CHAPTER TEN
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. Practice Yoga as a complete science, and very slowly adjust your eating habits according to your