International Yoga Day: How to Lose Weight With Yoga

It was just a few days ago that we celebrated International Yoga Day! Yoga has become the way of life for many people. There are several benefits of yoga that go beyond physical ones. Practicing yoga helps improve mental, physical, and spiritual health, contributing to your overall well-being. 

However, one of the most significant benefits of yoga for people is in the form of weight loss, stress and active lifestyle. According to experts, yoga helps in losing weight in two ways, i.e., with yoga poses and mindfulness. 

International Yoga Day: How to Lose Weight With Yoga

It is to be known that there is a connection between yoga and mindfulness. The spiritual and mental aspects of yoga enable us to develop mindfulness. This improves awareness on several levels, making you conscious of how different foods impact your mind, body, and spirit. 

  • Yoga and Mindful Eating

As per studies, yoga for weight loss helps via mindfulness. People who achieve mindfulness via yoga practice can resist unhealthy food and stress eating. They will also become more in tune with their body so that they can realize when they are full. Yoga has proven to be really helpful for people who are struggling to lose weight. 

It is also known that yoga should not be practiced on an empty stomach, and you must eat healthy before doing it. After yoga, you will crave fresh and healthy food items. 

  • Yoga And Better Sleep

Yoga practice can help in improving the quality of sleep. You will be able to sleep easily and deeply with regular yoga practice. One needs at least 6 to 9 hours of sleep for good health. In fact, quality of sleep is related to weight loss as well. Experts suggest taking good sleep to lose weight. 

  • Yoga And Calories

While yoga is considered an aerobic exercise, there are certain poses that are more physical than others! Active and intense styles of yoga can help in burning significant calories. This prevents weight gain and helps in maintaining the lost weight. 

Some powerful yoga poses for weight loss are Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Power Yoga which are more physical than others. Vinyasa and Power Yoga are generally practiced at hot yoga studios. These yoga poses keep you constantly moving, which helps in burning calories. Practicing yoga can help develop muscle tone and improve metabolism, which is the key to weight loss. 

Restorative Yoga might not be a physical type of yoga, but it still helps in weight loss. As per studies, it has been found that Restorative Yoga proves to be effective in losing weight in women, especially abdominal fat. This type of yoga seems promising for overweight people who can’t perform vigorous yoga poses. 

Yoga is an excellent way of ensuring behavioral change, weight loss, and maintenance via burning calories with the help of mindfulness and stress reduction. It helps in reducing food intake and becoming aware of the side effects of overeating. 

When To Perform Yoga for Losing Weight

Yoga can be practiced as often as possible to lose weight. You can engage in the active and intense practice at least 3-5 times every week for at least 1 hour. On other days, you can engage in relaxing and gentle classes such as Hatha, Yin, and Restorative Yoga classes, as they are great options. 

In case you are a beginner, you can begin with slow and shorter sessions ranging from 15- 20 minutes. This helps in building flexibility and strength along with avoiding injuries. You should definitely take a break for a day every week.

You can also combine your yoga practice with cycling, walking, and swimming for cardiovascular benefits. Also, you should avoid weighing yourself after yoga class, especially after a hot yoga class. You might lose water weight during the session. 

Yoga Poses That One Can Practice at Home

  • Sun Salutation
  • Boat Pose
  • Plank Pose

These are some of the easy poses which can be done at home without supervision. Once you learn yoga, you can also perform other poses for losing weight such as:

  • Trikonasana
  • Chaturanga Dandasana
  • AdhoMukhaSvanasana
  • Sarvangasana
  • Sethu Bandha Sarvangasana
  • ParivrttaUtkatasana
  • Dhanurasana

How Can Yoga Benefit Students?

Students should definitely start practicing yoga from an early age to reap the benefits. Yoga benefits for students manifest in both physical and mental aspects. 

  • Yoga can help in improving the mental and physical health of students. It increases the energy levels of the body and helps in fighting fatigue.
  • Yoga offers peace of mind and helps in relaxing and calming, which helps in combating stress and pressure related to academics.
  • Yoga and meditation can help students improve their focus and concentration, which significantly helps academics. In fact, you also help in enhancing memory. 
  • Yoga improves the production of proteins and releases them into the bloodstream. The protein helps the brain cells to reproduce. Daily yoga practice can promote a healthy and strong brain. This protein helps in keeping the nervous system healthy.
  • Just 20 minutes of yoga can help encourage better blood circulation from the body to the brain. This leads to active cell growth, which helps with learning and cognition.
  • Yoga can help students take their eyes off books and laptops. The eyes get relaxed for some time and help prevent headaches caused by long hours of reading from books and computer screens. 

Whether it is students or adults, you must make a commitment to practice yoga if you wish to lose weight. The beauty of yoga is that it will offer several other benefits for your overall well-being along with losing weight. 

Yoga should not be practiced just once or only for the sake of following the trend. It should be a way of life and part of your healthy lifestyle. You will be amazed to witness the wonders that yoga can do for you!

Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top