Why do we gain weight?

The gaining weight of the body implies the inability of your digestive system to convert the food into flesh. This excessive food ( or calories ) in the body is stored in the form of fat. Your body stores fat in the adipose tissue, (known as the fat cells of the body), either by enlarging their size or by manufacturing more of them. If you decrease your daily bread intake, your body will automatically start reducing some of its stored fats by shrinking them.

Does yoga have the solution to weight loss?

Most of the time people strive to lose weight by dieting. Some get a successful result too, but the question lies how long you can go with these tricks?

Typically weight loss occurs when your calorie intake is less than the count of calories you burn every day. Introducing yourself to yoga can be a better alternative than striving yourself to lose weight. Involving yoga in your lifestyle makes you achieve a healthy weight loss. Losing weight is based on two important factors

• Healthy fuel for the body
• Exercise

Most effective Yoga poses for weight loss

You will not see immediate weight loss results in the case of yoga. Yoga is said to be more effective when you hold the pose for a long time. The poses in yoga are simple, focus on toning the muscles and increasing their flexibility.

Some potential yoga poses for your weight loss journey

1. Chaturangadandasana ( plank pose)

Plank pose is considered as the best posture to burn fat from almost all the parts of the body. This pose is not only included in yoga but also in various forms of other exercises. It stimulates the core of the body, massages the abdominal area, and burns fat of the back and hip regions. Ideally, this posture can be practiced starting from 30seconds to 3 minutes in one go depending upon your capacity.

2. Trikonasana (triangle pose)

Triangle pose helps to burn that stubborn fat deposited in the belly and tones your digestive system. It restores the digestive heat in the system and ensures good digestion. The posture turns at the waist part helps to reduce fat on the waistline, hamstrings, and thighs. Practicing this pose creates a balance in the body and promotes the blood flow.

3. Sarvangasana ( shoulder stand)

Shoulder stand is known for enhancing the metabolism and stabilizing thyroids levels. This posture has enormous benefits from stretching to creating balance while maintaining strength in the core area. Shoulder stand emphasizes blood circulation in the upper body and known to improve the respiratory system.

4. Parivrtta utkatasana ( twisted chair pose)

This asana is commonly known as yoga’s version of the squat with increased levels of intensity involved. This poster tones your thighs like never before with a twist in the spine. Holding this posture burns the fat in the waistline and upper thigh region. It creates a stretch in the arms, neck, waist, and, abdominal region.

5. Adho mukha svanasana ( downward dog pose)

Every posture in yoga has some significant names. Downward dog is the posture relating to the position of the body resembling a dog. This posture helps you to achieve optimal flexibility in the back and creates a nice stretch all over the heels to the head. Adho mukha svanasana improves blood flow in the head and helps to release tension and stiffness in the body.

6. Dhanurasana (bow pose)

It is reviewed as the best pose to burn belly fat in the body. Dhanurasana allows you to create a curve in the back making it flexible and strong. This posture helps you to tone your thigh muscles, hands, neck and opens up the heart area. The posture enhances flexibility and promotes blood circulation in the system.

7. Power yoga

Apart from some specific postures, one can practice power yoga that includes postures to generate a comparatively high amount of heat in the body. There are several postures series such as sun salutation which when performed with high speed helps to reduce extra weight in the body and allows you to achieve a streamlined shape. Sun salutation is the most reliable form of power yoga workout session as it concentrates on all the fundamentals of the body in just one go.

 Once your body gets used to these postures you can try to hold them for long to ripe some invisible benefits as well.

The fuel factor

It is seen that people practicing yoga tend to eat little less than what is needed for the body or at least they won’t overeat. Yoga revitalizes the system in such a way that it brings so much sense into your system that you will not overindulge in food. Practicing yoga regularly creates certain chemistry within the body that it starts regulating itself and will just eat what is needed.

Food is just like a fuel in the machine, if you go to a filling station for refueling your car, you choose for that propitious fuel that allows your machine to achieve optimal performance. You can surely try some kerosene and see how it works, you know, it will drive, but may not allow you to accelerate as much as you want. This resembles most of the situations of how people are choosing their fuel today. It is your choice to have a machine that needs minimum fuel and generate maximum output or vice versa. Yoga brings you to that dimension where you know what and how much is needed, to function well.

