I have been using this program and channelling my inner yogi consistently for the last twelve weeks. In this article, I’m going to share my in-depth review about Yoga Burn and how I have transformed by body using this workout program.
My Post-Partum Weight Problem
Now, I honestly believe in loving your body just like the Lord made you. But after gaining twenty five pounds steadily over the course of three pregnancies, I was desperate for something that would bring back my healthier, slimmer body.
When my oldest child was born, I quit working out on a regular basis. Still, two months after I delivered him, I found the time to go for weekly aerobics classes. This exercise coupled with a strict Atkins diet really shaved those extra fifteen pounds off. I had always been slim my entire life thanks to an active lifestyle, so when I went back to exercising and eating right, my body responded.
Then when I had my daughter things were a little more difficult. At the time, my son was in his terrible two and the baby almost never slept for longer than a few hours. I was a complete mess!
My husband was travelling to Texas at this time and taking care of the house and two little kids was taking a toll on me. Luckily, my husband’s aunt Martha came and stayed with us for a few months till things settled down with my husband’s job and he came back to Fayetteville. Aunt Martha helped me look after the baby and kept my son entertained. She also helped with meals and cleaning the house so that I had a little more time to myself and for catching up with the rest of the world.
In this period, I experimented with the Keto diet and went for lots of short jogs when I could. Even when the kids were down for a little nap, I’d throw on my pair of running shoes and jog around the neighborhood for fifteen to twenty minutes at a time.
I had gained around twenty pounds this time and through these jogs and my ketogenic diet regime, I lose around fifteen extra pounds.
By the time my youngest arrived this March, things had spiraled very badly. Obviously, I was basking in the glory of motherhood and being a mommy to three beautiful angels.
But, I had picked up so much extra poundage that I wasn’t able to enjoy this experience in a way that I would have liked. While my husband was back in town, Aunt Martha’s support was missing. Eventually, however, things fell back into place and I found myself in a routine.
Sadly, I was almost twenty five pounds overweight. The weight I had gained and then lost from the first two pregnancies was back!
Since the Atkins and Keto diet had worked for me in the past, I experimented with them again. However, I barely had any time to exercise since leaving the house was a challenge. At this time, I was on the lookout for a workout solution that could take away my stubborn mommy-weight. Luckily for me, my friend from college had the perfect solution!
Michelle was my friend back from when we were at Southern Arkansas University. Although she moved away to New Jersey with her husband and the kids last year, we have been in touch. When I told her about my weight troubles, she suggested the Yoga Burn challenge.
If you’re struggling with any form of weight loss and need a little boost for your body, read on.
Why Did I Decide To Try Yoga Burn?
So although Michelle is a close friend of mine and somebody I trust completely, I didn’t just buy Yoga Burn on a simple suggestion. Michelle gave birth to twins a year after my oldest was born. Just like me, she put on a significant amount of weight in the past-partum period.
We had spent countless hours over the phone trading information, tips and tricks on what was working to burn away the weight. While we managed to shed a few pounds with a variety of regimes, nothing really gave us lasting results. However, since she had moved away, her weight had melted off completely, revealing a more confident and happier Michelle.
When she told me her secret was Yoga Burn, I decided to give it a shot. Honestly speaking, I just brought the program without looking at too many reviews or testimonials. In my mind, Michelle’s success was all the proof I needed. She had gone from being an under-confident, self-conscious and unfit new mother to a yummy mummy with an actual waist!
What's the deal with Yoga?
I first experimented with Yoga during college. Our university’s health centre promoted a variety of classes to help students with stress and anxiety. This is when I learnt that Yoga is an ancient practice that originated in India and that with regular practice, it can help improve the overall quality of life by decreasing stress and promoting relaxation. At this time I went for a class or two every few weeks. Sadly, I never found a way to permanently incorporate Yoga in my life. Eventually, I lost touch with my inner yogi and as a marriage, family and kids came into the picture, yoga was completely forgotten. When Michelle told me that Yoga Burn was genuinely the key to losing the extra weight for good, I remembered how this practice had helped me feel better in my body when I had practiced it in the past.
For those of you who are not aware, yoga is known for its many remedial and holistic benefits. I’ll elaborate on some benefits that I have personally experienced –
Flexibility: One of the most impactful things I noticed upon restarting my yoga practice with Yoga Burn was improved flexibility. Even though my kids require constant attention and I’m always running around them, my body wasn’t getting enough of the ‘right kind’ of exercise and stretching. Yoga helps me concentrate on regaining my body’s abilities to perform physically.
