YOGA FOR FAT LOSS: How To Get In Shape With Yoga
- josephplatt1979
- Jul 29, 2022
- 8 min read
Yoga for fat loss
Weight training, cardio and HIIT all have great benefits for losing weight or burning fat, but don't write off yoga for fat loss as a way to help you reach your weight loss goal.
Yoga helps you destress and gain flexibility, but it can also help you with losing weight.
Doing yoga regularly offers many benefits including making you feel better about your body as you become stronger and flexible, toning your muscles, reducing stress, improving sleep, and improving your mental and physical well-being. Setting aside that yoga is a great workout, it's also good for your overall well being, which can affect your weight.
We know that stress can cause health problems, leading you to make poor decisions when it comes to food and sleep. Adding in relaxing activities that help you cope with stress in a healthy way, like yoga, can make a difference for your weight loss goals.
Practicing yoga may also help you develop muscle tone and improve your metabolism.
What is yoga
Yoga is a spiritual discipline which is based on a science that concentrates on bringing harmony between mind and body.
Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, and many different interpretations and styles have been developed. Although each tradition of yoga has its own emphasis and practices, most focus on bringing together body, mind and breath as a means of altering energy or shifting consciousness.
It does not matter whether you are young or old, overweight or fit, yoga has the power to calm the mind, strengthen the body, help fat loss, keep you flexible, more focused and alert.
Benefits of yoga
Yoga offers physical and mental health benefits for people of all ages. And, if you’re going through an illness, recovering from injury, have a chronic condition or want to improve your life, yoga can become an part of your treatment and improve your life.
Yoga has been known to help improve conditions like poor blood circulation, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, mobility, back pain, depression, tension and stress.
Doing Yoga on a regular basis can help you:
Reduce risk for injury - Each yoga pose targets specific muscles, helping increase to flexibility and reduce your risk for injury.
Reduce stress - People who practise yoga have a greater ability to relieve high cortisol and reduce other parameters of stress.
Increase concentration - A main part of yoga is rhythmic, focused breathing. This helps to gain laser focused concentration.
Mind and body connection - Yoga requires focus on each movement and this can help you feel the mind and body work together.
Build strength and stamina - some movement styles of yoga promote muscle gain, strength and stamina.
Better balance and stability - Balancing poses needs to use core muscles. This will help you improve your overall stability.
Improve posture - Yoga poses strengthen the shoulders and muscles of the upper back. This can help you keep good posture.
Develop body awareness - Yoga requires you to contract or relax specific muscles as you stretch into each pose. Making you more aware of your body’s strengths and weaknesses.
Yoga for fat loss - People who practice yoga and are mindful eaters are more in tune with their bodies. They may be more sensitive to hunger cues and feelings of fullness. Yoga can also help you burn calories, as well as increase your muscle mass and tone.
Yoga weight loss
While losing weight can be simplified to the calories in vs. calories out equation, a lot more goes into successfully changing your habits to make healthier choices second nature.
Yoga for fat loss when combined with healthy eating and better nutrition choices, has proven beneficial as it helps to lose weight along with keeping your mind and body healthy.
Yoga increases your mindfulness and how you relate to your body. You will start seeking out food that is healthy instead of binging on food that can increase your fat accumulation.
Yoga helps by bringing you better in tune with your body, improving your self-image and sense of well-being. Reducing stress and thereby stress eating is another way that yoga can support weight loss. By encouraging a healthy lifestyle, consistent yoga practice makes it more likely that you'll be able to maintain your weight loss.
Types of yoga
There are so many different types of yoga out there, some are more physically demanding class, some are easy, and some are relaxing or meditative.
When you’re trying to determine which of the different types of yoga is best for you, remember that there is no right or wrong one— just one that might not be right for you at this moment.
Here are many different types of yoga and you can find what best suits you:
Hatha yoga is best if you are just starting out as the pace is far slower than the other styles. The practice involves having to hold a pose Hatha class for a few breaths and focuses a lot on meditation and correct breathing and postures. You will also learn some essential relaxation techniques.
Iyengar Yoga is great for those who want to work on injuries and joint problems. It focuses on correct alignment of the body and very precise moves. These postures are held while holding your breath and the duration of each pose increases with expertise. The perfect pose is achieved with the help of props like traps, blocks, and blankets. This practice greatly improves stability, mobility, strength and flexibility.
Kundalini Yoga is one of those mysterious yoga practices that is as spiritual as it is physical. This form is physically demanding and mentally challenging and involves a lot of meditation, chanting, mudras and breathing exercises. The whole point of this style is to release the kundalini energy that is coiled in the lower spine. You have to do a lot of fast-moving postures with periods of relaxation where you will be taught to pay attention to internal sensations and the flow of creative energy so that you can tap into your kundalini-shakti. This style is for those who are looking for more than a workout.