Pranic food for your machine

Fuel is essentially something that provides “pran” to your system. How can you expect to behave lively without eating live food? It is as simple as that, if you put dull food into your system, for sure the output will be dull. Practicing yoga improves your digestive health but it is important to watch your food quality intake during your weight loss journey. According to yogic science, you must include raw food in your diet. Even modern science today states various advantages of a raw and vegan diet. It is seen that people consuming fruits and vegetables in their complete raw form are seen with a significant amount of improvement in their complaints of fatigue, nausea, and, muscle cramps. Some people have also shown improvement in their diabetes and hypertension states. You can also opt for some yogic diet recipe initially, to see how it works for you.

Resolving the spine issue from yoga

Practicing yoga allows enhancing the range of movement in the spine and helps the practitioner to shed off the extra weight from the body.

Here I’m discussing the general issue or reasons associated with the back pain and figure out what yoga carries for them as a solution!

Yoga to heal Muscle strain

Muscle strain is caused by the tearing of the muscle or tissue connecting to the bone. The strain can root swelling, stiffness, and limited movement of the affected area. The main reasons for muscle strain in the body are poor flexibility, fatigue, poor conditioning of the muscles, etc. The top 3 yoga poses to help you heal muscle strain are listed below:-

1. Mountain pose ( Tadasana )

Tadasana or Mountain pose creates an intense stretch ranging from the toe of the feet to the neck. In mountain pose, the head is aligned with the widespread shoulders lifted ribs and feet are parallel to each other.

Benefits of mountain pose

• It corrects the posture of the body and strengthens the thigh, knee, and ankle area.
• Reduces the excess fat in the upper region of the body and prepares the spine to hold the weight of the upper region effectively.
• It creates a balance in the body and allows the practitioner to feel more relaxed and stable.
• The pose reduces the stiffness in the back region and opens up the front region of the body.

Boat pose ( Navasana )

Navasana or boat pose is the finest pose designed to develop strength in the core and lower spine regions of the body. It allows the spine to extend tall and holding the upper region of the body such that the legs are raised to an angle of 45 degrees with knees and eyebrows maintaining a straight line.

Benefits of the pose

• Boat pose releases the stiffness in the back and hip region. It allows the practitioner to gain the same range of motion by improving the flexibility and strength of the body.
• Holding the pose for 20 seconds initially and then increasing the time will help to develop the muscularity in the core regions of the body
• It tones the buttocks, calf muscles, and, ankles.

Downward facing dog ( Adho Mukha savasana )

Adho Mukha savasana is the most dynamic pose of all the therapeutic yoga sessions as it does everything. Literally everything! In this posture, the body forms a shape of a downward dog with the head trying to touch the ground. You can start withholding the stretch from 30 seconds to 1 minute and then slowly increase the holding time accordingly.

Benefits of downward dog pose

• Adho Mukha savasana stretches the complete body in one go, and provides strength in legs, build bones, and helps with lower back and hamstring injuries.
• As the blood flow will be more towards the head, it releases the stress and lowers the blood pressure.
• Lowering the neck and trying to touch it to the ground develops an extended stretch directing the back and neck region and improves its elasticity.

Herniated disc

The spine is made up of bones shield by discs. The disc secures the bones by absorbing the shocks caused through daily activities like walking, turning, and lifting. Reasons for slip disc include overweight, lifting heavy objects, aging ( as the disc begins to lose its insulating water content), weak muscles, etc. There are some yoga asanas that can save you from the excruciating back pain, want to know more? Read on!

Camel pose (ustrasana)

Camel pose is a kneel bending asana, considered as a difficult pose for neck and tight shoulders. If you are a beginner it is recommended to perform the pose under a verified yoga teacher or you can ask someone to watch you performing and corrects you. You can use blocks in the beginning if you are uncomfortable with the pose or you can do some modifications in the pose based on your health conditions.

Benefits of the pose

• The pose stretches the thighs, abdomen, and chest region. it opens up the heart and shoulder area
• This pose helps you to improve your overall posture of the body and promotes strength in the lower back region.
• Holding the pose for long releases the fatigue, menstruation disorders, and mild backache.

Locust pose ( salabhasana )

Locust pose is a deep backbend pose that incorporates the benefits of other poses like dhanurasana (bow pose), and cobra pose (bhujrang asana). It is one of the most challenging poses in yoga which seems to be simple and interesting at one glance.

Benefits of locust pose

• Locust or grasshopper pose allows you to strengthen your back muscles and prepares a strong core for your body.
• The pose helps to improve the structure by stretching the shoulders, chest thighs, and belly region.
• As the body rests on the belly, it energizes the abdominal organs and tones the area.

Cobra pose (bhujang asana)

If you are a beginner with a herniated disc, you can start your journey with a pose like this. Cobra pose is a perfect blend of balance, bend, and flexibility. You can support yourself with your arms, with your back bent backward, and neck continuing the flow. Initially, you can start with the height you are comfortable with and then increase it slowly.

