How can Yoga Help in Weight Loss
Yoga is often associated with mind, body, and spiritual healing but it can help you lose weight and keep it off too. In fact, there are yoga poses that are designed specifically to burn fat, tone the muscles, and improve flexibility - all of which makes you lose weight faster!
Yoga and
Weight Loss
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that weight loss is just one of the many benefits of yoga and the effects are gradual. The weight loss effects of yoga are not the same as, say, circuit training, or boot camp training. Rigorous exercises and yoga practice affect the body differently in the traditional sense of how we connect physical activity with weight loss.
To lose weight, you have to adjust your energy intake and energy expenditure. That means taking in fewer calories and then working out to burn off stored fats. Practicing yoga won’t lead to immediate and obvious weight loss because the practice is more about enhancing one’s mindfulness to make better lifestyle choices - including the food you eat. That said, as long as you are combining yoga with healthy food choices and moderate exercise, you’ll see a marked difference in your figure.
If you want to try yoga to augment your weight loss journey, we highly suggest trying out ashtanga, vinyasa, and power yoga. These are the more intense forms of yoga practice.
How Yoga Aids in Weight Loss
Yoga aids
in weight loss by:
Practicing yoga regularly strengthens the heart while also minimizing the body mass index. Yoga helps you stay in control, keeping your weight in check. Exercises that improve the body's musculoskeletal foundation also boost heart health.
Improved Cardiovascular Health
Alleviates Stress
You might not know it but stress is one of the hidden causes of accelerated weight gain. When you’re stressed out, the body tends to release different hormones that trigger your fight or flight response. This leads to anxiety and insomnia - among other mental disorders.
If you are anxious or sleep-deprived, the body tends to crave calorific foods and if you give in to your cravings, you’ll end up gaining more weight.
Yoga enhances mindfulness, allowing you to cope with stress through gentle stretching as opposed to overeating and thinking negatively. This alleviates stress while also keeping your weight under control.
Certain yoga positions trigger different glands in the body. These glands include the thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands. Practicing yoga regularly helps re-balance the metabolic rate, allowing you to burn off more fat and speed up a slow metabolic rate.
Re-Balances the Metabolic Rate
Improve Muscle
Tone
Practicing yoga helps improve muscle tone by making the muscles work very hard to maintain every range of motion while keeping the entire body balanced. Most yoga poses use the bodyweight to develop different muscle groups. The effects may be gradual compared to strength training but the benefits are longer-lasting.
Yoga is often perceived as a calming practice but it's actually energizing too! Practicing yoga alleviates stress, which increases energy. As it strengthens the muscles and boosts stamina, it triggers the release of endorphins, hormones that make you feel happy! That’s the reason why you feel happy, refreshed, and accomplished after each yoga session.
Revitalizes and Energizes the Body
How often should you practice yoga to lose weight?
You should practice yoga regularly if you want to lose or maintain your weight healthily. 1-hour intense practice should be done at least 3 to 5 times a week to speed up weight loss. Try combining intense yoga and relaxing yoga each week for the best results. We also suggest adding “traditional” workouts such as jogging, biking, hiking, and swimming to your yoga repertoire for better heart health.
Of course, it’s important to start slowly if you are a beginner and diversify your workout routine only after getting used to these activities. Some of the best yoga poses for weight loss are sun salutations, boat pose, four-limbed staff pose, plank pose, upward plank pose, and warrior pose.