Today I passed one of my favourite cafés in Helsinki, Kuppi ja Muffiini and my thoughts were drawn to the homemade cupcakes they sell (one of my weaknesses along with chocolate). My contemplation of whether to give in to my guilty pleasure or not lead me back to my yoga practice.
Long time students of yoga are usually in good physical shape and tend not to be overweight. Many attribute this to a vigorous practice which, it is often thought, must burn a good deal of calories. But as New York Times science journalist William J. Broad describes in his book, The Science of Yoga, the exact opposite happens:
“Mayasandra S. Chaya was an Indian physiologist in Bangalore who had practiced yoga since the age of ten… In 2006, Chaya and her team reported that regular yoga practice cut the basal metabolic rate - the energy spent on the body’s housekeeping functions… In other words, individuals who took up the discipline (of yoga) would reduce their basal metabolic rate to such an extent that they would require less food and fewer calories - or would add extra pounds if they ate and exercised in the customary manner.”[1]
So if yoga is not burning many calories, and in fact causes your body to reduce it’s need for energy, why aren’t there more fat yoga practitioners?
This brings us back to the cupcake. Before taking up the discipline of yoga, I would have marched into the café and bought that cupcake without a thought. In fact, I used to cap off my breakfast each day with a jelly doughnut. But as yoga has made me more perceptive of my body, I have learned to listen to it with more awareness. Is my body really hungry? Is it hungry for sweets? Or is it my mind that desires that cupcake? Just by asking myself these questions I gain greater knowledge about my impulses instead of just blindly following them. Being able to distinguish, even feel, what is drawing me to the cupcake gives me more control over whether or not I will eat it. And so as Chaya, the physiologist states:
“Yoga affects the mind - and desire. So you eat less.”[2]
This is the secret why those of us who practice yoga lose weight and keep it off. When it comes to sweets, more often than not, it is our minds that desire the pleasure of consuming them, our bodies rarely need them. As our daily practice deepens we have more awareness to make healthier choices that we never seemed to consider before. I invite you today to deepen your awareness by either going to class or practicing at home.
As it happens, I did choose to eat the cupcake today even though my body did not need sweets (although a sad excuse, I bought it to take the picture for this blog). At the very least, I was fully aware of my choice to give in to my mind’s desire and I will temper it’s temptations the next time I pass the café… I hope.
Has your awareness grown with your yoga practice? If so, how has it grown? Sharing our stories, we all benefit from your experience. My thanks to you for reading mine.
Cheers, Timo
Sources
[1] William J. Broad, The Science of Yoga, the risks and the rewards (Simon & Schuster, 2012) pg 96-97.
[2] Ibid., p. 98.