Ashtanga Yoga or the “eight limb path” is very physically demanding so you should not do this if you are a beginner or not in great physical shape. It involves doing multiple surynamaskars followed by standing and floor postures. There are six series of postures that have to be repeated in every class. This kind of yoga is also called Power Yoga and in this style you start with the primary series and then graduate to the next level when you have mastered it. It takes years of practice to master this form.
Vinyasa Yoga is an offshoot of Ashtanga and also involves a number of athletic yoga postures and each movement is coordinated with one’s breath. This is also a very physically demanding practice. The pace is quick and you will not have to hold any one pose for too long. The key is to flow from one pose to the next so your heart rate gets pumping. Both Ashtanga and Vinyasa are great if your aim is to tone your body. It also works your core and upper body and gives you a cardio workout. This practice does not have a set structure and often depends on the teacher who might include some meditation and chanting.
Bikram Yoga was Created by yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, the key feature of this practice is to do a set of poses in a room heated to 41 degrees centigrade and 40 percent humidity. In a 90-minute sequence there are 26 basic postures that are done twice and two breathing exercises. The heat makes you sweat excessively thereby getting your body rid of toxins while the postures work every part of your body and bring oxygenated blood to all your internal organs. Drink plenty of fluids to rehydrate.
Hot Yoga style is very similar to that of Bikram yoga. Here too, postures are held in a heated room, however, it is not restricted to the 26-pose sequence. If you like a sweaty workout, this one's for you.
Kripalu Yoga is used If you are seeking spirituality through yoga. The focus of the practice is less on hectic asanas but on self-reflection, pranayama, deep relaxation, and meditation. The aim is to destress the mind and body for better health and self-awareness. Not as rigid as the other practices, this one requires you to modify poses according to your body’s needs.
Jivamukti Yoga is not just a workout but a deeply spiritual experience and if you want to know this practice in its totality then you should try the Jivamukti style. Jivamukti incorporates Vinyasa style postures and sequences accompanied with chanting, meditation, deep relaxation and pranayama. There is also some emphasis on philosophy, poetry and music. Jivamukti centres also offer courses in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit and kirtans. Jivamukti proponents are also expected to be vegetarian.
Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style that lets you hold poses for a longer time—from 45 seconds to two minutes. There are also a lot of seated postures and a focus on spirituality, inner peace and relaxation. By holding poses for a longer time, you stretch your connective tissue and make it more elastic. You also improve blood circulation and the qi energy in your body. Props help you relax into the postures instead of keeping your muscles flexed and taut. This style is often practiced in a heated room to help your muscles become more elastic. You must not try this if you are super flexible (as you can get injuries if you over-stretch) or have any connective tissue disease
Restorative Yoga is If you are in a stressful job, this is just the yoga practice for you. As the name suggests, restorative yoga postures are meant to relax and rejuvenate. Many of the classic yoga poses have been modified so that they are easier to do and are more relaxing. This practice helps you tap your parasympathetic nervous system so that you can truly relax your mind and body deeply. Like Iyengar yoga this style too takes the help of props like blankets, bolsters and yoga blocks to help you perfect each yoga pose without straining yourself too much. If you are struggling with insomnia, anxiety, stress-related illnesses, then you should definitely try restorative yoga.
Prenatal Yoga is a workout that pregnant moms can safely practice without putting the foetus at risk. It is specifically tailored for pregnant women in all trimesters. This kind of yoga works your pelvic floor muscles and teaches you breathing exercises that ease labour and delivery.
Anusara Yoga has postures that are used in a Vinyasa practice and here too there is a lot of focus on alignment. However, in Anusara the mind-body-heart connection is key and you will be encouraged to uplift yourself, find inner peace and the “light within yourself.” This style uses props to help you reach the perfect pose.
YOGA DIET
You do not have to follow a certain specific way of eating to do yoga, but some yoga practitioners choose a vegetarian or vegan diet and others follow a stricter diet that’s free of stimulants, like caffeine, alcohol, and refined sugar. The main reason to follow a yogic diet is that it promotes healing, balance, and inner peace. As long as you eat a well-balanced diet of good healthy carbs, lean proteins or protein supplements and healthy fats then you will be fine. Eating is perhaps the single most important act for one’s yoga practice, because nourishment of the body’s tissues forms a foundation for nourishment of the mind and emotions.
Bottom line
Yoga is not just about a few poses that strengthen you. It has more benefits to offer, such as Increased flexibility, Improved respiration, Improved energy and vitality, Balanced metabolism, Improved athletic health, Increased muscle tone, Improved cardio health, Weight reduction and Stress management. Physical benefits of Yoga, combined with stress management, help a person to lose weight and maintain good physical and mental health.
Yoga will benefit all, from people who are overweight and want to shed weight to people who want to relax. It is an age-old treatment for a well-toned and healthy body and a stress-free mind. Yoga not only aids in weight loss but also promotes a balanced physical and mental wellbeing.
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