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a residential immersion program that incorpo- get in the stylist: lyn heineken; hair/makeup: tamara brown/artist untied; top: testament; pants: lucy
rates multiple aspects of healthy living in an inte-
grative approach to weight management. flow

The program includes twice-daily yoga classes, asana sequence by Ashley Turner
pranayama instruction, nutritional counseling
and cooking demonstrations, life coaching, shar- This flowing sequence is designed to build physical
ing circles, and mindful-eating exercises, with strength and to tone and engage your core and leg mus-
yogic philosophy as a foundation for assimilating cles. As you move through the poses, notice your inner
the information. Within 18 months of completing dialogue and the language you use to describe your
the weeklong workshop, Kornrumpf had lost 47 body. If you start to scold yourself, see if you can soften
pounds. Her blood pressure dropped from 140/90 your gaze, smile, and let go of those judgments.
to a healthy 120/70, and her cholesterol settled
within normal ranges. Today, she says, “I feel fit; I Throughout your practice, focus on your breath when diffi-
feel healthy, lighter, happier, and more open.” cult emotions or agitated thoughts arise. Even something
as simple as noticing how the quality of your breathing
Yoga may not be the first thing that comes to changes when you feel anxious or stressed can be illumi-
mind when you’re formulating a weight loss plan, nating. Where do you feel tension in your body? When you
but recent studies linking yoga with mindful eat- soften and release that area of the body, does the quality
ing and weight loss suggest that maybe it should of your breath change? The more you tune in to sensation—
be. The combined effects of the self-acceptance, both on and off the mat—the more you can tell if something
increased body awareness, and inward reflection enhances you or depletes you, whether it’s getting an
that are natural byproducts of a regular yoga practice extra hour of sleep or having an extra helping at dinner.
can increase your ability to achieve and maintain
a healthy weight, and can have a positive impact, to begin
whether you’re significantly overweight, just want-
ing to lose a few pounds, or struggling with a body- Stand tall at the front of your mat in Tadasana (Mountain
image problem despite being at a healthy weight. Pose), with your palms pressed together in Anjali Mudra
(Salutation Seal), your eyes closed, and your head bowing
“Yoga may not be a glamorous, quick fix to weight to your heart. Silently acknowledge your efforts for show-
loss, but it creates fundamental shifts that lead to ing up. Begin with three to five Sun Salutations to warm
lasting change,” says Ashley Turner, a yoga teacher up your entire body. Focus on the quality of your breath
and psychotherapist in Los Angeles and New York and try to distribute it evenly throughout your whole body.
and the creator of the Element DVD Yoga for During the sequence, concentrate on transitioning mind-
Weight Loss. Turner says that yoga’s emphasis on fully between poses, without holding your breath.
self-acceptance is the key to creating such transfor-
mation. Unlike traditional methods such as diets ✳ Before you begin any new exercise or dietary
and exercise boot camps, yoga philosophy teaches program, always check with your doctor.

students to approach the body with compassion,
understanding, and friendship.

“Yoga teaches us that what is in this moment is
perfect,” says Turner. “And it’s possible to maintain
that nonjudgment and compassion, even as we strive
for self-improvement.” With this mind-set, her cli-
ents can get on the mat and enjoy the experience
of being physical. On an emotional level, practic-
ing self-acceptance makes it easier for you to truly
observe your habits and get to the root of what has
caused the weight gain. “Such an internal process
might take longer to see the physical results, but it
is a much more effective and sustainable course in
the long run,” says Turner. She adds that this slow,

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From Adho Mukha Svana-
sana (Downward-Facing
Dog Pose), step your right
foot forward between your
hands and bring your left
heel to the ground at a
45-degree angle. See that
your right knee is directly
over your foot, and dis-
tribute your weight evenly
across both feet. Inhale and
rise up into Warrior Pose II,
with yours arms reaching
out to the sides. Exhale,
pause, and straighten
your front leg. Check your
stance by looking down
to see that your ankles are
under your wrists. Then
exhale and bend your right
knee again and come into
Utthita Parsvakonasana
(Extended Side Angle
Pose), placing your right
fingertips to the outside
of your right foot (or on
a block) and extending your
left arm over your left ear.
On an inhalation, draw your
navel in and engage your
core as you rise back up to
Warrior II. Repeat 2 to 4
more times on the right
side to build strength and
heat. Switch sides by turn-
ing your right foot in and
your left foot out. Repeat 3
to 5 times on the left side.

