With a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet becoming the new norm, maintaining a healthy weight is no more up for debate. Shedding all that extra weight not just keeps you healthy, it also helps you stay away from numerous medical conditions like hypertension and stroke. Moreover, a healthy weight also maintains your cardiovascular health. If you have unhealthy body weight, it is time to include some yoga poses for weight loss to live a healthy life.
A moderate amount of exercise helps you remain healthy in the long run. If you find working out at the gym a bit cumbersome and boring then give yoga a try. Yoga is a holistic way to help you stay fit without the need for extra equipment or an expensive health club membership. All you need is the determination and the right yoga teacher to help you get rid of that extra fat.
That said, yoga experts know how yoga helps you get rid of extra weight.
Do you know that doing yoga for weight loss also helps you build muscles and get rid of stress at the same time? Moreover, doing yoga for losing weight helps you follow a healthy and clean diet.
Now, let us find out how exactly yoga does its magic.
You might feel that yoga does not have the same impact as running or working out when it comes to losing weight. Unfortunately, overeating is the first thing you do when under stress and regular yoga helps reduce that stress. Yoga improves your awareness regarding what you consume in your daily diet and helps you make better decisions.
In other words, doing yoga to lose weight helps you form a better relationship with not just your diet, it also minimizes unnecessary stress and anxiety. But, how exactly does yoga do that? Read further to know the answer.
Firstly, yoga helps you lose extra weight by working on two levels.
Level 1 - The ExternalYoga is a different form of workout. It combines muscle building, mindfulness, and cardio all into one. If you do yoga for weight loss, the classes normally range from 30 to 60 minutes with all your muscles working during the session.
With time, the more yoga you do, the more flexible you become and lose weight with the correct yoga asanas. For example, when doing specific forward bending yoga asanas in the beginning, your stomach might get in the way. However, over a period of time, yoga burns away the unnecessary fat and helps you practice that pose with ease. Although it might take time for yoga to lose weight to take effect, the results are worth the effort and wait.
Level 2 - The InternalDetoxification is an aspect of yoga that is not much talked about in western countries. With regards to losing weight, yoga rids your body of impurities like carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and lymphatic fluid. Many yoga poses cleanse your liver, kidneys, and digestive system of all harmful substances.
Every yoga asana detoxifies your body and mind. With impurities, your body also gets rid of those extra pounds. For example, the Simple Spinal Twist asana increases blood flow to your liver, intestine, stomach, and spleen and detoxifies them.
On the other hand, there are yoga inversions which also help you lose extra weight. When you do inversions like Half Shoulder Stand, you bring the lymph fluids from your legs and re-circulate them to the entire body. Yoga inversions also stimulate your nervous system and thyroid glands.
However, there are multiple yoga styles like Kundalini, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, and Iyengar among others. How would you know which is the best yoga style to practice? Let us find out.
Every style of yoga is suitable for weight loss. These provide you a solid foundation to kickstart the weight loss journey. Whether that is through muscle building or detoxification, yoga does have an important role in helping you get rid of those extra pounds.
However, some yoga styles help you lose weight by burning more calories. These are intense yoga practices that increase your heart rate and sweating, thereby helping burn off the extra weight.
With that said, yoga experts from around the world have come up with four yoga styles that can help you stay lean and fit.
1. Vinyasa YogaIf you are looking for the most intensive yet effective yoga styles to lose weight, try Vinyasa yoga. A vinyasa yoga class has continuous movement where you transition from one yoga pose to another under the guidance of a yoga expert. The practice of Vinyasa yoga for weight loss generates heat in your body and improves blood circulation as well as detoxification.
2. Hatha YogaHatha Yoga is perfect for those who do not have a background in yoga practice. This form of yoga is from where all other styles of yoga originated. This yoga style includes proper coordination of breathing and movement.
The best thing about this yoga style is every class is different, the intensity of the class depends on the yoga teacher. Daily practice of Hatha yoga under the guidance of a yoga expert helps you not just lose weight, it helps you build muscles and raise your level of awareness. Read more Hatha Vs Vinyasa
3. Ashtanga YogaThe Ashtanga yoga style consists of body postures you practice to build muscle and stamina. You repeat a particular set of poses to the point of perfection and then move onto the next set of yoga asanas. The yoga poses for fat reduction you practice in this style of yoga develop internal heat and detoxifies your body and mind through the body movement and breathing.
4. Bikram & Hot YogaIf you are someone who loves doing yoga in a heated room, try Bikram yoga. This style of yoga is practiced in a room with temperatures amped up to 40 degrees Celsius. There are a total of 26 yoga poses that increase your heart rate and generate heat in your body.
In the long run, daily practice of Bikram yoga improves blood flow, and flexibility without putting too much pressure on your body.
However, yoga experts recommend you should practice the right yoga poses for weight loss to get the results. With that said, given below are the best yoga poses to help you shed those extra pounds.
