her own body composition, with no visible changes on the outside.

Yoga does not begin by staling that there is anything wrong, imperfect, or needing to be corrected in accordance with any tables of body fat or height and weight. The answers do not come from a book, a personal trainer, or a talk show host's cookbook.

Instead, yoga practices remind students how to be able to stay present with whatever one is experiencing. We can live our lives without filling in the spaces with drugs, alcohol, or endorphins from excessive exercise or high risk activities. We do not need to buy things, or blank out in front of the television, or sedate ourselves with food. We can learn to be able to absorb and digest the experiences of our lives while living gracefully in our bodies, without needing to disassociate from others.

Ayurveda teaches us to be able to observe, experience, and love both ourselves and others in each of the 3 states explained by the gunas. These examples were provided by Rama Berch of Master Yoga Academy.

Sattvic bliss occurs when we stand in the state of being erect, disciplined, and unwavering. We are not distracted or tempted. In its pure state, we do not experience superiority, smugness, or ego attachment, but can observe with neutrality our sattvic selves.

Tamasic bliss occurs when we take a box of chocolates and climb under the covers, and love ourselves while being "bad". It is the experience of contraction or hibernation. In its pure state, there is no judgment or self loathing.

Rajasic bliss is burning and intense. It is the experience of digestive fire. It occurs when we are so wired that we take ourselves out to the 7-11 store at midnight, fueling the fire of digestion.

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We have culturally defined ideas that allow us to categorize and judge ourselves and others relative to our inherent tendencies, and we tend to prescribe the same approaches for radically different personalities. The basic necessity for humans is that they have an opportunity to be able to see themselves. When we can cultivate the capacity to step back and observe the experience of ourselves, we can heal ourselves. We begin to feel our emotions and experience them. We can integrate rather than suppress or deny our reality.

Programs and Practitioners

Dayashakti, based in the Berkshires, is the originator of Wave Work, and has over 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist. Based on her own experiences with yoga and eating, this work uses breath and awareness of sensation to help integrate emotions and manifest an effective grounded experience of being in one's own body. Wave Work is about being able to digest whatever comes our way. 

Anma Jackie Gordon, a yoga teacher in the Central Massachusetts area, is also a visual artist and kundalini yoga teacher who focuses on assisting those who consider themselves too weak and breathless to be able to approach traditional yoga due to their relative size. While maintaining the integrity of Yogi Bhajan's kundalini yoga teachings, Anma has adapted them so that they can be practiced sitting on a chair with periods of rest interspersed with kriyas designed specifically to create an experience of success. Kriyas specify body position, mental focus, and breathing technique to bring into balance all of the body's systems. When anger floods the liver, we can overload the spleen by craving sweets. Kundalini yoga can teach techniques for using breath, rather than food, to re-establish equilibrium. Lessons such as "Accessing the Source of Strength in You" and "Meditation on the Power to Resist" can be combined with a liver kriya to help the student to access his or her own internal will.

Shay Cooper, a Salem, MA-based Kripalu yoga teacher began teaching "Yoga for People with Eating Disorders". Although initiated by a student suffering from anorexia, it evolved into a class for students who were measured in this culture to be 70-80 pounds overweight. The class touched the students deeply by inviting them to love whatever it was that they could do. Many students had struggled with body image issues since an early age, and could not remember a time of not struggling. Reflecting on her experience of teaching. Shay reminisced "I saw them as beautiful caring people. Yoga helps us to remove obstacles when we can witness the aches and pains and hardships of others. I saw them touch their own spirit, gain self acceptance, and make the choice to feel better physically through movement."

Kripalu teaches Linda DeMareo and Genia Pauli Haddon have produced two videotapes entitled "Yoga for Round Bodies." They inspire their students to remember that they can change the shape of their lives without needing to first change the shape of their bodies. They state, "Yoga can help you look and feel lighter due to posture and attitude. You can be in your body with alignment and enjoyment, and embrace moving your body, being seen in it and living life itself. Moving slowly with awareness allows you to cherish and support yourself. You can change and grow without pressure."

In addition to what we eat, awareness allows us to observe without judgment all of the decisions that we make — from who the people are that we surround ourselves with, to what we read, to what we watch on TV, to what we eat and drink, to the thoughts that we chose to have. Aligning what we commit to with what we pray for is a powerful practice. When we listen to our body's wisdom and connect with our intuition, we can begin to make decisions about how to truly nurture ourselves, our planet, our communities and those around us.

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Pat Burke is the director of Earthsong Yoga Center, 186 Main St #14 Marlboro, MA  01752 and the founder of the Massachusetts/New England Yoga Alliance. The Alliance provides free information and referral to all traditions of yoga. For more information please call 508-480-8884 or email at pat@earthsongyoga.com  or visit her website at www.earthsongyoga.com.