Benefits of cobra pose

• This backward bending poses assist in straightening your ligaments along with muscles that continue to keep the damaged disc in its position.
• Posture makes the spine stable and strong while maintaining its flexibility.

Scoliosis

The sideways curving of the spine is termed as Scoliosis. It arises often during puberty or just before puberty. It is observed in most of the cases that performing yogic postures strengthens the spinal muscles and reduce the curve. The national scoliosis foundation recommended that practicing the below mentioned 3 yoga poses helps to reduce the spine curvature, providing them the required flexibility.

Cat-Cow pose

Cat cow poses in yoga is specially designed to promote flexibility in the back and stretch the body to prepare it for other activities. It is a gentle flow between the pose that allows the practitioner to focus on its breath in coordination with the spine movement, and encourage the breath to become slow and as deep as possible. 

Benefits of the pose

• Spinal movement coordinated with deep and slow breaths tranquilizes the movement of breath in the body.
• The curving of the spine allows stimulation of the kidneys and adrenal glands.
• Practicing cat-cow pose opens up the chest and the front portion of the body, and provides a sense of openness all around.
• The gentle movement in the spine warms the body and provides a stretch in the back, neck, abdomen, and chest area.

Balasana (child pose)

The child pose is a classic yoga pose, practiced in every yoga class to have an in-between rest between the postures. The forward bending pose allows creating an extra stretch in the lower region of the hips and spine. The pose is widely used in the treatment of scoliosis and has the following benefits:-

Benefits of Balasanas

• It rejuvenates the energy in the nervous system and allows to relax the muscles adjoining the vertebrae of the spine.
• It creates the stretch in the entire back along with shoulders, neck, and arms. As the headrests below, it promotes the blood flow in the brain region

Trikonasana ( Triangle pose)

The emphasis in this stretch is more on one of the sides as the feet are separated and the practitioner maintains a balance in the body. The posture gives an intense stretch in the lower back of the spine and legs. The posture shapes the body in the form of a triangle, with the body pointing in particular directions. The benefits of trikonasana are as follows:-

Benefits of the pose

• This posture tones the legs and waist. It helps to reduce fat from the sides of the back, legs, and arms.
• The disciplined practice of the posture reduces the curvature in the spine and enhance flexibility
• Promotes strength and balance in the body.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is the condition of diminished bone density causing them to be fragile and splintery over time. Osteoporosis occurred due to low calcium intake in the early stages of development. Our body continuously absorbs and replaces the old bone tissues, a person with osteoporosis doesn’t keep up with this bone creation on the removal of the old bone. A study in 2009 noticed that practicing yoga consistently improves the balance and maintains the bone density in the body. Here I’m discussing the top three yoga poses that can help you with your treatment of osteoporosis.

Big toe pose ( Padangusthasana )

Padangusthasana is one of the basic poses practiced in yoga in various sequences. This forward bend encourages you to hold your toe with your knees straight and buttocks aligned with your ankle. If you are a beginner, you can check some beginner yoga poses to start your daily yoga at home. It is recommended that if you are unable to touch your toe in initial stages, you can start with a simple forward bend of the body and then stretching it to hold the toes slowly.

 Benefits of the pose

• Ensure the blood flow in the head area and relieves headache and insomnia.
• Strengthen the thigh and calf muscles, and  provide flexibility in the hamstrings and calves
• Revitalize the digestive system

Bridge pose ( Setu bandha sarvangasana )

It is a shoulder assisted pose and is known as invert back bending asana in hatha yoga. This pose provides a collective benefit of stretching, vitalizing, and strengthening of the body.

Benefits of bridge pose

• Bridge pose helps to restore the flexibility of the spine and removing the stiffness in the lower back regions of the body.
• It improves digestion by toning the abdominal organs.
• Practicing the pose relieves the menstrual discomfort and also helps to alleviate the prodrome of menopause

Extended side angle pose (utthita parsvakonasana )

The extended side angle pose allows you to shift your body weight onto the forward foot. You can also ask your partner to help you achieve precision in the pose or you can do some modification in the pose depending upon your health conditions.

Benefits of extended side angle pose

• Regular practicing of the poses builds up the stamina in the body
• Holding the pose for extended periods allows you to achieve balance in the system and promotes bone density.

Obesity

Obesity disorder involves excessive body weight in the stomach that pulls the pelvis forward and stresses the lower back, resulting in pain in the lower back region of the body.  To compensate with this you can also go through my article yoga for weight loss, or you can practice the following yoga poses to start

Boat pose ( Paripurna Navasana )

Boat pose is practiced by balancing the body sitting on the tail bone, keeping the hands and legs parallel to each other. It challenges the practitioner to raise the legs to the point that the big toe and eyebrow makes an imaginary straight line.

