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Chapter 10. Obesity And The Improvement Of The Figure

This chapter, 1 have no doubt, is the one to which the majority of women will turn first. Knowing as you do that Yoga can give you a perfect figure you have made this your main reason for pursuing the subject. I assure you this is no worse a reason for beginning the study of Yoga than any other. There cannot really be a bad reason for wanting to do something good, and though Yoga offers much in the way of a peaceful and healthy existence your main concern, at this stage anyway, is how to get that pad of fat off your hips and reduce that bulging tummy. So be it. I will show you the way and as you learn more and more of Yoga perhaps eventually your reason for studying it will be a more spiritual one.

There is little need to explain to you the connection between obesity and your health. Apart from being aesthetically all-wrong it puts a strain on the heart, the internal organs, the legs and feet and in fact the entire body. It is dangerous to be overweight. It is your duty to improve your figure for the sake of your health, your peace of mind and your general well being.

But before I explain how Yoga can help you to regain a slim, supple, and graceful figure I must impress on you right at the beginning that there is no magic formula which will sheer those extra pounds off you while you go on eating four square meals a day with snacks in between and goodness knows how many cups of tea sweetened with sugar. In short, Yoga is not black magic. It is sheer common sense. It will help you if you are prepared to help yourself.

In presenting various Yoga asanas in this chapter I must again impress on you that these alone will not make you lose weight. Yoga you see is a way of life not just a system of physical culture.

You must study Yoga as a whole and let it pervade every part of your life. Let it gradually alter your way of thinking and in time it will affect your attitude towards food. For many people food is a social occasion, or a means of chopping up the day. To very many others it is a form of sheer solid comfort in times of stress or anxiety. To still others it is a hobby or a release from boredom. They don't know what to do with themselves so they eat—and grow fat.

I do not suggest that you try drastically to alter your eating habits as soon as you read this book. Let Yoga gently do that for you. Practise Yoga as a complete science, and very slowly adjust your eating habits according to your state of mind. By this I mean that at the moment, maybe food is of major importance to you. It is right that you have this incentive to eat for it is necessary to take food in order to live, but many people, far too many, take far more food than they need. This results in a gradual build up of fat in the body until there you are—two, three, or even more stones overweight. It is never easy to take off weight and Yoga is not a short cut by any means, but this much I promise you. That once you have slimmed, the Yoga way, you will be able to eat as you please and not gain an ounce. Yoga, in affecting the glands, establishes a rhythm in the body so that you do not feel a desire for food that you do not need. You want to eat only enough to keep superbly fit. Your new calmness of mind will make it unnecessary for you to turn to food for comfort or as a means of relieving tension or boredom. As I have said, Yoga will affect your way of life, even against your will; it will alter your attitude towards many things and one of these things is the food you eat.

Having warned you that I have no magic formula dreamed up by the ancient Yogis with regard to recovering a slim, beautiful figure, let me discuss the first step in this 'battle of the bulge'. The majority of overweight people suffer from chronic constipation, so one of your very first tasks is to turn back to chapter five, re-read all I have written, and vow to make an immediate onslaught on your sluggish bowels, as this complaint is very fattening as well as uncomfortable. Practise all the Yoga

FIGURE 33    ANGLE BALANCE

asanas described in the chapter on constipation, and in particular practise the water-drinking habits of the Yogis and the relaxing and contracting movements known as Uddiyani. This ridding your body of excessive waste, and the practice of Yoga asanas and breathing exercises will go a long way towards sheering that superfluous fat from your body and here is a Yoga asana which will help you on your way. It is called the SIDESLIP and it should not present too much difficulty if you spend the first couple of days limbering up your torso with the following simple movements.

Limbering up Exercises

1. Stand up straight, feet together, arms raised to shoulder level.



2. Holding your arms steady swing them as far as possible round to the right.

Twist your body to the maximum to bring your right arm as far round as you can and at the same time turn your head to look over your right shoulder so that you twist your neck to the utmost; as you turn slowly bend your left arm so that when the swing to the right is at its height your left thumb should touch your right shoulder.

