The lockdown period was one of the most difficult phases of my life. I was very sick, and my body was changing in a way I couldn’t understand. I was losing weight rapidly, feeling weak and tired all the time, and I didn’t know why. I went through medical tests and reports, but everything seemed normal. Even my doctor couldn’t find a clear reason for the sudden weight loss.
I remember being around 40 kg. Then, suddenly, I dropped to 28 kg.
Losing 12 kg without understanding why was frightening. I felt weak and confused, and more than anything, I wanted to feel healthy again. But I didn’t know where to begin.
I Thought Yoga Was for Losing Weight
Around that time, someone suggested I try yoga. My first thought was, “Yoga? But I need to gain weight!” Until then, I had always associated yoga with losing weight, becoming flexible, or performing difficult poses. I saw yoga as a form of fitness, but I never imagined it could have any connection with what I was experiencing or that yoga for weight gain could even be part of someone’s journey.
Still, I decided to give it a chance. I wasn’t convinced that yoga would change anything, but I was willing to try. At that point, I just wanted to do something that might help me feel better.
My First Few Days Were Difficult
When I started practising, I realised just how weak my body had become. I couldn’t even complete half a Surya Namaskar properly. I would get tired very quickly, and movements that looked simple when I watched other people practise felt incredibly difficult when I tried them myself.
It was frustrating at first. I wondered how something so basic could feel so challenging. But I also realised that pushing myself wasn’t going to help. My body needed time. So, I started going slowly. I stopped comparing my practice with anyone else’s and focused on what my body could manage that day. Sometimes that meant doing less than I expected. I learned to take things one day, one movement, and one breath at a time.
That was probably one of the first things yoga taught me: listening to my body instead of constantly asking it to do more.
The First Signs of Progress Weren’t on the Scale
During the first few months, I wasn’t seeing any dramatic change in my weight. There was no sudden transformation, and the weighing scale wasn’t giving me the reassurance I was looking for. But I started noticing something else.
I wasn’t falling sick as often. Earlier, getting sick had become a regular part of my life. Slowly, those episodes seemed to become less frequent. I began feeling like my health was coming back, even if I couldn’t see a major difference on the scale.
That became my first real sign of progress. It made me realise that progress doesn’t always show up as a number. Sometimes it is having a little more energy. Sometimes it is recovering better or being able to do something that felt difficult a few weeks ago. And sometimes, it is simply waking up and realising that you haven’t been sick for a while.
For me, those small changes mattered.
Slowly, My Body Started Changing
As I continued practising yoga, I began noticing more changes. My strength improved, my practice became easier, and movements that once felt impossible slowly became possible.
And eventually, I noticed something I had been hoping for: my weight was increasing too.
It wasn’t immediate, and it wasn’t dramatic. It happened gradually, alongside the other changes I was experiencing. I wasn’t just looking at a number anymore. I was feeling stronger and more comfortable in my body. For me, yoga became part of a broader healthy weight gain journey, rather than something I was doing simply to change the number on the scale.
Yoga had also started changing my relationship with my body. Instead of constantly worrying about what was wrong, I was learning to pay attention to what my body was telling me.
Yoga Changed the Way I Looked at Health
Before this experience, I think I looked at health mostly through numbers. My weight, my reports, and my measurements seemed like the things that told me whether I was healthy or not. My experience changed that.
Of course, medical tests and professional medical advice are important, especially when someone is experiencing unexplained weight loss or other health concerns. I don’t see yoga as a replacement for medical care. For me, it became one part of my journey towards feeling better. It taught me patience. It taught me to listen to my body. Most importantly, it taught me that rebuilding your health can take time.
You don’t always notice the change while it is happening. Sometimes, you only realise how far you’ve come when you look back.
From 28 kg to a Healthier Me
When I think about the person who once struggled to complete even half a Surya Namaskar, I realise how much has changed. I didn’t start yoga because I wanted to become flexible. I didn’t start it to lose weight. I started because I desperately wanted to gain my health and strength back. And somewhere along the way, yoga became much more than exercise for me. It became a way of reconnecting with my body and learning to be patient with myself.
My journey is continuing, but I no longer see yoga simply as something people do for fitness or weight loss. For me, it became part of my journey back to myself. Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson I have taken from this experience: sometimes, we begin a journey looking for one thing and end up finding something much more valuable.
I started yoga hoping to gain weight. What I found first was my health. And slowly, the weight followed.
About the Author
The author is an integral part of the Yoga.in team. She has recently completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Course (TTC), gaining practical experience in traditional yogic cleansing techniques such as Jal Neti and Trataka Kriya, along with aerial yoga. Her writing shows personal insights with practical learning to help readers find clarity, confidence, and strength on their yoga journey.