Benefits of boat pose

• nourish the abdomen muscles
• Improves digestion
• Stabilize the lower region of the spine and promotes toning of legs and core muscles

Seated foreward bend ( paschimottasana )

The pose falls in the category of the seated yoga poses and considered as a suitable pose for beginners. You can also check some beginner’s yoga posses if you are a beginner and want to explore more. Also, this pose is well suitable for the seniors and helps them to promote the blood flow in the body. You can also check yoga for seniors’ articles to dig deep into the poses designed for them.

Benefits of paschimottasana

• The pose stretches the spine, hamstrings, and legs and develops flexibility
• The posture calms the mind and helps to relieve mild depression
• Effective to reduce obesity and increases appetite.

Warrior pose II (virbhadrasana )

The pose is named on the incarnation of shiva and targets to increase the length and strength of the arms.

Benefits of virbhadrasana

• Creates a wide stretch in the back, shoulders, and chest
• Relieves back pain faced by the women in their trimester of pregnancy.
• beneficial in osteoporosis.

So try doing all these yoga poses for relieving from back pain.

WHAT IS YOGA? 

The term Yoga implies “Union”. Union with your own self. Yoga is a way to produce a chemistry of blissfulness within your system. Yoga is a set of physical as well as mental practices designed for the overall well-being of the body. In this article, I will take you through the complete discussion on the benefits of Yoga

BENEFITS OF YOGA

Essentially, if the energies in your body are balanced and the whole system is free from any physical and psychological ailments then as a human on this planet you will be functioning with a larger possibility of growth. Yoga not only brings this balance into your system but also creates a deeper understanding of the system.

If you want to calculate upon the physical benefits of Yoga then here I’m making it easy for you to collectively look upon it

1. Muscle strength along with flexibility:

If you have ever built muscle in the gym then you can easily relate to the fact that people doing a lot of weight will successfully grow big muscle, but if you ask them to do a simple bow they cannot even bend properly. Yes, bodybuilding can give you brute strength but it works in a completely different way.

Yoga can build that same strength in the body without losing its flexibility. You can train your muscles to cope with your spine erect and that’s what yoga helps you to achieve.

2. Improves lung capacity:

An increase in the lung capacity hugely impacts the physical abilities and effectiveness of taking a breath. The regular practice of yoga enhances the capacity (or volume) of the lungs and allows better absorption and excretion of gases.

 It is said in the yogic science that as your number of breaths per minute comes down (not forcefully but consciously), your system starts evolving itself, and the disturbance in the system in the form of locked energies will be eliminated. This today is known as the parasympathetic nervous system, which produces a relaxing effect. Yoga helps the practitioner to consciously slow down the number of breath by increasing lung capacity. You can check for the types of pranayama and benefits here.

3. Improves athletic performance:

Yoga provides flexibility to the muscle, ligaments, and tendons to move through their full range reducing to their chances of getting small injuries during the games. Yoga also improves the mind-body connection in an athlete’s life.

4. Circulatory health:

Practicing yoga regularly improves blood circulation in the body. There are various poses in yoga specially designed to intensify the blood circulation in the body aiming from the head to the tip of your toe.

Healthy blood flow in the system ensures a healthy heart and kidneys and keeps you away from high blood pressure, cardiac attacks, and renal failure, etc.

5. Perfects the overall structure of the body:

The key to keeping your body healthy is to USE it well. An overworked body results in lethargy and damage at various levels. Yoga provides the benefit of keeping the body in perfect shape without letting it overworked. Yoga ensures the accumulation of fat in the right place. you can also check for yoga for weight loss, where I have discussed the most effective yoga postures for weight loss.

6. Yoga for weight loss:

Are you facing the problem of gaining weight again after a few weeks of skipping your exercise schedule? Then Yoga is the solution for this.

The most interesting benefit of yoga is that it will tone your muscles giving you the desired flexibility and prevent you from gaining weight easily even if you skip your sessions for a few weeks.

7. Improves the quality of sleep:

Practicing Yoga stimulates the nervous system and quiets the mind that results in overcoming sleep disorders.

8. Yoga for mental health: 

The whole science of yoga is to transcend the limitations of the mind. Yogic poses incorporate with the breathing exercises which are known for calming the mind and the body. Today mental health issues such as anxiety and depression are very common among youngsters.

