Think Yoga, Forget Weight

Girls who develop eating disorders, Anorexia or Bulimia, obsess about food. They are consumed by thoughts of food and weight. Eating disorders are serious psychosomatic illnesses. They involve both physical and psychological complications, and 30% of the girls that develop them never recover.

The profile of anorexics and bulimics is that of white, adolescent or young adult females from educated, middle- or upper-class families. They are usually highly competitive, have high standards for themselves, and may do intense dieting before the disease gets hold of them. Not every girl who fits this profile has or will develop an eating disorder, but the girls who are ill have many of these characteristics.

Some research with seriously ill girls at the Seattle Children's Hospital outpatient clinic has shown an unexpected benefit of yoga. A Time article about the research reports, "The study lasted eight weeks... a month later, the teens were showing steady gains [compared to girls who did not do yoga]."

Why? The article goes on to say, "The researchers suspect that yoga may help by reducing the obsessive concern about weight associated with eating disorders... [One participant said] 'This is the only hour in my week when I don't think about my weight'."

Treatment of eating disorders involves removing the obsession about food and weight. How do you do that stop an obsession? Force it out by forcing something else into its place.

Evidently, when you do yoga you can't think of anything else at the same time, i.e. your weight. If the girls can stop thinking about food during the yoga sessions, they can stop obsessing! Once they learn that they can control their thoughts/obsessions, they can begin to get better.