Yoga and Weight Management

Yoga combines physical postures, breathing and mindfulness, and it can support weight management in several ways. It builds strength and flexibility, helps reduce stress-related overeating and improves awareness of the body. While it burns fewer calories than vigorous exercise, it is a valuable low-impact addition to a weight loss plan, especially for people who find high-impact exercise difficult.

Yoga is a mind-body practice that supports weight management mainly through stress reduction, improved interoceptive awareness and more mindful eating, in addition to modest caloric expenditure. Randomised trials and systematic reviews indicate yoga modestly reduces body weight, BMI and waist circumference, particularly in people with obesity, and lowers cortisol, which may reduce stress-induced central adiposity. Adherence is often higher than for conventional exercise, supporting long-term maintenance.

Yoga offers a gentle, sustainable way to address the stress and emotional drivers of weight gain that diet alone cannot fix. It complements the medical and nutritional parts of our programme.