Food for the Soul Letting Go Yoga Practice for Weight Loss Success

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

I’ve come to fully appreciate that losing weight and keeping it off is both a body & soul proposition.

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” ~ Deepak Chopra

For the past several years, I’ve been mostly focused on providing information and recipes to help you nourish your body.

But I think many of us are overfeeding our bodies in an attempt to satisfy hunger deep in our souls.

To help counter this imbalance, I plan on providing more Food for the Soul here on the blog.

I came across this wonderful poem as I was clearing away clutter—disposing of old yoga teacher training materials—and thought it worthy of sharing…
��)

Let Go Of The Past

By Kathleen O’Brien

Let go of guilt; it’s okay to make the same mistakes again.

Let go of obsessions; they seldom turn out the way you planned.

Let go of hate; it’s a waste of love.

Let go of blaming others; you are responsible for your own destiny.

Let go of fantasies so reality can come true.

Let go of self-pity; someone else may need you.

Let go of wanting; cherish what you have.

Let go of fear; it’s a waste of faith.

Let go of despair; change comes from acceptance and forgiveness.

Let go of the past; the future is here – right now.

Woman in bikini floating in clear water with arms outstretched. — Letting Go

What do you need to let go of for lasting weight loss success?

Obsessive calorie counting?
Dietary extremes?
All or nothing thinking?
Self-hate?
Overindulgence?
Starting tomorrow or Monday or someday?
Giving up?
The need to be perfect?
Making excuses?
Deprivation?
Putting yourself last?
Negative self talk?
Stress?

Need a little help letting go?

The day after I sent out my email and the above poem on letting go for lasting weight loss success, I received an email from one of my favorite yoga teachers providing a specific yoga practice designed to help you relax and let go.

Talk about divine intervention!

As she explains, the mind attains serenity through prolonged exhalation and suspension of breath.

But there is something else that happens when we hold the breath out (comfortably) and linger in that space of stillness between breaths.

It’s a place where there is no need to rush, no need to get somewhere or to do something – it’s just a place to BE.

It is a welcome pause in a life full of activity, and striving, and accomplishing.

It is a doorway to serenity.

The practice in the following yoga video, from Olga Kabel, is a short yoga practice that uses breath and simple movement to help you relax the body, deepen your exhalation and quiet the mind.

It is particularly useful when you feel stressed or overwhelmed.

She calls it the “Doorway to Serenity Yoga Practice.”

Give a try and let me know what you think…