Hatha Yoga

what is Hatha yoga? I am assuming it is more of the poses than it is the actual stretching phases.

I am curious.. I do a couple of hours of mat flow/ pilates fusion a week... no calculation for calories burned for pilates.. and you say flow burns more calories.. any way of knowing a closer estimate?

I am curious.. I do a couple of hours of mat flow/ pilates fusion a week... no calculation for calories burned for pilates.. and you say flow burns more calories.. any way of knowing a closer estimate?

are you sweating at room temperature?

as far as the Wii yoga goes, I have no idea. Is it one pose after another or do you have to do stuff with the remote?

are you sweating at room temperature?


Yes!! I am. Alot!! It's great stretching, but quick paced poses and movements. It's a challenge, and I've been a dancer most of my life! I'm adding my third Pilates class for the week today at lunch too. I would just like a more accurate # for calories burned... I know Mat flow yoga burns quite a bit more than the yoga that's listed... Any info on Pilates?

This may be more info than y'all wanted, but, as a long time fan of yoga, I thought I'd share!

Yoga is an excellent form of exercise for weight loss, and really importantly, maintaining weight loss. You don't have to be a pretzel to get the benefits of yoga. ANY kind of yoga can be helpful: strengthening, good for flexibility, cardio fitness, calmness of mind, respiration, detoxification and, best of all, a reduction in all that stress that revs up the adrenal/cortisol production that keeps that nasty belly fat hanging around.

If you're interested, here's a little clarity on all those yoga terms:

Hatha Yoga refers to the branch of yoga that involves physical postures as exercise. There is yoga for meditation and yoga for breathing; the yoga for physical exercise is called hatha yoga. Basically that means that, from the traditional perspective, ALL yoga is Hatha Yoga.

That said, in the US, hatha yoga has come to mean a gentle stretching form of yoga done at room temperature. The movements are slow and deliberate and require no special level of fitness to execute. Although there are tremendous benefits to flexibility and stress reduction in Hatha Yoga, it is not generally considered aerobic or strenuous. Hatha Yoga, also called Gentle, Slow Flow or Restorative Yoga, is a great place to start for beginners, those whose fitness level is low (but building!) or those who have injury or illness. If you're tracking, Hatha Yoga burns 144 calories/hour.

Vinyasa (which means "movement on breath" in Sanskrit, the language of yoga) is a powerful, moving, flowing kind of yoga which can improve strength, cardio fitness, flexibility and reduces stress. It is sometimes called "power yoga" or "hot power vinyasa" and is often taught in a warm to hot room, usually 80-90 degrees. Typically, one would sweat a lot in a vinyasa or power vinyasa yoga class. Ashtanga and Anusara are names for other forms of powerful, vinyasa-type yogas. These are great classes for those looking for a challenge, a big sweat and a significant full body cardio workout with all those "chaturanga" push ups. For fitness trackers, Power Vinyasa Yoga burns a whopping 440 calories/hour!

Bikram yoga is a static practice taught in an extremely warm (105) room. One does not flow or move from one posture to another but, rather, executes one posture at a time, holds the posture and then returns to a resting position, standing at rest in the first half of the class, lying down to rest in the second half. It is extremely detoxifying; you sweat A TON and it is very good for both strength and flexibility. But, because you don't move fast, it is not necessarily aerobic. It is designed as a beginner series but beware: many people find that level of heat super challenging at first and it may take a bit of getting used to.

In any kind of yoga, you want to seek out a competent, compassionate teacher who is willing to work with you at your level, to encourage you but not push you too hard, too fast. Less is more in yoga and you can take many months to build your practice safely while still getting lots of benefit on your beginner path.

And by the way, yoga has helped me keep 30 pounds off for the last 10 years!

Namaste!