3. Hold this position for a few seconds and then repeat the swing to the other side. You can repeat these swings ad lib but at first it is as well to limit yourself to a maximum of six if you have never taken any exercise before.

Two points to remember. These swinging movements from side to side should be performed slowly and rhythmically. Emphasis is on the full sweep of the arms and the twisting of your torso to the utmost rather than on speed. Speed isn't a word used in Yoga, rather substitute the word pressure. At the extreme points of the twisting movement you can exert a slight pressure to enhance the value of this limbering exercise. And having practised it for a day or two you should graduate with no difficulty to a more advanced lateral twist called THE SIDESLIP POSTURE.

1. Kneel down on the floor and sit back on your heels. Raise your arms above your head, clasp your hands together and turn them palms upwards.



2. Slide your body off your heels to the right and at the same time gently swing your arms towards the opposite side. I have demonstrated the correct movement in figure 34. You should not bend forward while performing this movement but move from the waist to the side only.



3. Now raise your body off the floor, swing it slowly and gently to the other side and at the same time swing your arms over to the opposite side. Try to keep your knees together throughout the Sideslip Posture, but if you find this difficult or impossible at first you may hold your knees apart to maintain your balance but at all times endeavour to bring your knees together.

Many people, while attempting this asana for the first time have difficulty with stage 3, that is the lifting of the body off the floor and the swinging it to the other side. In fact some people have trouble in getting themselves off the floor at all in this position and others, if they do succeed, land with a great thump on the opposite side and have difficulty getting up from there. Be patient. This exercise is not quite so easy as it looks. Graceful, and a great favourite with women everywhere, it looks simple enough but in actual fact it requires a high degree of muscular control and concentration.

Remember your head while you are doing the SIDESLIP POSTURE.

It should bend the same way as your arms, which you should, throughout the movement, try to press backwards as far as possible to avoid any possible sagging forward of your body.

This asana is one of the finest in the entire Yoga range for slimming the waist and reducing that pad of fat which often settles on top of the hipbones. You will feel a powerful stretch from your hips to your armpits and if you do this exercise correctly you will feel rather sore in the region of your hip joints the next day. This is normal and it will prove to you that this Yoga exercise has already begun to work for you. While one side of your body is being stretched the other side is being powerfully contracted. You can feel it squeezing the fatty tissue. It also imparts a healthy massage to the organs and muscles of the abdomen and helps the torso towards a new suppleness and grace.When you can perform the SIDESLIP POSTURE at a moderate speed and with some degree of muscular control, then try to slow down the whole process so that it becomes a study in slow and gentle motion. This calls for a much higher degree of muscular control and thus the benefits of the posture are greatly enhanced. When you have perfected your movements in slow motion regulate your deep breathing so that you lean to one side while inhaling and to the other while exhaling. Rhythm and slow motion are the final keywords in this exercise.

In its perfect form the Sideslip Posture should be as follows. Lean to the right while inhaling. Remain immobile as you complete your inhalation and hold your breath for as long as possible. When the impulse to exhale appears do so as you raise your body off the floor and swing it to the other side. Remain immobile as you complete your exhalation and remain holding your breath for as long as possible before inhaling again. This constitutes one round. Perform up to a dozen rounds a day, starting with four and adding two rounds per week.

Like the Sideslip Posture this next exercise is not so easy as it looks. It is called AROHANASANA or in English THE RAISED HEAD AND LEGS POSTURE. This asana wages war on that bulging abdomen.

1. Lie flat on your back with your legs outstretched and your feet together. Lace your fingers together and place them at the back of your head just above your neck.



2. Inhale very slowly and deeply and at the same time raise your head, shoulders, and legs off the floor remembering to keep your knees straight. Hold this position until you have completed your inhalation. I  have demonstrated the correct position in figure 36.



