Yoga For Weight Loss

Editor's Note : This is a guest post from Myln from howtoloseweighthealthy.com

Yoga is widely known for the many benefits it can provide to your body and spirit. It is a great way to relax and keep the stress away. In contrast to what some people believe yoga can also help you lose weight. The benefits yoga has to offer to weight loss are both direct and indirect and it is a great addition to your weight loss tools.

There are many variations of yoga that offer tangible benefits to weight loss besides their spiritual gains. Power yoga, Ashtanga and Vinyasa are some of those examples.

All these types combine traditional yoga can be done with aerobic exercises thus providing a very powerful combination that produces great results. During these sessions your heart beat increases, your breathing becomes faster and the fat burning process is accelerated. All you need to do to get started is find some spare time and a certified professional trainer or join a group. Many celebrities have tried this method with great success.

It is a fact that many light forms of yoga do not provide direct benefits to weight loss. In simple words they may not help you lose a lot of calories but the overall effect they have on your body condition can help you lose pounds easier and they also provide assistance in maintaining your normal weight.

The main reason for this is due to the fact that people who practice yoga for a long time grow a different perspective on the way they approach food and eating in general and they cultivate their self discipline which makes it easier to resist to food temptations. They learn how to control their body and mind more efficiently and this enables them to adapt to lifestyle changes which aid weight loss. In addition yoga can help you appreciate the feeling of fullness quicker and this protects you from consuming extra unneeded calories.

On the other hand practicing some rigorous forms of yoga will definitely help you reduce excess weight merely due to the practice and the effort involved. For example Surya Namaskar or Standing poses in rapid succession is known to help in weight reduction. You need to choose the form of yoga as per you body condition and your taste.

Practicing a combination of yoga and pranayama balances your metabolism and reduces stress. Imbalanced metabolism and stress are major reasons for weight gain hence yoga practice naturally reduces excess weight.

Whatever the reason is for starting yoga there are some tips that can make the whole process more efficient.

1. Do not practice with Weight Loss as Aim – Even though you may want to lose weight, do not make that the objective of your yoga practice. Concentrate on practice and progress. Eventually you will find that you have lost weight as that is natural process, but more importantly you will gain multiple benefits like peace, relaxation, strength and flexibility.
2. Find the real beauty of yoga – This is an extension of the above point. Yoga is not just exercise - it is a spiritual process. Your goal is not only to do the exercises correctly but to concentrate and explore your inner self. If you manage to get the crisp of the 'real yoga' you will eventually find the courage and willpower to meet all your goals and that includes your weight loss objectives.
3. Find your limits but not overdo it - When you do any form of exercise you need to push yourself to get better results. This however does not mean that you should overdo it. Better start slow and as you gain experience you can work harder and for longer time.

Related Articles

Losing Belly Fat with Yoga

Read more...

Reduce Belly Fat with Ardh Navasana (Half Boat Pose)

There are various poses in yoga which are useful for reducing belly fat and Ardh Navasana (Half Boat Pose) is an important pose for reducing belly fat. This pose acts directly on the abdominal muscles and melts away the excess fat deposited there and develops abdominal muscles thereby making that region stronger. All the abdominal organs like Liver, Gall Bladder etc are also massaged and overall increase in energy and health is achieved. This pose is simple though it may be difficult initially for people with weak lower back.

Steps to Practice Ardh Navasana (Half Boat Pose)

1. Sit in Dandasana, which is basically a pose where in you sit with legs extended forward.


2. Now interlock the hands behind the head.


3. Exhale and recline backwards so that you are balanced on the buttocks. Now lift the legs so that it is around 30 degrees from the ground.


4. Continue breathing though it will not be possible to do deep breathing.


5. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and increase the time gradually.

Note : If you are suffering from lower back pain then do not practice this pose.

Benefits of Ardh Navasana (Half Boat Pose)

1. Massages the internal abdominal organs and rejuvenates the body and reduces belly fat.


2. Increases lower back strength.

Related Posts
Navasana (Boat Pose) - Combination of Strength and Balance
Losing Belly Fat with Yoga : Urdhava Prasarita Padasana

Read more...

Navasana (Boat Pose) - Combination of Strength and Balance

Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation ~ Bhagwad Geeta

Navasana or the boat pose teaches the benefits of having a balanced life and maintaining a balance between two extremes in life. There will always be pulls from different directions but those who have core principals and live their lives based on those principles always emerge stronger. If a boat is properly balanced it can face many a storms and it won’t capsize, similarly when you lead a balance lifestyle you would find it easier to deal with various problems in life. In face of difficulties, the core principles help these people to stay balanced.