Reduced Pain: Yoga is known to build muscle strength and core strength with regular practice. Even as a person who doesn’t have any instances of chronic pain, I am still besieged by aches and pains on a regular basis. This happens mostly because our postures aren’t correct. However, practicing the right yoga poses on a regular basis has helped in reducing these aches and pains.
Happiness Levels: Another important benefit I have felt through yoga is an increase in my happiness levels. Since yoga makes you reconnect to your inner self, it helps you feel calmer. For me, when I am practicing yoga I am able to look at the blessing in my life for what they are.
While there are many other benefits I’ve noticed of Yoga, these are the three that I feel new mothers will most relate to. The deal with yoga is that when practiced properly, it can help you in a variety of ways. However, this Eastern practice is difficult to master without the right guidance. What’s more is that it is easy to get distracted from your practice, especially if you’re a mom to three kids.
With Yoga Burn, I found that the holistic benefits of yoga get coupled with practical guidance. I always loved yoga, so I didn’t really need to be convinced about that. However, when I discovered that the videos were full of practical tips and tricks to enhance the effect of my practice, it became a regular feature of my day.
Yoga Burn Review: An Overview
The Yoga Burn Program is designed by Zoe Bray-Cotton and is a follow-along online yoga program. She is a well-known yoga instructor who has been teaching this practise for over a decade across the country’s most respected and renowned gyms and yoga studios. The Yoga Burn Program is said to be developed from her expertise in dealing with a variety of clients. However, this program is customized for women looking to lose weight and keep it off. Yoga Burn focuses on teaching you yoga poses that are known to increase the overall metabolism of the body. This helps in burning fat while still toning the whole body.
The Program by itself is broken down into three phases – Foundational Flow, Transitional Flow and Mastery Flow. Each of these phases is accompanied by four videos that can be downloaded onto your phone of computer. The follow-along videos are simple enough even for the newest of yoga newbies.
Phase 1: Foundational Flow
A solid foundation is an invaluable asset, no matter what the activity or project. The same rings true in the case of Yoga Burn. This phase if aptly named as it focuses on building a strong foundation for your yoga practice and weight loss endeavors. The four weeks that make up a part of this phase are designed in a way that your basic foundation for a strong yoga practice is laid.
The easy-to follow videos feature a unique set of yoga sequences that will kick-start the process of building lean muscle in your body. The most important thing about this phase to me was their focus on the correct form and posture. It is a well-known fact that yoga must be performed in the right manner to get the most out of it and also prevent injuries. Getting this alignment right is important to ensure you get the most out of your practice.
In this phase, you are also guided on the concept of a ‘mind-body’ connection. This is best described as way of connecting to your body so that it I easier to power through the more challenging sequences. As someone who has practiced yoga before this program, I understand just how important it is to invest time in perfecting your form before diving head first into this practice. This foundation phase is well-designed to cater to newbies as well as more advanced yoga practitioners.
While it took me almost a week to feel comfortable with the sequences and poses, I noticed a change right away. While my stubborn belly fat was undeterred, my arms, legs and shoulders felt sore after a good workout. This is how I knew something was working. Sometimes it was a little difficult for me to follow the pace of the video as I wanted things to move faster. But then again, the investment in gaining proper form was an investment that promises to pay off in the long run.
Phase 2: Transitional Flow
Once you’ve followed the foundational phase for the recommended period of four weeks, the second phase begins. Transitional Flow is dedicated to teaching you how to best harness the benefits of correct form with slightly more advanced moves. The aim of this exercise is to increase the rate of calorie burn and overall metabolism and heart rate. Since the four weeks of Foundational training makes you comfortable and confident with basic moves, the second phase enables you to get a more intense workout.
This phase helps you continue the process of building muscle and losing fat whilst getting toned. The videos here focus on large muscle groups and incorporate three workout videos for said muscle groups: Upper Body, Lower Body and Core. Instead of simply focusing on form, this phase also helps you learn how to smoothly transition from each pose to another. This entire experience of learning transitions helps you enjoy all the movements.
In my experience, these four weeks played a huge role in helping me feel good about my body from the inside out. By the time I was on Week 5, I found myself focusing entirely on the movements, no matter what was happening around me. Best described as ‘moving meditation’, I found that the transitional phase was helpful in connecting me to a source of peace within me while helping me workout.
In this phase my arms were visibly more toned and I felt my core to be strengthened as compared to before. I think I lost about 6 pounds or so in this phase.