3. After holding your breath for a few seconds very slowly return to the original position.

These instructions are simplicity itself and even the photo-graph of me lying with my head, shoulders and legs raised can give you little idea of the sheer muscular effort involved in holding them that way. But try it for yourself. Those two words *very slowly', in connection with the lowering of the legs will catch most of you out at first. You will want to plop your legs down on the floor in a great rush, but try as hard as you can to resist this impulse. It is the easy way out and you will gain nothing from employing it. You want to reduce that abdomen don't you? Then do please remember that there is no hurry at all in this exercise, and the slow s-l-o-w lowering of the legs is precisely what strengthens, tones, exercises, and reduces those flabby abdominal muscles and helps to reduce fat in this area.

This is an exercise that requires a lot of patient practice before you can perform it perfectly. As it is a strenuous posture do not do it more than twice a day for the first few days and after that very gradually increase the number of times you do it up to six.

In addition to toning and strengthening the abdominal muscles and reducing excess fat this exercise also helps to relieve constipation so it is doubly beneficial to the would-be-slimmer. The back and shoulders are also strengthened by the slow motion lifting and lowering of the head and shoulders.

A word of warning. This is not an exercise for women during pregnancy or who have any internal disorders, and people with hernia should practise it with extreme caution.

For those readers who find the Arohanasana too strenuous or simply beyond you, here is a similar though much easier exercise which is called UDHITTA PADASANA or THE RAISED

LEG POSTURE

1. Lie on your back with your legs outstretched and feet together. Inhale slowly and deeply and at the same time raise your right leg, keeping the knee straight, until it is at right angles to your body as in figure 37.



2. Remain thus as you complete your inhalation, hold your breath for a few seconds while keeping absolutely still, your other leg flat on the floor.



3. When the impulse to exhale appears do so and at the same time very slowly lower your leg. Repeat with the other leg.

This simple exercise may be performed once or twice a day until you feel you are ready to try it with both legs at once. This exercise, like the previous one will help to break up fatty tissue in the abdominal area. I must warn beginners to this, and the previous exercise that they might find their abdominal muscles a little sore the day after starting as you are using muscles which may never have been used in that way before. Do not worry about the discomfort. It means that Yoga is working for you so you should welcome it as a sign that you were performing the exercise properly. Remember always to lower your legs s-1-o-w-l-y.

Let us now try a standing posture for the improvement of the figure. This one will keep your spine healthy and supple, reduce abdominal fat, tone up sluggish bowels, and slim your waist. It is called THE WOODCUTTER Exercise.

1. Stand erect, feet far apart. Stretch out your arms, lace your fingers together and imagine that you are holding a very heavy axe.



2. Inhale slowly and deeply and at the same time slowly raise the 'axe' above your head until you are leaning back as far as you can without losing your balance. I have demonstrated this backward bending position in figure 40.



3. Remain in the backward bend as you complete your inhalation; remain immobile for a few seconds holding your breath.



4. When the impulse to exhale appears swing the 'axe' down slowly as though there were actually a log in front of you and you were chopping it up. The downward movement should be a very powerful one but do not stop when you reach the imaginary log but let your hands follow through your legs as in figure 39.

Repeat this exercise six times, and do watch the following four points.

FIGURE 37 RAISED LEG	FIGURE 38 TRIANGLE BEND

Firstly that your elbows should be straight throughout, secondly that your feet should be firmly planted on the floor without moving, thirdly that you do not move your buttocks whilst you are bending down, and lastly that all the movement should be done from above the waist. The lower half of the body should remain absolutely still.

FIGURES 39, 40 WOODCHOPPER
FIGURES 41, 42 TRIANGLE

A word of warning. This is a rather strenuous exercise and I do not recommend it for women with internal complaints or people with weak hearts. This exercise should not be done during menstruation.

The next posture for reducing abdominal fat is called THE TRIANGLE   BEND.

1. Stand erect with your hands clasped together behind your back. Your feet should be far apart with your knees straight.



2. Inhale slowly and at the same time turn your torso, from the waist upwards, slightly to the right. Continue with your inhalation as you bend your head slowly until your forehead touches your right knee. Your hands should still be clasped behind your back. I have demonstrated the position in figure 38.



