Most yoga articles for weight loss are superficial. They come up with some exercises that have been peeked out somewhere and the general formulas are not of any value. As a result, no matter how much you learn in these lessons, your stomach and sides are with you. In fact, you can lose weight very quickly with yoga if you know how. So I'm going to tell you about a really quick way I accidentally discovered in my yoga classes.
To be honest, I never doubted whether yoga helped reduce belly fat. It has always been clear to me that a flat stomach is an added benefit of practicing yoga regularly. I have seen how the people who continue to the yoga class transform and become slim and fit. But all this happens gradually. If you want to get results as soon as possible then read through the article. After you know the easiest yoga exercises to lose weight at home, I will tell you about three secret yoga exercises that will allow you to literally remove fat from the belly one centimeter per day.
Yoga for beginners at home
It is easy to practice asanas at home - still yoga posture. To do this, just carpeting in the morning and doing a few simple exercises is enough. Do yoga to lose weight at home every morning. It only takes 15 minutes. The complexity includes all types of asanas: standing, bent, twisted positions. Each asana affects certain areas of the body, improves blood circulation and metabolism, normalizes hormonal levels, and gently massages internal organs. Through these effects, this yoga complex triggers the weight loss process. Static asanas are more concerned with the direction of hatha yoga; Kundalini yoga has also been shown to have weight loss effects.
Why practice in the morning? Because normally our stomach is empty and it's been about 8 hours since our last meal. This is an important nuance. One of the Yoga Masters I have studied says: The effectiveness of an asana depends on the emptying of the stomach. And of course, before embarking on this simple weight loss yoga practice, drink a glass of water and empty the intestines.
- Stand upright with your feet the width of your feet, inhale and raise your arms above your head with palms facing inward.
- Exhale and bend your knees, lowering your body to the floor as if you were sitting on a chair.
- Your body will naturally lean forward slightly. Try to straighten your shoulders, pull your shoulder blades back, and lower your shoulders away from your ears. Take a deep breath, take 5 deep breaths, and exhale.
- Stand at the same position on the chair, but instead of extending your arms over your head, lower them down to your chest level while bending your legs.
- Then, bring your palms together as if you were in prayer and rotate your upper body to the right so that your left elbow is gently on your right thigh.
- Keep your abs tight and continue to breathe deeply. Hold for five breaths in and out. As you inhale, straighten your knees to return to starting position and then repeat the exercise with the other side.
- Moves on all fours, knees shoulder width, palms directly under shoulders.
- Spread your fingers wide and place your weight on the hand.
- As you exhale, lift your knees off the floor and straighten your legs, raising your pelvis.
- Push your hands and feet off the floor, push up your pelvis and stretch your back, as if you were pulling the carpet in different directions with your palms and feet. Relax your neck and relax your head.
- Hold this position, take 5 deep breaths and exhale.
- Starting position - dog face down. As you inhale, straighten your left leg and raise it as high as you can.
- As you exhale, slowly bend your leg, bringing your left knee to your chin. As you do this, try to pull in your belly, pulling your navel toward your spine.
- On your next breath, straighten and lift your legs again. Repeat 5 times for one leg and 5 times for the other leg.
- Starting position - dog face down. Bring your right leg forward between your arms so that you are in a low stoop, like a runner before starting.
- Gently rotate the left heel outwards so that the left toes point towards the right heel.
- Raise your torso while extending your arms up. Straighten shoulders and slightly arch back, push chest out.
- Take a deep breath, taking 5 deep breaths in this pose. Then repeat the exercise on the other side.
- Starting position - warrior pose 1. Straighten right leg and transfer all body weight there.
- Raise left leg off the floor and extend backwards, leaning forward so that body looks like a T-shape. The entire body is parallel to the ground. The crown and arms are pulled forward, and the toes of the left foot are pulled back. If you find it difficult to balance, you can help yourself by leaning back in the chair at first.
- Hold this position for five breaths and then repeat on the other side.
- Lie on your stomach, legs together, forehead on the mat, arms stretched forward, palms face down.
- Squeeze your belly and buttocks, straighten your arms and legs. Keep your legs, arms, and upper body from your navel up above the ground, resting only against your hips and lower abdomen.
- Take a deep breath, take five deep breaths.
- Lie on your stomach with your forehead on the carpet and stretch your arms to the side, palms up. As you exhale, bend your knees, pulling your heels as close to your buttocks as possible. Grab your ankles with your hands and place your hips shoulder-width apart.
- As you inhale, lift your upper and thighs off the floor and reach heels back from the buttocks. Make sure to relax your lower back by spreading your shoulder blades down and back. Only the lower abdomen and hip joints are in contact with the floor.
- Take 5 deep breaths in this pose, then return to the starting position.
- Walk on all fours, legs slightly outstretched, hands below shoulders.
- Squeeze your abdominal muscles and keep your back straight, while lifting your right leg and left arm up, as straight as possible. Hold this position for 5 deep breaths and exhalations.
- Then repeat the same with your left leg and right arm.
- This is the same exercise as the previous one, with the difference that here we are on the board and not on all fours.
- Start by standing in a plank with arms straight.
- Then, keeping your back straight, lift your left leg and right arm up, stretch as far as you can. Hold this position for 5 deep breaths.
- Then repeat in the opposite direction.
Yoga for weight loss
Do you want your weight loss yoga classes to be really effective? So that means every morning you feel that you're getting easier? Then don't be lazy after completing the complex asanas to practice the breathing exercises (pranayamas) and meditation. Meditation + pranayama + asana - this is the magic of yoga for weight loss. Start each morning with yoga, including the three components of your lesson, and the results won't be long.
Fat Burning Meditation
Yoga restores hormonal balance in the body through calming the mind and achieving inner harmony. But this is not the only reason why yoga contributes to weight loss. Let's see what exercises a typical yoga class in a studio or fitness club includes.