Yoga acts as a natural therapy to keep you joyful as well as productive throughout the day. you can also check yoga for youngsters here

9. Improves focus:

The benefit of yoga is to enhance your focus time i.e. to increase your ability to concentrate for a longer period. Yoga relaxes the mind which results in generating the capability to think more clearly and effectively.

10. Cultivation of awareness:

When you enquire about spirituality you will come across the subtitles of energy which will lead you into the exploration of the soul. Benefits of yoga dig deep into this search. It is seen that when you sit with yourself, you will find deep connections with your body and mind. The benefits of yoga are not bounded to the physical aspects. It allows you to explore your inner world, your thoughts, and your emotions. It cultivates a sense of awareness of who you are with time.

It is said that “prevention is better than cure”. Doing yoga regularly allows you to shield against the day to day stress, anxiety, bacterial attacks, etc. you can check yoga poses for stress relief here. It is recommended that you should learn yoga from a verified yoga teacher in your area, as apart from the enormous benefits of Yoga; it may cause serious injury to the system if not handled properly.

 Yoga does not help you to lose your weight immediately but when you do it regularly for a long time, you can see your body getting in shape. Yoga not only aid in weight loss it has several other benefits too.

Benefits of Yoga:

• Increasing flexibility
• Reducing weight 
• Manages stress and anxiety
• Balancing metabolism
• Reducing cardiac health problems
• Improving respiratory system
• Helps to increase muscle tone
• Boosts energy level

There are much yoga poses defined for weight loss. The given below are the 8 best yoga poses for reducing weight.

8 Yoga poses for weight loss:

1. Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutations) – Surya namaskar is a circle of 11 steps that include various asanas in it. It boosts your flexibility, stamina, make your body fit in shape and your muscles strong. You can do it in the morning or in the evening. In starting you can do 2-3 times but day by day you can increase the rep of Surya Namaskara. 

Steps of Surya Namaskar are:

• First, stand in a straight position while joint both hands in a namaste position.
• Then take your both hands above your head in a backward direction.
• Then, take your both hands to touch your feet in a downward direction
• After that, fold your left leg in a forward direction near your face and straighten your right leg in a backward direction.
• Then make your both legs straight in a backward direction and rest your body on your palms and feet. 
• Lie on the floor and then pull your body backward with the help of your both hands. 
• After that, hold the floor with your palms and feet and pull your body in an upward direction.
• Then, fold your right leg in a forward direction near your face and straighten your left leg in a backward direction.
• After this, hold both feet with both hands.
• Then repeat the second step.
• And end it with a namaskar position. 

2. Chaturangadandasana (Plank Pose) – Hold the floor with both palms, lift your body in an upward direction in a straight position. Try to hold it for 30-30 seconds in 3 sets. After some days, you can increase the time of sets. It helps to strengthen your arms and legs muscle and decrease your body weight.

3. Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand) – Lie straight on the floor and then lift your lower body in an upward direction with the help of shoulders. Then hold this position for some time and release. It helps to boost metabolism and balancing thyroid levels, strengthen the abdominal muscles and legs, and improves the respiratory system.

4. Dhanurasana (Bow) – Lie on your belly. Try to bring your heels near to your buttocks with the help of your hands. Your hands should take hold of your ankles. Try to stay in the same position for a few seconds and then release it. It helps to reduce your thigh and belly fat. It strengthens the muscles of thighs, arms and makes your digestive system strong.

5. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) – Lie on the floor in a straight position. Bend your knees and keep your feet on the floor. Lift your buttocks until the thighs are about parallel to the floor. It helps to reduce lower body weight, gives strength to your arms, and reduces back pain.

6. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) – Stand in a straight position and then bend in a side direction and touch your left foot with your left hand. Your body makes a triangle shape. After this, you can do the same with the right side. This asana helps you burn more fats from the waist and reduce your side tires, improves balance and concentration, and makes your body fit and healthy.

7. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog Pose) – Hold the floor with your palms and feet and pull your body in an upward direction. Hold it in the same position and make a mountain shape by your body. It helps to reduce your inner thigh, arms, and hamstring and make your lower body in shape. 

8. Virabhadrasana (Warrior 2 Pose) – Stand in a straight position. Then fold your one leg as thigh parallel to the floor or at an angle of 90 degree and second leg straight in a backward direction and hold your arms straight as a warrior make a pose for the fight. This asana gives you a tighter quad, tone your belly, legs, and arms.

These 8 yoga poses not only helps you in weight loss but also make your body flexible. So, try these easy yoga poses and make your body fit, fine and healthy. 

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are for general information. Jugaadin.com is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts, or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Jugaadin.com, and Jugaadin.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.