Phase 3: Mastery Flow
As the third phase of Yoga Burn kicks in, things are kicked up a notch! All the skills you develop in the first two phases are put to test in this master phase. The makers of this program have designed it in such a way that the last trimester of the twelve week program does wonders for your metabolism. The phases learnt in the transitional period are set into high gear as the intensity of workout increases.
Each new video in this deck is slightly different from the one before. This is not because of a lack of imagination. The aim over here is to encourage a sort of muscle fatigue by repeating a set of positions and poses over and over again. The workout in this phase was certainly a little difficult to get through on some days as there were combinations of lower and upper body movements. Such movements are known to have a host of benefits, one of which is the ability to give you a more intense workout in a shorter time.
I also noticed that eventually, the targeted muscled were ones that women usually have trouble with. The hips, core and arms get a really good workout. In my case at least, these were the major trouble areas. The Mastery Flow phase of Yoga Burn was certainly my favorite as it pushed me to my limits.
On the side of mental clarity, I felt reenergized in this phase. Weeks 9-12 were the ones where I could notice a sure fat loss. My favorite pair of jeans is already threatening to get too loose to be worn anymore. That’s the kind of problem I love to have!
Yoga Burn Bonuses for Women
Yoga Burn is available in a format with three distinct phases. There are a total of nine different workout videos spanning a total of twelve weeks. Each phase lasts for four weeks and focuses on gradually making you stronger to take on more intensive workouts and sequences.
There are also a few bonus videos that can be done at any phase. The aim of these bonus videos is to enhance your overall experience with yoga as a practice.
Yoga Burn Bonus #1: (Phase One) Tranquillity Flow: As I mentioned before, this bonus video is not exclusive to be used with the first phase. However, I found that this bonus video complemented the tranquility phase well and helped in practicing my form. The workout in this video works on the principles of restorative yoga and last for approximately 15 minutes. The aim is to stretch and relax your body as well as to sit properly, maintain proper posture and sit better. It helps in relaxing the muscles you work in the first phase.
Yoga Burn Bonus #2: (Phase Two) Beginner Flow: This workout bonus video lasts for around 15 minutes and works best when accompanied with the second phase. The poses in this video are fairly basic and even if you’re not very advanced in your yoga practise, these are easy enough to follow. In my opinion, the pace is slower than my liking. I usually used the first bonus video even in the second phase of Yoga Burn. I particularly enjoyed the way they incorporated stretched and relaxation.
Yoga Burn Bonus #3: Pose Tutorials: Best suited to complete beginners, this 21 pose tutorial is really comprehensive. With step by step instructions, they are helpful if you’re looking at fundamentally improving your form, posture and technique. In my first two weeks, I made sure to utilize these very well. The long break I took from yoga made me a little rusty and these videos helped in regaining a little confidence in the movements.
Yoga Burn Ratings: The Good, Bad & Ugly
The Good
One of the most important things to talk about is the weight loss that was a direct result of Yoga Burn. My experience with post-partum weight after my third pregnancy really put into perspective ‘stubborn fat’ for me. I was ready to give up when this program helped me reinvigorate the habit of a daily workout. I read testimonials online where people who stuck to the program successfully shed the extra weight and kept it off.
In my case, I maintained a healthy diet with whole foods and no drastic dietary changes. I cut out processed foods, sugar and ready-to-eat meals as well as candy and alcohol completely. Coupled with the intensive workouts, especially in the third phase, I found my weight steadily dropping off. In the twelve weeks that I pursued Yoga Burn dedicatedly, I lost 17 pounds. Keep in mind that I supplemented this with a reduced calorie intake, jogs almost three to four times a week and regular sleep (as much as I could manage).
I don’t know what happens to those of you who don’t wake up with three kids and a husband all vying for your attention. There must be so little crying, shouting and tugging involved. Since I’ve begun with Yoga Burn I find myself more mentally aware and prepared for my day. Waking up is an easier process and by extension, the day that follows is much more manageable.
I feel like I’m at peace with myself and can actively choose to behave in a calmer manner. Again, you cannot discount the fact that this program was supported by other good habits I developed. Factors like a better diet, regularized sleep, and more time outdoors, connecting with hobbies etc. are also known to have a direct impact on de-stressing a person.
Another very important factor for me was the simplicity and style of instruction that accompany Yoga Burn. They start slow with a foundational phase and then kick it up with every passing phase. Since they start slow, it is easier to follow along and find your footing with your yoga practice.
