Have you ever considered yoga as an activity that can help you lose weight? No? Well, it might surprise you, but this wonderful traditional Indian discipline is perfect for this. Let’s look at some ways of using yoga for weight loss.
Many Health Benefits of Yoga
There isn’t a person on Earth who didn’t hear at least one thing about yoga. It originated in India several thousand years ago but began to spread all over the world as quickly as people realized how beneficial it is. Nowadays, folks of all ages practice these exercises in every part of the world.
It is a known fact that doing yoga has a lot of benefits for both physical and mental health. Nevertheless, we generally see it as a slow activity, so it is not simple to imagine that it can be in any way effective in terms of weight loss.
What many of us don’t know is that there are specially designed yoga weight loss exercises, and they are giving surprisingly good results.
Yoga Weight Loss Exercises
Considering the current situation with rampaging pandemic of coronavirus, we all need to stay at home for some time. This is a situation that creates and elevates a lot of emotions, and so many of us are experiencing depression and anxiety for various reasons. However, because self-isolation and social distancing measures are now implemented in most countries, it is not possible to attend sports classes. That’s why in today’s post, we are talking about yoga weight loss exercises at home. You can practice yoga at home for weight loss by yourself if you are already experienced or watch online videos to get instructions on what to do. Remember, too, that no exercise is effective unless you are eating correctly. So ensure during this time you are following a relevant healthy eating plan. Avoid junk food, sugary food and the stuff that is going to work against any good yoga you do. If you want to see the result faster, you need to combine the exercise routine and your healthy diet plan to boost your immune system with the best MCT oil.
Top 3 Yoga Poses
If you consistently practice yoga you will lose weight. Here are three poses that will help enable the process:
Bridge Pose
If you are wondering is yoga good for weight loss and toning, then you should try this exercise. With this Asana, you will work the abs and thighs, but also the shoulders. This Asana reduces stress on the back, improves digestion, blood pressure, and so on.
The Yoga Journal Shows You How To Do It
1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat, hip-width apart, heels directly below your knees. Leave your upper arms on the floor and bend your elbows alongside your ribs, pointing your forearms and fingers toward the ceiling. Turn your palms to face one another.
2. Press your elbows and shoulder heads down into the floor, lift your chest, and bring your shoulder blades onto your upper back, wrapping your outer arms toward the floor. Keep your gaze straight up.
3. Press into your feet and slowly send your knees forward, wrapping your outer hips toward the ceiling; then lift your buttocks away from the floor. Lengthen your tail bone toward the backs of your knees.
4. Straighten your elbows and interlace your fingers underneath you, drawing your shoulder blades deeper into your upper back, keeping the tops of your shoulders in line with the base of your neck.
5. Gently press the center of the back of your head to the floor. Broaden your collarbones and lift your chest, bringing your sternum toward your chin. Lightly reach your chin away from your chest, keeping space between the back of your neck and the floor. Simultaneously extend out through your knees as you lift your sternum. Take a few rounds of breath here.
6. To release, unlace your fingers and slowly lower your torso back to the floor.
Lightning Bolt Pose
This pose focuses on strengthening the thighs and core muscles. It also works with muscles of the buttocks, and through this, it helps you to target belly fat. It is a good exercise to include in the yoga weight loss plan as it stretches the back, strengthens the lower back, etc.
Five Pillars Yoga Shows You How to Do It
- Stand with your feet together, with your big toes touching, and find Tadasana through the soles of the feet. Shift your weight until you feel it distributed evenly between the bases of the big, little toe and the center of the heel
- With your hands on your hips, exhale deeply as you bend your knees and lower your seat toward the floor. Use the image of descending into an imaginary chair
- Stop the descent when your base becomes unstable and you shift your weight to the inner or outer edges of the feet instead of balancing on your triangle of support
- Look down at your knees. If you can’t see your big toes peeking out from underneath them draw your hips back until they come into view. You may have to straighten the legs a little to do so
- Squeeze an imaginary (or real*) block between the upper thighs and energetically draw your outer hip points in
- Lengthen your arms out in front of you and raise them overhead, palms facing each other and pinkies rotating toward the midline
- Think Cat Pose on the tail bone and draw it underneath you, as if tucking your tail between your legs. Be mindful of overarching through the lower back. Then knit your ribs in to stay stable through the torso
- Engage the muscles in the upper arms and soften the shoulder blades down the back, creating a subtle heart opening
- Stay
- Practice gratitude
- To come out, anchor firmly through the soles of your feet to lengthen your legs, and then release your arms down by your sides
Frog Pose
Include the frog pose in your 30-day Yoga Challenge weight loss, and we guarantee you will see the results quickly. It stretches the abdomen and chest and stimulates organs in the abdomen.
Gaia Shows You How to Do It
- Begin in a table top shape facing the long edge of your mat.
- Walk your knees out wider than your hips. Flex your feet so your toes face outward and your heels are directly behind your knees.
- Option to place additional padding (e.g. blanket) under your knees or walk your knees closer together.
- Walk your hands forward a little or a lot. If you have room, place your forearms on a block or on the ground.
- Reach the crown of your head forward and your tail-bone back. Keep your hips in the same plane as your knees (if you saw yourself from the side, knees would look like they’re under your hips).
- Lift your belly away from the ground.
- Hold for up to two minutes, then gently release into child’s pose.
Bottom Line
As you can see, there are good yoga weight loss exercises that you can do at home. Hopefully, this health care crisis won’t last too long, and you will be able to continue with yoga classes soon. In the meantime, stay healthy, take care, and practice yoga – it will surely help.
Interested in reading more about how to lose that muffin top? Then click here
About the Author
Adam Reeve is a nutritionist and fitness instructor from Chicago. He discovered yoga almost 10 years ago after a major crisis, and it changed his life. Since then, he is learning, and sharing information with other people. Adam became a licensed instructor 4 years ago and for the past 2.5, he is writing about health and wellness.
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