Thinking of losing weight ? Well, yoga can be a good resolution for your weight problem. Let us first understand how we gain weight and what the meaning of loosing weight is.
Our diet or food provides calories to our body. These calories are utilized by all body parts for optimal functioning. Calories are used by body even while we are sleeping. Simply breathing process also requires calories to carry on.
So, if our body continuously burn calories, then how do be tend to gain weight ? The simple answer is, we burn less than we take in. In our modern society, people are busy and do not have time to design a balanced diet. They consume junk foods or things that are instantly available without thinking about the calories the food contains. Since our body burns the calories that are required for body functioning, the left over calories gets deposited unused in the body and gets converted to body fats. This deposition continuously leads to accumulation of more fats leading to excess weight gain.
So, direct cure to lose weight is to put a check on the calorie intake. In simple words, consume less calories than your body use daily. Calorie burning scale or body metabolism is different for every person. It depends on things like age of a person, sex, type of work one does.
Yoga combined with a balanced diet can do wonders for a person who wants to lose weight. It is very gentle way to stretch, flex and tone your body. Yoga helps in raising the body metabolism and thus helps to burn calories and reduce weight.
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Here are some yoga poses that can be helpful in your weight loss
Locust pose :- Lie down on your stomach with straight body and arms on the sides with palm up posture. Try and lift your legs, upper portion of body, your arms and your head up from the floor. Try to keep your arms and legs as straight as possible in air while looking in forward direction. Try to make them steady for about a minute in this position. Then slowly relax yourself and lie down. You can repeat this process from 3 to 5 times. This pose not only provides strength to your legs and backs but also strengthens your chest and spinal cord.
Bent Knee Trunk Flexion pose :– Sit down on the floor and stretch your legs straight with your hands on the sides of your hips and palms top downwards. Take a deep breath and bend forward keeping your legs straight unfolded. Reach for your feet and hold toe with corresponding hands. Try to bend forward as much as possible and try to touch your knees with your nose tip. No problem if you can’t but flex as much as possible. Hold the position for as long as possible and continue breathing slowly. Inhale deeply and release your hands and body slowly to get into your normal sitting mode. You can do this pose for about 3 to 5 min for starting.
Bridge pose :- Lie down straight and stretch your body. In the same position, bend your knees and bring them close to your hips. Your feet should be at little distance from each other. Touch your heels with fingers of both hands. Now lift your hips upwards by applying force on your feet and keep your thighs parallel. Bring your hands under your body and hold one with other. Try to stretch up your chest in upward direction by rolling your shoulders under your body and hold for about 1 minute. Release and lie down. You can repeat this process 3 to 5 times as per your body permits. This pose particularly helps in massaging the neck and chin areas which in turn messages your thyroid glands. These glands are responsible for metabolic rate of human body.
Bow Pose :- Lie down on your stomach and stretch your body straight. Relax and bend your knees over your hips. Grab your knees with your hands and pull your feet away holding them tightly so that your chest and stomach get stretched. Raise your upper body upwards and keep your body stretched. Hold for as long as you can. Relax your body. This yoga pose is very helpful in burning fats in thighs and abdominal area. It also stretches body along the spine.
Wind Releasing pose :- Lie down on the floor by keeping your knees close and stretch your body. Now relax and bring your knees close to chest keeping your ankles and feet together. Hold your arms around your knees and try to lift up your head. Retaining this position, try to take a deep breath. You will feel stretched. Stay for a while and then exhale. Lie on floor and relax yourself. This pose works well on the abdominal muscles of the body.
Yoga not only helps in reducing unnecessary fats from the body, but it helps you keep fit. They help in building the strong immune system of the body. There are several other yoga poses that can be useful for you. To get maximum results, we should do it daily in an open place.