Healthy food and regular exercise are ideal tools for weight loss. However, a lifestyle change must be implemented for the results to be long-lasting. Yoga is one of the best tools for weight loss if you are someone who does not prefer working on a treadmill or stationary bike. Yoga is a popular form of exercise that can help cultivate a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, it also helps in finding your spiritual core and connecting both your mind and body. Yoga has multiple health benefits, including muscular building, alleviation of stress, and restful sleep.
Yoga can help in weight loss in numerous ways, and it’s not necessarily about burning calories, states Judi Bar, the Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative Medicine’s yoga program manager and a certified member of both the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Yoga Alliance. She believes practicing yoga could be a way of life if performed correctly. Moreover, it can increase fitness while reducing instances of emotional eating. She also believes that the influence of yoga in stress management can lead to maintaining proper weight. According to Bar, many of her clients have lost weight with the help of yoga. Her research strongly verifies this approach as well.
How Does Yoga Help in Weigh Loss?
Bar and her colleagues assessed plenty of studies that prove the positive impacts of yoga on weight loss. According to her research, yoga can contribute to weight loss and weight maintenance owing to a few factors, including:
- Burning calories during yoga sessions.
- Promoting physical activities by reducing the pains in your back and joints.
- Enhancing mental health.
- Reducing stress.
- Increasing mindfulness.
- Connecting yogis more to their bodies, their satiety, and eating patterns.
Benefits Of Yoga
Yoga May Aid in Managing Stress
Uncontrolled chronic stress can lead to weight gain in numerous ways—however, yoga aids in reducing the severity of constant stress. The fundamentals of yoga training involve meditation and breathing exercises. Sundar Balasubramanian, Ph.D. assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, states that meditation and breathing exercises can elevate energy, boost mood, and reduce stress levels.
Dr. Balasubramanian is the founder of the PranaScience Institute and a yoga therapist who has earned certification from the International Association of Yoga Therapists. His research concentrates on how yogic breathing can enhance health, particularly for those with chronic health conditions and other diseases. Additionally, Balasubramanian explains that weight loss can be challenging due to stress, as it can increase cortisol levels and cause stress-eating and sleep difficulties. Indeed, deep breathing helps relieve stress and can prevent the harmful effects that could result in gaining weight.
Yoga Improves Muscle Growth
Improving muscle growth is another way that yoga promotes weight loss and weight maintenance. Working out in a weight room is not the only way to strengthen our muscles. Through yoga, you can gain resistance by applying your body weight. Carol Krucoff, a yoga therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, and an instructor certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Yoga Alliance, states that since the entire body works together to maintain balance, all our muscles get a workout.
Yoga May Aid in Mindful Eating
Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, PhD., an associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, states that yoga is more than just strengthening your muscles. According to Dr. Khalsa, when you hold a position for a few minutes, you will be more connected with how your body feels.
Moreover, as an approach to teaching and practicing mindfulness, focusing on your breathing and being attentive to the message your body and mind are trying to convey is crucial. Understanding indications of hunger and avoiding overeating is mindful eating. As stated by Khalsa, with practice and patience, you can learn about nutritious food and those that are harmful to your body (bloated or tired). This can help you maintain a weight loss plan or diet and choose more nutritious food overall.
Yoga & Weight Loss
According to the experts in the field, the following tips can get you started if you consider incorporating yoga into your weight loss plan.
Understand Your Need
As per Khalsa, trying out different yoga sessions, instructors, and styles is ideal since various programs are available. While some concentrate more on meditation and breathing techniques, others focus more on exercises that strengthen the muscles. You can choose according to your preference.
Include Various Forms of Exercises
Not every yoga session offers a cardiovascular workout. However, the majority of yoga sessions do include muscular building. Therefore, Bar suggests pairing regular yoga sessions with aerobic activities, such as walking, riding, jogging, or other physical activities that boost your heart rate.
Start Slow
Opening with the basics is necessary when beginning any exercise, even yoga. Bar suggests beginners avoid tough, quick-paced yoga sessions, which involve terms like “hot,” “Bikram,” “power,” or “flow.” Following methods that can safely increase your flexibility and strength is advisable to avoid injuries.
Make Appropriate Alterations
Understand your needs and pick suitable yoga styles. To lose weight, you need to change certain positions with time and follow relevant poses. Those who prefer exercising while seated comfortably can learn chair yoga from Krucoff for exercisers related to joint, knee, or hip issues.
Consider Professional Guidance
Consult a healthcare physician if you encounter concerns, such as your weight-reduction plan, discomfort, or other unusual symptoms. They can help you with proper solutions that could fit your health objectives.
Keep Practicing
According to Subramanian, practicing yoga as a habit requires time and repetition. Find a style of yoga that you are comfortable with so that you will be able to practice regularly.
Simple Yoga Poses to Try at Home
Here are some simple yoga positions that beginners can try at home:
Plank
Place your hands and toes on the ground while holding your body in a straight, horizontal line. This position will strengthen your core.
Side Plank
Like the regular plank, place one arm and leg on the floor while the other arm and leg are positioned over it.
Downward Dog
Place your hands and feet on the ground as you bend your body into a V shape. Your arms, legs, and abs will be exercised while holding this position.
Chair pose
Start by standing and then bending at your knees. Next, pull your posterior back as if sitting in an invisible chair. This pose is believed to activate the quad and glute.
Warrior 1
Stand with your feet planted on the ground. To do this, one must be planted to the earth with both feet. Point your front foot forward, and your back foot behind your front foot pointed outward. Your back foot must be straight, while your front knee must bend. Your head and torso must be pointed forward while your upper body stays straight. Place your hands and arms above you.
Warrior 2
The posture of Warrior 1 and 2 is similar. Stretch your body to one side and place your arms in a straight, horizontal line.
Warrior 3
Move your weight forward from Warrior 1 so you can balance on one straight leg. Extend your arms straight out in front of you, horizontal to the floor.