As stated above, yoga helps you lose those extra pounds by improving your body's internal and external health.
That said, given below are five yoga poses to help you lose weight.
1. Plank PoseKnown as Chaturangadandasana, this is amongst the best yoga poses for weight loss that works on your core muscles. The Plank Pose works on your shoulders, tones your legs, and abdominal area.
2. Triangle PoseDo you want to improve your digestion and minimize the fat on your belly and waist? Do the Triangle Pose. This yoga to lose weight asana improves blood circulation in your entire body and builds muscles in your thighs and hamstrings. In the long run, the Triangle Pose improves your body balance and concentration levels.
3. Shoulder Stand PoseAlso known as Sarvangasana, this yoga asana offers you a multitude of benefits including a better digestion system and increasing your upper body strength. It works on your legs, abdominal muscles, and improves your sleep.
4. Twisted Chair PoseKnown as Parivrtta Utkatasana, the Twisted Chair Pose works on your abdominal muscles and quads. This is one of the best yoga poses for weight loss that improves your digestive and lymph systems.
5. Sun SalutationSun Salutation, also known as Surya Namaskar is highly beneficial for improving blood flow in your body. However, it stretches all the major muscle groups, tones your arms, and balances the metabolic system. Yoga experts refer to Surya Namaskar as a complete package of good health combined with an effective method of weight loss.
Also Read: Yoga for gymnastics
Do you know that yoga also helps women lose weight after pregnancy? Yoga experts have come up with a comprehensive guide to how yoga helps women lose weight post-delivery.
Medical professionals recommend six weeks of rest for new mothers to recover after vaginal birth. However, you might have to wait longer if the delivery took place via cesarean operation. Do ask your medical expert to look for abdominal separation which impacts how you approach working out post-delivery. Only after you have been given an OK by the doctor, should you enroll in a yoga session.
However, yoga does offer you some major benefits even if you start the practice after the completion of your pregnancy. Given below are three major benefits of doing yoga post-pregnancy.
1. Faster RecoveryCarrying a life within your body for nine months does put a lot of pressure, and your body experiences a lot of pain. Many yoga asanas speed up the recovery time, relax the strained muscles of arms, shoulders, back, hips, and legs.
2. Helps With Weight LossA common after-effect of pregnancy is unnecessary weight gain. You should try some yoga poses for weight loss to tone down the sagged muscles and reduce the excess fat from the belly region. However, you should practice yoga poses under the supervision of an experienced yoga instructor.
3. Improves Body PostureThe pressure experienced during pregnancy puts a bad effect on the mother's body posture. It takes a toll on your back muscles, spine, and also damages your body's natural posture. Daily yoga practice opens up the shoulders and chests thereby improving your body posture. Read more Yoga for neck pain
To reap all these benefits, you must practice the right yoga asanas.
In comparison to other forms of workouts, yoga is the safest and most effective way of losing weight after pregnancy.
Keeping the above statement in mind, Yoga experts have compiled a list of six yoga to lose weight asanas that reduce the time of post-pregnancy recovery.
1. Tiger PoseThe most effective yoga poses for weight loss that is beneficial for women post-delivery. It relieves you of the physical complications after pregnancy, rejuvenates the sexual organs, and tones your arms, legs, and shoulders. This yoga asana is highly beneficial if you want to improve digestive system health, and, at the same time, lose weight.
2. Pigeon PoseIf you want to tone the lower body, especially the hips, thighs, and leg muscles; practice the Pigeon pose. This yoga asana increases your hip flexibility and minimizes stiffness in your lower body. The Pigeon pose is an excellent stress reliever and helps prevent urinary infections, which are most common in women after pregnancy.
3. Wide-Legged Child's PoseThe perfect of all the yoga poses for weight loss is the Wide-Legged Child's Pose. This yoga asana stretches the tense lower back and hip muscles. It tones your thighs, glutes, and relieves stiff ankles.
4. Camel PoseCamel Pose gives your back and shoulder muscles a good stretch. It also takes care of the loose belly post-pregnancy along with your arms and chest. This yoga asana works out all the major muscle groups in your body. In the long run, this helps you keep away from asthma, thyroid, and parathyroid disorders.
5. Triangle PoseKnown as Trikonasana, the Triangle Pose helps new mothers lose belly fat and reduce the waist size. This yoga asana improves your overall body balance, strengthens your lower body, and gives your spine, calves, and hamstrings a good stretch. In short, it is one of the best yoga poses for weight loss and get rid of extra weight.
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6. Eagle PoseDo you feel a stinging pain in the joints? You should practice the Eagle Pose that improves the strength of your knees and ankles. The Eagle Pose also opens up the space between your shoulder blades.
Is belly fat making it hard for you to enjoy normal life? It is time you give these yoga poses for weight loss a serious try to get rid of the extra weight.
Also visit: Affordable Yoga Training School in India