Usually, a yoga lesson begins with meditation. In most classes, you will first be asked to sit quietly for 10 minutes and be aware of what's going on inside and out.
By the way, a lot of studies confirm that just one regular practice of meditation has a positive effect on health, hormones, and normalization of weight. Additionally, meditation develops mindfulness, leading to better eating behaviors and a more mindful eating approach. This is also important.
Pranayama
The second thing you will do in yoga is pranayama, ie breathing exercises.
Some pranayamas are designed to train a very important muscle in our body - the diaphragm.
A persistent sedentary lifestyle leads to the fact that the diaphragm simply stops functioning at its maximum and becomes weak and stretched. And most Western training systems pay little attention to this muscle. But not yoga.
In yoga, it is important to breathe properly and develop diaphragmatic breathing. That is why you will perform more pranayamas and allow your diaphragm to work hard and expand as much as possible.
The movement of the diaphragm during breathing is of great benefit to the entire body.
- At first, each expansion and contraction of the diaphragm carries out a gentle massage of the internal organs - heart, liver, pancreas, gallbladder. This leads to their cleaning and stimulation of work.
- Second, the diaphragm directly affects the digestive process, affects the stomach, otherwise, of course we do not forget to actively move it.
- And third, when fully exhaling, the diaphragm rises upwards affecting the area of the temporal plexus, where tens of thousands of nerve ends are intertwined, which leads to stimulation. Prefers the parasympathetic nervous system, the nervous system responsible for the rest and recovery of the body.
The parasympathetic nervous system is often suppressed because modern humans are constantly pursuing their goals. Constant stress, stress, nerve activity stop the body's healing and recovery processes. And yoga gurus, fully aware of this, have developed breathing exercises that help bring two opposing nervous systems - parasympathetic and sympathetic - into equilibrium. It contributes to even more weight loss than the constant fatigue diet and exercise.
Probably the most famous pranayama for weight loss is called the bandha uddiyana. Many people today know this exercise as a "vacuum". Thus, this "modern" vacuum is an integral part of the yoga system, which has been in existence for thousands of years.
3 simple steps for fast results
For those of you who have read all of the article, dedicated to doing all the asanas, breathing exercises and meditation, I will tell you about an interesting case from my yoga practice. I will share my personal experience.
The first secret
Practicing the asanas in yoga is considered only the preparatory stage for pranayama - breathing exercises. And pranayama, in turn, serves to prepare for meditation - to purify the mind and focus. So at a certain stage of training, I started practicing holding my breath. My goal is to learn to hold your breath for as long as possible. Literally, soon after starting such a workout, I suddenly noticed that every morning I felt light in my body and stomach. And the fat in the abdomen and hips has been significantly reduced. This unusual effect stimulated my interest. I started searching for information on the Internet and realized that I was not the only one facing a similar experience. What's more, there is a whole effective weight loss system based on holding your breath. So you can put this method into circulation.
I've experienced delays on freelance athletes' training tables, who dive into the ocean without diving gear.
Here is my practice board:
- Delay 1 minute - Rest 1: 30
- Delay 1: 30 - Vacation 1: 30
- Delay 1: 30 - Vacation 1: 30
- Delayed 1: 35 - Vacation 1: 30
- 1: 40 delay
This table is used to hold air while inhaling.
While resting between sets, I also paused for 20-30 seconds while exhaling completely.
The second secret
This secret has a lot to do with breathing as well. I am not a doctor and do not know how this effect is explained from a medical standpoint, this is only my personal observation. So I realized that belly fat won't accumulate if you try to exhale as hard as you can during the day. It sounds easy, but if you look at yourself, you can see that at the end of each exhale, there's still air in your lungs that you can exhale. This is especially true when you are sitting. It will be difficult to fully exhale if you have a round back and lower back. Most likely, the effectiveness of this breathing method is due to the press muscles, the lower back, and the diaphragm used to exhale completely. Hence, they are kept in good form.
In short, the second secret to yoga for weight loss is this: during the day, try to exhale twice as long and inhale and you'll be happy.
The third secret
The third secret also flows from the second. And, perhaps, this is the most important rule for weight loss with the help of yoga - tidy up the muscles in your lower back. Working with the muscles of the lower back, stretching and enhancing their strength - that's what helps to get rid of fat on the abdomen and sides very effectively. A sedentary lifestyle actually kills your lower back, which is constantly in a stretched position. The loose muscles lose elasticity and cannot support the body weight, there is an imbalance that leads to fat accumulation. Having a yoga exercise can help you lose weight quickly and effectively. Do it for just 5 minutes a day and the results will be available.
- A roll of a blanket or towel.
- Lie on the floor and place a curled blanket under your lower back.
- Extend your arms to the back of your head and bring your little fingers together.
- Extend your legs and connect your thumbs.
- Lie in this position for 5 minutes.
This exercise returns the pelvis, lower back, and abdominal muscles back to their natural state. As a result, belly fat becomes unnecessary and disappears quickly.
Lose weight with yoga - the fundamentals
The most important rule of yoga for weight loss is consistent practice. I recommend exercising 6 times a week, for at least one hour per day.
If this sounds like a difficult schedule, start with short exercises but every day it will help you form an exercise routine. And once yoga becomes familiar, you will naturally begin to extend the length of the workout to stay on the carpet a little longer.
The second rule is to do what you really like. Try to find pleasure in yoga. The main task is to connect yoga classes with a sense of joy.
Rule number three - don't just think about losing weight. Remember that yoga practice is beneficial for the body, as well as for the mind, spirit, and mental state. Weight loss is just a nice bonus, and you will understand this very soon if you do yoga regularly for at least 2-3 months.