Yoga is not though of as a particularly active form of exercise. While it works out your muscles, it is rare to become terribly sweaty during yoga (unless you are doing Bikram yoga, but then the room will be heated). The muscle toning effects of yoga do let you burn off calories efficiently, however. This means that a regimen of aerobic exercise in tandem with yoga will produce better results than if you were not doing yoga alongside of aerobic exercise.

An important component of yoga is discipline of mind and body, which will help you stay committed to your exercise program and healthy eating habits. Yoga reinforces the link between your body and your mind, increasing your desire to look after your body. This is very helpful for people who want to lose weight but have trouble getting motivated.

Different Schools of Yoga

If you plan on using yoga by itself to help you drop some pounds, there are some new variations on the traditional practice of yoga, which provide the advantages of both yoga and aerobic exercise in one package. These types of yoga include:

Vinyasa yoga - Vinyasa yoga is centered on shifting from one asana, or pose, to another while concentrating on your breathing. The Sun Salutation is a typical position, but there are many others. Vinyasa yoga is often practiced in a heated room to encourage sweating.

Ashtanga yoga - Ashtanga is a complex style of yoga that includes six different series of poses. Each series is more complex than the previous one, so it's important to start at the beginning and work your way up.

Power yoga - This modern adaptation of yoga mixes active, high-speed actions with yogic breathing.

These yoga techniques offer more of the heart-healthy benefits of aerobic exercise than the usual kinds of yoga. While they won't quite give you the workout of a cardio class, you still get the dual advantages of aerobic fitness and the muscle toning and flexibility of yoga, which will no doubt help your weight loss efforts. And they're great for people who are too busy for more than one workout routine.

Other than being forms of exercise, yoga and aerobics seem to have little in common. But traditional yoga can enhance the effects of more intense workouts, and these newly popular styles of yoga can give you the best of both worlds. If other workout routines have left you disappointed, adding or switching to yoga might be the answer you're looking for.