The Surprising Power of Rest: Can Yin Yoga Help You Lose Weight?

peaceloveyogauk
Aug 18
3 min read

If you know me, you’ll know this: I couldn’t care less how many calories I burn in a yin yoga class. Honestly, I’m not interested in how many you burn either. For me, yin has always been about something far deeper—somatic embodiment, nervous system regulation, cultivating inner peace, and restoring energetic harmony. So you might be thinking, “Wait… this doesn’t sound like the usual spiritual Carliann vibe we’re used to. Has she gone mad?”

Stay with me.

Because while I’ll always preach that yin is about much more than the numbers on a fitness tracker, I also get it—many people are on a weight loss journey. And it’s a question I do get asked from time to time:

"Can yin yoga actually help me lose weight?"

And here’s where things get surprisingly interesting…

At first glance, it feels like the answer should be a gentle no—after all, yin is not about burning calories or pushing physical limits. It’s a practice rooted in stillness, mindfulness, and compassion. It’s about coming home to yourself, not changing the shape of your body. But recently, I’ve been reading Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken, and it challenged what I thought I knew about rest, energy, and weight.

And I’m starting to think the real answer might just surprise you.

Calories Are Burnt in Rest, Not Just Activity

We’ve all been told that to burn more calories, we need to move more—walk more, run more, sweat more. But the science behind how we actually burn energy tells a very different story.

In a groundbreaking study, researchers looked at the Hadza people—a traditional hunter-gatherer society in Tanzania—who are incredibly active, walking for miles each day. You’d expect them to burn far more calories than the average person in the West, right?

Well… they don’t.

Despite all that movement, their total daily energy expenditure was nearly identical to people in Europe and America. Even pregnant and breastfeeding women burned no more calories than their sedentary Western counterparts. The same pattern held true in comparisons between rural Nigerian women and those in suburban Chicago. Monkeys and apes in captivity burn the same as those in the wild.

It’s as if, no matter how much we do, our bodies adjust. They compensate.

Your Body Has a Fixed Energy Budget

What this research shows is that our bodies operate on a kind of fixed energy budget. When we exercise more, our bodies don’t simply burn more on top of what we already use—they start cutting back elsewhere: stress response, immune function, hormonal regulation, even reproductive function.

Think of it like this: If you go for a long run, your body might quietly scale back your stress response or dial down immune activity to keep your total calorie burn steady.

So, what happens when we don’t give our bodies time to rest?

We don’t burn more. We just shift the burden. We end up spending more of our energy on being stressed, inflamed, or hormonally imbalanced—leading to fatigue, anxiety, and chronic health issues.

The Yin of It All

This is where yin yoga becomes quietly radical.

By allowing deep rest—real rest—yin supports your body’s natural healing processes. It helps regulate your nervous system, reduce cortisol (your stress hormone), and bring your hormones into better balance. You’re not burning more calories by effort, but by creating the conditions for your body to function optimally.

This is not about weight loss in the conventional sense. Yin doesn’t promise transformation through pressure or punishment. But it does offer a different path: one of harmony, balance, and long-term well-being.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the kind of transformation that matters most.

More info about MONDAY NIGHT YIN CLUB

Rest Is Not Lazy—It’s Wise

If you’ve ever felt guilty for choosing a yin class over a sweaty workout, I hope this gives you permission to see rest in a new light. Not as the absence of effort, but as a powerful, intelligent process that your body needs.

Rest is where recalibration happens.

Rest is where resilience is built.

Rest is where healing begins.

And yes, rest is where your body burns calories, too.

Turn your weight loss journey inward: restore, release, and reset with Yin every Monday night.

Your body’s been working hard—give it the gift of deep rest. Monday Night Yin Club is waiting.

Slow down, stretch deep, and find balance—this Monday, and every Monday.

Because progress isn’t just about sweat—it’s about stillness too. See you at Yin on Monday night.

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