Bariatric Yoga

A Sustainable Approach to Weight Loss

Bariatric Yoga provides a sustainable approach to weight loss that integrates every aspect of weight control including strength and flexibility, exercise, nutrition, conscious eating, and emotional well-being.  The fundamentals of Bariatric Yoga include teachings of the classic postures and movements with modifications for individuals with medical problems.  We also teach a specific set of joint mobility exercise which can be used to prepare the joints for yoga and movement.  Many patients find that joint mobility work is a key part of the therapy of yoga.  These modifications can be designed for any patient, whether they are trying to lose a few pounds or are dealing with morbid obesity.

Yoga promotes many beneficial effects on the body.  Mindfulness is one of the most important, as a mindful approach to training leads both to a thoughtful approach to life as well as to yoga and training.  It is critical to have this thoughtful approach to training as it prevents injury.  One of the primary tenants that yoga shares with medicine is the concept of injury prevention.  Physicians take an oath to guide patients to health but also to do no harm along the way.  In the same way yoga teachers are taught to show their students how to heal their body through movement and postures without injuring themselves.

Joint mobility is a fundamental component of Bariatric yoga.  Patients often struggle with arthritis or joint stiffness.  These problems lead to poor coordination between the joints when they are required to move together.  By engaging in specific joint mobility exercises we start a process of improving the function and fluidity of all of the joints in the body.  This improvement in fluidity and function leads to improved biomechanics in yoga as well as in daily life.  Therefore Bariatric yoga is a practice that develops health and wellness.

After integrating the joints and beginning to explore specific postures practitioners will find that they build both strength and flexibility.  Yoga is traditionally defined as a union of strength and flexibility.  By building strength and improving bio-mechanical movement patterns many patients find that they experience a broad range of benefits.  These include improvement in chronic muscle tension, improved posture, and improved self image.  We also specialize in unique techniques that can help build strength for yoga as well as the activities of daily life.  These additional techniques include Kettle bell, Indian club and club bell training.

Ability to move with the breath and with breath awareness is a fundamental concept in yoga.  The concept of breathing and coordinated movement with breath is introduced and gradually developed.  With time this aspect becomes a natural but fundamental pat of the practice.

For a person who is focusing on weight loss, Bariatric Yoga is the perfect way to integrate diverse complementary medical therapies with physical exercise. Through movement that is coordinated with the breath, one is able to burn calories, increase the metabolic rate, and burn fat thereby improving one's overall physical appearance and sense of well-being.  At the same time, by balancing the inner energies within the body through techniques ranging from traditional Chinese medicine to ayurveda, one creates an inner harmony that sustains this new physical body and allows effortless maintenance of weight loss.  Yoga has been proven in multiple scientific studies to be an effective therapy for weight loss.  What is equally as important is inner peace and balance that Yoga brings a practitioner.

There is a global obesity epidemic.  The reason that any one person struggles with his or her weight, however, is personal and multi-factorial.  Factors that influence weight range from portion control, exercise and activity levels, baseline metabolic rate, and other medical problems as well as more subtle emotional factors.  Bariatric Yoga addresses each of these factors.  We provide instructions on conscious eating.  The yoga itself is a form of physical exercise which burns calories increases lean muscle mass and therefore metabolic rate, improves flexibility and range of motion.  This improved flexibility gives practitioners the freedom to take control of their lives and lead an active healthy lifestyle. 

Through yoga and particularly Bariatric Yoga, inner optimum health is facilitated by balancing meridians and marma points.  Practitioners see improvement not only in weight but in other medical conditions.  For example, yoga has been shown in studies to improve blood pressure control, lower blood sugar in diabetics, and improve functioning in diseases as diverse as rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, dealing with addiction and multiple sclerosis.  By bringing balance to the body and improving the overall state of health through multiple applications, Bariatric Yoga leads to weight loss, but often this is just one of many beneficial effects.

Nowhere are the health improving effects of yoga more needed than in patients struggling with morbid obesity.  These patients often have diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, arthritis, depression, addiction, and sleep apnea as well as other sleeping problems.  These co-morbidities make regular exercise a challenge in this population.  Bariatric Yoga is designed to specifically deal with any baseline level of health and has a series one can follow as overall health status improves and weight loss occurs. 

To the end of serving the Bariatric population, we have developed a number of DVD sets including one set that is entirely performed seated in a chair.  The two DVD sets that follow the Chair set help a practitioner reach new levels as  new levels of health and wellbeing are reached.  Each of these sets teaches modifications of poses for patients with physical limitations whether that be a limitation based on their weight or other physical limitations including limited flexibility.  It is our experience that over time many physical limitations which were once thought to be insurmountable are only temporary. With intention and dedication, practitioners can steer their lives in any direction. The power of yoga combined with other multi-disciplinary approaches gives the practitioner the possibility to achieve what is imagined.

The most important tenet of modern bariatric medical programs is a multi-disciplinary approach.  Bariatric Yoga is a perfect example of this as it is an adjunctive therapy that patients can do to faciliate their own wellness.  Bariatric Yoga promotes mental, emotional, and physical well-being. It can be used by patients before and after Bariatric procedures such as a gastric bypass or a gastric band.  It has also been used by some patients as their primary weight loss technique.

Bariatric patients often benefit from participating in bariatric support groups. We have found that Medicine Yoga and Bariatric Yoga™ are perfect adjuncts to such support groups.  Bariatric yoga can also be integrated with state of the art strength training techniques such as club bell training and kettle bell training.   Many patients find that by combining these modalities they build strength, flexibility, the ability to move fluidly and overall confidence.

While yoga has been found to be effective for weight loss in adults, it also has been shown to be highly effective in achieving weight loss for teenagers.  We see Bariatric Yoga as one key therapy in addressing the childhood obesity and diabetes epidemic. By creating a multi-modal healing technique for children, we have the opportunity to prevent this epidemic from worsening and in many cases help children find optimal health before the complications of obesity ever develop. This is a fundamental mission and commitment for Medicine Yoga as the power to prevent is in some ways more powerful and long lasting than the power to heal.