As a yoga teacher I’m often approached by students who want to know if yoga can help them lose weight. My answer is not necessarily what they are looking for, but it’s the only way I feel comfortable responding: Weight loss is not something that can be achieved by addressing only one part of your life, weight loss requires a change in all areas of life.

The desire to lose weight is most often driven by a desire to feel better and experience greater health and vitality (although sometimes the desire to change one’s image does sneak in there too….). Although yoga may certainly play a part in this, it is not a quick fix that will guarantee you a svelte body.

Thinking about skipping class and heading into the gym after hearing that? Take a moment to reconsider. No form of exercise will lead you to a healthy weight in the long term without changes to the rest of your life. Health is a daily thing, an hourly thing, a minute-by-minute thing. Leading a healthy life means that you are making lots of small choices that will result in an overall state of well-being. That encompasses both what you eat and how you treat your body.

Think about longevity. Yes, you could beat yourself into the ground and restrict yourself or try one of the newest fad diets and see weight loss come in the short run, but your body pays. When you learn to slow down and pay attention to your body, you’ll probably discover it feels better to change your eating and exercise habits. Eating healthfully and keeping your body moving will just plain make you feel better. It’ll be easier on your digestive system, skeletal system, and whole body to make these positive choices which will result in gradually coming to your ideal weight, to a balanced existence.

If you feel that you’ve gotten away from your healthy weight, if you feel that your body could operate more smoothly and efficiently with fewer pounds, certainly you want to address that. But rather than declaring war on your thighs or hating your stomach, how about approaching the issue with compassion for yourself and your body? Just as you do to make any change in your life, you’ll need to begin paying closer attention to what’s working and what’s not. Diet and exercise are charged subjects for many people, so be gentle with yourself as you take a closer look.

You’ll likely find that yoga is the perfect complement to the pursuit of this healthier state of being because it allows you to practice paying attention to the present moment. So while the student who asks me if yoga can help them lose weight is probably thinking about it in terms of sweating or building muscle or getting a cardio workout, one of yoga’s greatest benefits lies in its connection to the present. Learning to be present is the first step in creating health in your life. Just think about it: if you were able to stay fully aware in this moment every minute of every day, why would you ever make a decision that would affect your health adversely? Why would you eat a carton of ice cream or sit for hours on the couch watching bad television? If you had the ability to stay connected to yourself, body and mind, you wouldn’t! It would be the equivalent of punching yourself in the face – you would never want to do it because you’d know the consequences would be undesirable.

As your yoga practice continues and deepens, you may discover that the mental benefits become more and more obvious. Learning to pay attention to the moment as you practice triangle pose or downward dog can benefit you not only on a physical level but in so many other ways in your life. Yoga is an important part of the process of creating a healthy body and a healthy mind. It’s no quick fix, but the practicing is fun and will lead to such incredible changes in how you feel that it’s certainly worth it!