The basic movement videos acted as a refresher course for me and I believe that this simplicity made the program less intimidating to me. My existing abilities were well-utilized while also helping me develop better skills. Sections where they focused on meditation, relaxation techniques or breathing were my favourites!
As the program focuses on building on foundational knowledge of posture, poses and stances, it improves your overall flexibility. By engaging the core muscles through compound movements, I felt this workout impact my strength levels as well.
I used to find myself with back pain on some occasions after carrying the kids around. But as I practised these yoga workouts, I found myself stronger and less tired at the end of a long day.
While there are many other programs or regimes to follow out there, most of them required a big investment in a product, supplement, machine or some other equipment. IN the case of Yoga Burn, all I needed was a little space in the living room to put down my yoga mat. I’m not going to account for the system required to play the DVD itself.
The Bad
Although it isn’t a downside, this program will require discipline if you want to reap the real benefits. Apart from the fact that you need to be consistent with the workouts to see results, you have to be serious while doing the actual workout.
The poses and movements are simple enough, but if you aren’t careful, you might end up doing more harm than help. My advice is to ensure that you’re doing exactly what the instructions say to avoid any injuries.
As is the case with any regime that provides lasting results, Yoga Burn takes some time to show noticeable results. The actual workouts are not very easy and might require you to power through during tough moments. You cannot expect this program to work if you don’t supplement it with other healthy habits. Just like you can’t go to the gym and eat fried chicken for lunch every day, you can’t expect to see results without some serious lifestyle changes. Again, discipline is the key. If you’re looking out for a miracle get-thin-quick program then Yoga Burn might not be for you.
While I personally didn’t have a problem with my delivery or shipping, there are a few people out there who have complaints about hidden charges. Some people have been charged for more months as specified in fine print than they signed up for. However, I personally didn’t seem to have this problem. The company also has a 60-day return policy.
Although the program is backed by a return policy, they do not have a customer helpline number. Customers have found it difficult to initiate returns or have their questions answered at time due to this. In my opinion, if they had a helpline number that could answer questions, it would have been a smoother customer experience.
Although Yoga Burn is decent, the top reader’s choice weight loss program has been Custom Keto Diet. The results have been really great without soaking out too much of your energy and that is why we recommend it as well.
Bottom Line: My Final Thoughts
When I started with this program, I did not have enough time of energy to start working out enough to lose a significant amount of weight. I didn’t have the patience to do anything complicated or make major changes to my schedule. The kids would always require me to be able to get up and go if they needed me. In this crazy busy schedule, I found that the way this program was designed, it was easier for me to exercise and find time for myself.
To anyone on the lookout for a weight loss regime that works, Yoga Burn is a great option. However, I have found that unless you are committed to getting through the workout regularly, changes won’t occur. As we started slow and the workout intensity increased, it got slightly more challenging. In my opinion, this is what helped me actually burn all the extra calories and fat. The other relaxation, stretching and bonus videos help keep you centred inwards, de-stress you and help you find a little mental clarity. This combination of physical and mental strengthening makes this program’s approach very holistic.
If I had to talk about the overall intensity level of this program, I would so that it is moderately intense. This makes it perfect for women who don’t have enough time to dedicate to workouts, but still want to get in shape. The workout makes you use muscle groups that are otherwise untouched in the course of your day to day activities and helps build lean muscle. You end up getting a really intense muscle workout in a considerably short span of time without having to leave the comfort of your own house. This is a boon for new moms, housewives, students or any other women who don’t enjoy gyms or other traditional workout options.
While Yoga Burn is certainly not perfect, it has many benefits to offer those who dedicatedly and consistently keep up. In conclusion, I’d like to say that the twelve week commitment to this program might be exactly what your weight loss transformation needs.
Additional Resources
About the Author
Greetings!
I’m Jeanie, a mother of three from Fayetteville, Arkansas. My youngest is only a year old and my oldest in now seven. Life with three young children is certainly a unique experience and I hope to share anecdotes from our life with other moms through my blog articles. I am fairly new to the blogging experience and while I mostly talk about motherhood and life as a busy mom, in this article, I’m going to share my review about the Yoga course by Zoe Bray-Cotton called ‘Yoga Burn’.
Hi ! I live in Rogers. I purchased Yoga Burn last night and after reading your blog, I’m excited to get started. Thank you for all the great information regarding the different phases and how they build on each other. That’s good for me to realize that it will be a progression and not an instant “fix”.
Hey Lisa,
Glad you liked it, let us know how it turns out.