FYB Feel Your Best - Yoga Teacher Training, Pilates Teacher Training and Stress Management Teacher Training

Mind, Body & Spirit:

Question and Answers

About Yoga, Pilates & Stress Management

By Debra Mundt, RYT500, CPT
FYB (Feel Your Best)^®

Yoga, Pilates & Stress Management

Teacher Certification Training School

Inflexibility / Weight Loss / Tight Hips

Q: I am, and always have been, plagued with chronic inflexibility! I’m worried that if I try something like yoga, I’ll look silly, and won’t be able to do it. Help! --H.A.

A: Here’s some good news for you: anyone can do yoga, flexible or not! The fact is that yoga helps us to gain greater flexibility, rather than requiring you to be flexible to attempt it. Let’s face it, the image of people twisting their bodies into pretzels is far from realistic; we are all unique individuals who can gain many different benefits through the practice of yoga, only one of which is flexibility. We also gain strength, endurance, confidence, and overall mental and physical well-being. The type of class you choose, however, is important. I would suspect that you would most likely enjoy a gentle class, which would emphasize slow, mindful movements (which encourage flexibility-building) and breathing exercises. Or try an Introductory series of classes, which should introduce the postures methodically, and in an individualized format, so that you get the most from your practice. Good luck!

Q: I’ve heard that you can lose weight just by doing yoga—is this true? -- B.C.

A: The short answer? Yes! The more comprehensive answer is that yoga in and of itself is usually not responsible for weight loss. Practicing yoga helps us increase our body awareness, and improve our relationship with our bodies. As a result, we become more conscious about the food we are putting into our bodies, and the ways in which we move. For weight loss to occur, we must expend more calories than we take in. For most of us, this will mean doing aerobic / cardiovascular activity and watching our food intake. Yoga is not an aerobic activity per se; however, practicing some styles of yoga can certainly increase your heart rate and make you sweat. Yoga also increases lean muscle mass, which helps to more effectively burn fat. Additionally, some yoga postures stimulate the thyroid gland, which helps to boost the metabolic rate, thereby gently inducing weight loss. If you are seeking to lose weight by including yoga as your only physical activity, I would recommend an athletic style in which you are moving continuously, such as Ashtanga. However, if you are supplementing your current physical activity with yoga, you may choose any style that makes you feel good, from gentle (e.g., Viniyoga, Ananda) to athletic (e.g., Ashtanga, Bikram). It is a fact that natural, healthy weight loss can occur as a result of practicing yoga!

Q: I have noticed that my hips are sometimes tight, and other times very open. Why is this? – S.W.

A: This question can be addressed from several perspectives. From a yoga perspective, it is said that the hips are the seat of our emotions. Researcher Alexander Lowen has done extensive research on how the emotions become stored within the tissues of our bodies, particularly within the hips. It may be that when your hips are feeling tight, it is during times when you may feel emotionally vulnerable or are under stress. Yoga can serve as a therapeutic tool, both physically as well as emotionally. As helpful as the physical “hip-opening” postures may be, most important will be final relaxation, in which the body integrates the benefits of the physical postures into the body and mind…so never, ever skip this step! With time and patience, you should find that your stress levels are reduced, and your hips are consistently more open.

Did You Know?

Did you know that yoga can be helpful for many medical conditions, provide support for injury rehabilitation, and help you sleep better? As a yoga practitioner for nearly 20 years, I have personally experienced all of these things…as well as many others! I’ll be the first to admit, when yoga was first suggested to me, I thought I’d be asked to stand on my head and twist my body into a pretzel! What I found was that yoga helped to quiet my mind in a stressful world, and that my body never felt better! I even began noticing positive changes in my relationships, as well as my self-esteem. While I initially came to yoga to rehabilitate a knee injury, I fell in love with the “side effects” that went with it!

Do you (or does someone close to you) have a medical condition (e.g., diabetes, high blood pressure, insomnia, fibromyalgia, asthma), or have an injury that you think Yoga, Pilates or Stress Management might be helpful in treating? Perhaps, you have general or specific Yoga, Pilates or Stress Management related questions. I’d love to hear from you! Please send your question to Info@FeelYourBest.com. I regret that I will not be able to personally answer each question submitted, due to time and space constraints.

Debra Mundt, RYT500, CPT, is the founder of FYB (Feel Your Best)^® Yoga, Pilates & Horizons (Stress Management). She is also Director of the FYB Teacher Certification Training School. Debra and the School Faculty members may be reached at 262-241-8796, or by e-mailing Info@FeelYourBest.com.