Yoga studios or shalas have sprouted just about everywhere. People practice yoga for spirituality, physical, and mental wellbeing, or weight management. In one of the conferences of the Nutritionist-Dietitians’ Association of the Philippines, a speaker talked about yoga and how some poses or asanas can stimulate our internal organs to secrete hormones that help keep our blood glucose (sugar) levels low but not to the point of experiencing hypoglycemia (very low blood glucose level).
Jonathan Cagas doing a handstand.
Can yoga make you lose weight? Can it help improve some medical conditions? It takes a yoga expert to answer these questions.
I met Jonathan Cagas in 2011 when I started my Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practice at Yoga Manila. He patiently guided me until I evolved from being an awkward yoga student who didn’t know what she was doing, to a more confident one who could do “not so perfect” headstands.
In 2007, Jonathan completed a 200-hour teacher training certificate and a 100-hour advanced studies in yoga and philosophy from the Centered Yoga Institute in Thailand and obtained a certificate in pranayama from the Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute in India. On top of his yoga education, he has earned three masters degrees on Physical Education from the University of the Philippines (UP), Diliman in 2005, Sports Science major in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and Sports Science major in Diagnostics and Intervention from the Leipzig University in Germany. The last two degrees were earned as part of the Erasmus Mundus European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology program. He is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Sports Science of the UP Diliman College of Human Kinetics.
Jonathan defines yoga as a holistic mind and body system that leads one to take care of the mental and physical aspects therefore promoting overall wellbeing. It all starts with Kriyas or cleansing techniques of the breathing system or nasal passages to remove excess mucus that blocks the flow of prana or breath.
Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a popular gymnastic type of yoga developed by K. Pattabhi Jois focusing on asanas that first cleanse the body to make it healthy and strong. According to Jonathan, this practice was designed for regular people since it involves all the elements of breathing, asanas, and meditative. It is a low-moderate exercise that promotes flexibility and strength. Yoga is not aerobic, it will not make you burn as much calories compared to other types of exercises. “You can burn around three to four calories per minute,” Jonathan says. That’s at least 270 to 360 kcal in 90 minutes of practice. Not much right? So how can yoga make you lose weight?
“Yoga can make you burn around three to four calories compared to other types of exercises,” – Jonathan Cagas, Yoga guru
Since yoga is a holistic system, the discipline encourages a plant-based diet. Jonathan used to be a lacto-ovo-vegetarian (consumes milk and eggs) for a long time and is now a pesco-vegetarian or pescetarian (includes fish). As you get deeper into the practice, you will learn to eat properly by making healthier choices and observing proper meal timing. In the early phases of my practice, I ate an entire chicken gyro sandwich and went straight to my class. I almost doubled over during practice.
The meditative aspect of yoga causes a down regulation of the brain’s hypothalamic system. The hypothalamus controls many metabolic processes including hunger and thirst. Stimulation of this part of the brain causes increased food intake and yoga causes an opposite reaction.
A study done by Alyson Ross, MSN, RN and Sue Thomas, FAAN, PhD, RN on The Health Benefits of Yoga and Exercise: A Review of Comparison Studies published at The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine concludes that yoga may be as effective or even better than exercise in improving a variety of health-related outcome measures including heart rate variability, blood glucose, blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), salivary cortisol (stress hormone), and oxidative stress (which causes the formation of free radicals). More studies are needed to examine the health benefits of the various types of yoga.
If you are contemplating on trying out yoga, here are some tips from Jonathan:
• Talk to the teacher and voice out concerns;
• Know the method and type of practice;
• Take Yin classes for relaxation; and
• Take Vinyasa classes for a more holistic approach.
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