3. Remain in this position for as long as you comfortably can without exhaling, and when the impulse to exhale appears do so, at the same time slowly straightening up.



4. Repeat the movement to the other side, bending your head towards the left knee.

That is the Triangle Bend. Repeat it twice each way at first but when you are limbered up you can perform it up to half a dozen times. Did I hear some of you say 'impossible'. I'll admit that if you are very stiff, or very much overweight, the Triangle Bend may well seem so, but again I must ask you to practise it, without straining, and you will soon be pleasantly surprised at how easy this exercise really is. It reduces fat on the abdomen, waist, and thighs.

And now for another posture which has a similar name. This is TRIKONASANA or THE TRIANGLE POSTURE, and you may find it easier than the previous one. It is one of the most effective Yoga asanas for reducing fat round the waistline, the hips, the upper arms, and the thighs, and it should present little difficulty even to the beginner.

Trikonasana

1. Stand erect, feet far apart, and your arms extended sideways at shoulder level. This is the starting position as in figure 41.



2. While keeping your head in the same position (that is not turning it) bend slowly to the right until your right hand touches your right foot. You will have to bend your right knee a little to do this and at the same time your left leg should remain outstretched to maintain balance.



3. Your left arm should be gradually brought up and over your head as far as possible, as I have demonstrated in figure 42.



4. Remain in this position until you have completed your inhalation.



5. When the impulse to inhale appears do so and at the same time slowly return to the starting position. Repeat this exercise to the other side.

The most important feature of this exercise is the gradual increase of the stretch of the free arm, which should be brought over farther and farther each time you practise this exercise. It should be performed four times a day at first and when you become more flexible it can be performed up to a dozen times a day. The accent is on slow and rhythmical movement, as this exercise is much more beneficial to the health and the figure when performed slowly and gracefully. The breathing should also be carefully timed to coincide with the appropriate movements. Trjkonasana is not a very strenuous posture but all the same I do not advise it for women with any kind of internal disorders or for people suffering from hernia.

This being the last of the so-called 'slimming1 Yoga asanas, I should like to lend a helping hand to those of you who, with the best will in the world to practise Yoga and grow slim, feel that you cannot find the time to practise. I know it isn't always easy especially if you go out to business as the mornings are filled with rushing about, and breakfasts and bath water, and if something has to be left out—well that's Yoga isn't it? This is one of the main reasons, I find, why would-be devotees of Yoga do not pursue the subject.

In view of the fact that Yoga asanas should be done on an empty stomach it is usually convenient to perform your practice schedule first thing in the morning when you get out of bed. You may feel you are too sleepy to do them then but you will find that some of the asanas are very bracing owing to their stimulating effect on the nervous system and soon give you a wide-awake feeling. And once you have established the habit of doing Yoga postures first thing in the morning it should become as much a part of your routine as having your morning bath or cleaning your teeth. So, starting with one of those bracing exercises, here is a ten-minute practice schedule, which is not beyond the means of anyone. All you do is get up ten minutes earlier. Ten short minutes each day—so very little time to devote to Yoga, but how rich will be the rewards, so rich that I feel convinced that many of you will soon want to get up even earlier to devote yet more time to this healthful study.

Ten-Minute Practice Schedule

	1. Limbering up for Sideslip		1 min
	2. Sideslip		3 min
	3. Raised Head and Legs Posture or four times		2 min
	4. Leg Raising Posture
	5. Woodchopper - six times		1 min
	6. Triangle Bend - four times		1 min
	7. Triangle - six times		2 min

This ten-minute practice schedule can be varied of course, according to your individual needs and the amount of time at your disposal. There may be one exercise, which you find you like better than some of the others in which case do spend more time on that one. The schedule I have set out is a mere indication of what can be done with a few minutes set aside for Yoga practice. Do not omit the correct breathing as you perform these exercises and if you would slim do please avoid constipation, as this is one of the worst enemies of the body and of the figure. Yoga will do wonders for your health and your appearance, and for your figure but do please give it a helping hand by watching your diet. The next chapter is devoted to this subject.

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