Overweight, and more importantly, obesity, is often quoted in the media now as an “epidemic” or a “ticking time bomb”. One report claimed that today’s young people are the first generation who are more likely to die before their parents as a result of obesity.

There can be few who do not understand the risks associated with obesity, and particularly with excess weight around the abdomen. Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure, heart disease and some forms of cancer are all strongly linked to overweight.

Extra body weight also puts more strain on the joints, including ankles, knees and hips and is highly likely to cause significant back problems. And finally - as if that weren’t enough, overweight can also lead to severe feelings of depression and low self-esteem.

The constant bombardment of the dieting industry and the media also encourage faddy and sometimes unhealthy eating and exercise regimes, all of which lead to a vicious cycle of yoyo dieting and paradoxically even greater weight gain.

Yoga can be helpful in weight loss in a number of ways including:

• Yoga can raise the heart rate into the cardiovascular range despite its apparent gentle moves. There are some styles of yoga such as Bikram (hot yoga) or Ashtanga yoga which are obviously very vigorous but for the seriously overweight these are neither practical, realistic or safe. Even gentler yoga movements and breathing techniques have also been shown to help people lose weight. There are no fast, jerky movements which might cause injury - you can make progress gently and as you become lighter and more flexible you can feel a real sense of progress and increase the vigour with which you practise.
  
• Yoga can increase our self-awareness. Often, our pattern of overeating and sedentary lifestyle has become an automatic pattern of behaviour which is clearly not serving us well.
  Many forms of exercise are often done with no real focus on what we are actually doing. (Watching TV whilst on the treadmill for example) and often we eat on autopilot too - with little awareness of the taste or enjoyment of the food we eat. Yoga encourages you to focus on what you are doing; to become more aware of how your body feels and to enjoy your food more instead of gulping it automatically. All this helps you change the underlying mindset and habits which may have been undermining your attempt to manage your weight effectively in the past.
  
  
• Yoga involves systematic bending and stretching which helps back pain and improves the flexibility and strength in your joints reducing stiffness and pain and increasing mobility which is often a problem when overweight..
  
  
• Yoga increases a sense of self confidence and esteem.

Learn more about the yoga for weight management programme below.