Yoga for Plus-Size Fitness

Overweight and looking for a 'gentle' form of exercise to help you get started on the road to fitness? Why not give yoga a try...

From the CNN.com:

As Megan Garcia prepares to do a twisting yoga pose, she reminds her students to lift their bellies up and over their legs. Wearing a one-piece purple leotard, she's not shy about the love handles around her waist or the extra flesh on her thighs.

Many of Garcia's students are overweight or obese, and she adjusts traditional poses to ease pressure on joints. She encourages them to use a chair for support or has them move to a wall to do poses meant for a mat.

She reminds her students to pay attention to how their bodies feel. Let the flesh hang, she says. Definitely don't worry about it.

"It helps to have a teacher who doesn't look like Jane Fonda," says Garcia, who is 5-feet-10 and 210 pounds. "People can think, 'Wow she looks like me and she's standing on her hands. Maybe this is something I can do."'

Yoga is a 5,000-year-old discipline that has been gaining steam in this country for years. More than 16.5 million practice yoga, and they spend about $2.95 billion on classes and props every year, according to a study in Yoga Journal's February issue. Yoga's appeal is partly the calm, controlled breathing, the meditation and the goal of bringing mind, body and spirit into unity.

"Now is the time for there to be exercise instructors that reflect the body type of the American population," Garcia said. "If you are aware of your body, you can then see what you need to do to make you a happier, healthier person."

Garcia, a plus-size model, said yoga was the only exercise she would stick with, and she dropped a few dress sizes when she started doing it, mostly because she toned up. She recently released a DVD called "Just My Size Yoga," in which she shows off her adjusted poses and doesn't push the idea of weight-loss.

Her students say they are more comfortable and relaxed than when they took more traditional classes.

Read more...

.