Apart from the above, on physical level the body is balance on the core region which become stronger and it also improves the posture by working on the lower back.
Steps for Navasana
1. Sit with legs extended forward.
2. Recline little back and lift your legs to around 45 degrees with exhalation.
3. If possible extend the hand besides the knees else keep them near the hips.
4. Hold this pose for as long as possible with back straight and normal breathing.
5. With inhalation come back to original position.


Benefits of Navasana
1. Back Strength increases.
2. Stomach also gets strengthened and fat is reduced on the abdomen.
3. Abdominal organs like Kidney and Liver become healthier.
4. Great for pregnant women who suffer from lower back pain.

Related Post
Losing Belly Fat with Yoga : Urdhava Prasarita Padasana
Reduce Belly Fat with Ardh Navasana (Half Boat Pose)

Read more...

Losing Belly Fat with Yoga : Urdhava Prasarita Padasana

Most people are lean and thin when they are in college and whatever they eat somehow does not seem to show up as fat. Gradually they step in to their mid twenties and start working in some jobs. The metabolism rate starts decreasing a little bit.

By the arrival of mid thirties, they start getting settled in terms of career and work and stability comes to their life. Most of the day is spent in office doing sitting jobs. Most people are married at this stage and they do not have strong ambition to look good though they would prefer to look good and slim. At this time gradually they start noticing the fat layer building up on the belly area. Initially they ignore it, but later with passage of time the fat cover larger area and eventually it starts creating health problems. At this stage is becomes very difficult to remove this fat anymore and people resign themselves live with this fat.

Apart from the perspective of how you look, which is not that good with the belly fat, when the stomach is too much out of shape you are likely to suffer from many health risk including back pain, heart disease and getting tired easily.

Loosing belly fat is challenging for most people and a difficult task. Most people find it extremely difficult to shed of the extra weight. Standing yoga poses are extremely effective for loosing belly fat. Urdhava Prasarita Padasana (Upward Facing Feet Pose) can help you to work on the abdominal fat and reduce it. You can try this pose as a part of your practice and see the benefits.

Steps for Practicing Urdhava Prasarita Padasana

1. Lie on the mat on your back.


2. With inhalation move the feet near the hip touching the floor.


3. Now push the lower back towards the hip with exhalation.


4. Stay in this position for few seconds with normal breathing and then with inhalation gradually start raising the legs.


5. Make sure that the legs are perpendicular to the ground and hip should not be raised.


6. If keeping the feet in perpendicular position is not possible then take it to more comfortable level.


7. Stay in this position for 15 to 30 seconds with normal breathing.


8. With exhalation gradually bring down the feet back to ground.

Benefits of Urdhava Prasarita Padasana

1. Reduces Belly Fat


2. Increases the hamstring strength.


3. Massages the abdominal area and work on all internal abdominal organs and improves digestion.


4. Strengthens the lower back muscles.

Related Posts
Getting the Maximum From Urdhva Prasarita Padasana
Using Props for practicing Urdhva Prasarita Padasana
Reduce Belly Fat with Ardh Navasana (Half Boat Pose)

Read more...

Yoga to Reduce Belly Fat - Urdhva Prasarita Padasana

In general, practice of yoga increases fitness, strength and flexibility and help in overall fat reduction. However, some of the poses are effective in reducing fat around the abdomen. Let us learn how to use Yoga to reduce belly fat. One of the poses which is effective in reducing fat is known as Urdhva Prasarita Padasana.

Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (Upward Extended Feet Pose) which is practiced while lying on back. You can practice this pose in the middle of your practice sequence or also in isolation. Apart from reducing fat this also strengthens lower back muscles.

Steps to Practice Urdhva Prasarita Padasana

1. Lie down on the mat on your back.
2. With inhalation bring both the feet together and place them near the hip. Push the hip towards the feet so as to stretch the back.
   
3. Take one or two breaths and with exhalation raise both the feet up and bring the knee towards the abdomen.
   
4. Now raise the legs up, so that legs are perpendicular to the ground.
   
5. Move the hands above the head and continue to breathe normally.
6. Stay in this position with normal breathing, as long as you are comfortable then bring down the feet slowly with inhalation.
   
7. Repeat this pose three to four times.
   

Benefits of Urdhva Prasarita Padasana

1. As mentioned above it reduces belly fat. Practice of this pose also strenghtnes the abdominal organs and makes them work more efficiently.
   
2. This pose also strengthens the lower back.
   

Here is a video demo of the pose on Youtube.


Related Posts

Read more...