Flow between Warrior
Pose II and Extended
Side Angle Pose

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Flow between Goddess Pose

steady, consistent approach is, in fact, crucial for diets encourage people to ask the ‘should’ ques-
keeping the weight off. “The Yoga Sutra of Patan- tions. How long should I work out? How many calo-
jali outlines how lasting change is only possible ries should I eat every day?” he says. Yoga, on the
from focused, inner work,” she says. other hand, suggests kinder and ultimately more
transformative questions like, How do I feel in my
begin with the body right now? What choices can I make that are
healthier for my whole being?
first step
Liz Dunn, a massage therapist in Cheshire, Con-
Turner, whose approach combines asana with necticut, lost 125 pounds over a year and a half and
nutritional and psychological counseling, notices says that the self-acceptance she learned through
that her clients and students are bombarded with yoga was a crucial part of her weight loss journey.
media messages about what a beautiful body looks “When you’re that size, your thoughts are domi-
like, messages that tell us to look outside ourselves nated by things like ‘I can’t sit in that chair,’ and
for validation and acceptance. But trying to live up ‘I can’t do this or that.’ But yoga taught me that
to an ideal that is unrealistic and often unhealthy I’m OK where I am today. Yoga was like a warm,
is likely to backfire, Turner says, especially when welcoming embrace saying, ‘Let’s find you and take
used as a motivator for weight loss. John Bagnulo, time to just be here, now.’” This, Dunn says, is what
PhD, nutritionist for Kripalu’s weight loss pro- enabled her to get past the plateaus that invari-
gram agrees, adding that people often develop a ably accompany significant weight loss over a long
false sense of what their body should look like, and period of time. “I never set weight loss goals; I just
yoga can help them work through that. “Western integrated yoga into my view of how I was physi-
cally in the world,” she says. “That made it OKwhen
I hit those plateaus and wouldn’t lose any weight
for weeks, which is when a lot of people give up.”

76 yogajournal.com february 2010

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and Temple Pose

From Warrior II on the left

side, exhale and straighten

your left leg. Bring your hands

to your hips and turn both

feet out 45 degrees (stepping

the feet a little closer to

each other if needed). Roll

your weight to the outside

edges of your feet and engage

your core. On an exhalation,

lower your hips until your

knees are bent as close to a

90-degree angle as possible,

and directly over your ankles.

Draw your tailbone down

toward your heels, and draw

your hip points up. Inhale

and reach your arms out to

the sides. Exhale and bring

your left forearm to your left

thigh or, if you are able, your

left fingertips to the floor.

Inhale deeply and come back

up to center, using your core.

Exhale and bring your right

forearm to the right thigh,

or your right fingertips to the

floor. Repeat 2 to 3 more

Turner finds that self-acceptance gives students person there,” she says. “In fact, times on each side, breathing
the courage to inquire within about what is at the you probably could have added deeply. When you’re finished,
root of their struggle with weight, and identify the the two people on the mats next to straighten your legs, turn
underlying thoughts or emotional stirrings that me together, and I still would have your feet forward, and bring
cause them discomfort and contribute to actions weighed more.” After she went to your hands to your hips.
that aren’t serving their weight loss goals. Come to a seated position

When you feel the urge to overeat, Turner sug- class regularly for several months, on your mat.
gets asking yourself questions like “What am I
really hungry for?” and “What is truly causing me Althoff ’s focus subtly shifted from
stress, and what do I really need in this moment?”
Maybe it’s a walk around the block, or a phone the other students in the class to her own experi-
call with a friend. The ability to observe your feel-
ings without judgment becomes a tool that helps ence. “I didn’t realize this was happening until
you figure out what you need from moment to
moment, says Turner. Then, instead of automati- one day after class a student told me I had a
cally reacting to a stressful situation with estab-
lished patterns like reaching for comfort food, you lovely practice,” she says. “I was shocked to real-
can learn to recognize the moment of choice. “We
can simply notice that we can choose to eat more ize that I couldn’t return the compliment. I had
or not. Either way, there is no judgment,” she says.
absolutely no idea what her practice looked like,
Wendy Althoff, an actuary in New York City
who had been overweight all her life, expected because I may as well have been in that room by
to feel out of place when she took her first yoga
class in 2005. “Sure enough, I was the largest myself. It had become my own practice.”

Althoff, who today teaches yoga at her office

and is enrolled in the Integrated Science of

Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda (ISHTA) teacher

training program in NewYork City, says this shift

was a turning point in the way she felt about her

weight. “In class, when you stop worrying about

continued on page 110; asana continued on next page

FEBRuaRy 2010 yogajournal.com 77

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Flow between Table Pose

and Boat Pose Sit with your legs in front of you, knees bent, feet parallel and hip-width apart.

Place your hands behind you, shoulder-distance apart, with your fingers pointed

in toward yourself. (If that creates too much strain in your shoulders, point your

hands away from yourself.) Roll your shoulder blades down your back and lift up through your

chest. Push through your hands and feet equally and, on an inhalation, lift your hips and come into

Table Pose. Look down and see that your inner thighs are parallel. As you inhale, press through

all four corners of your feet and lift your hips a little higher, moving your tailbone toward your

knees. If it’s comfortable for your neck, slowly let your head release back. Feel free to stay for

2 to 3 breaths if you have the strength. On an exhalation, slowly release into sitting position.

Bring your fingertips to the back of your legs. On an inhalation, lift your chest and sternum.

On an exhalation, relax your shoulders and lean back onto the top of your sitting bones. On an

inhalation, lift your feet off the floor, knees bent, so that the thighs are angled about 45 degrees

relative to the floor. Reach your arms forward, and, if you can, straighten your legs. Inhale and lift

your chest and thighs a little higher, drawing your navel in toward your spine. Release your feet

to the floor as you exhale. Repeat moving from Table Pose to Boat Pose 3 to 4 more times.

78 yogajournal.com FeBRuARy 2010

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Single Leg Raises

Lie down on your back. Extend both legs up at a 90-degree angle (or, for an easier variation,
bend the knees), feet hip-width apart. Rest your arms by your sides, palms facing the floor. Press
through the balls of your feet, spreading your toes. On an inhalation, draw your navel toward
your spine (there will be a natural curve in your lower back). On an exhalation, slowly lower your
right foot until it hovers 6 inches above the floor. Inhale and pause, bringing the navel to the
spine. Exhale and lift your right leg as your left leg descends. Inhale and pause, flexing your feet
and spreading your toes. Repeat 3 to 5 more times. On an exhalation, bring both knees to your
chest. Close your eyes, wrap your arms around your knees, and breathe into your lower back.

To finish

Take a simple twist to
each side. Start by draw-
ing your knees into your
chest. Then drop both
knees over to the right,
keeping the spine aligned.
Keep your left knee
directly over your right
knee. Place your right
hand on the left knee
to keep the legs down.
Extend your left arm out
to the left and look over
your left shoulder. Hold for
3 to 5 breaths, feeling
the breath sweep up and
down the spine. Bring your
legs back to the midline
and twist to the other side.

Come into Savasana
(Corpse Pose). Relax for
5 to 15 minutes. Slowly
return to a simple cross-
legged position. Sit tall
with your hands in Anjali
Mudra. Close your eyes
and bow inward, acknowl-
edging your efforts.

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