Often times, one thing alone won’t contribute to weight loss. To lose a reasonable amount of weight, a person usually needs to exercise, eat healthier, cut out junk foods, and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Stress can also cause a person to put on extra weight, so stress management is another useful tool for maintaining a healthy weight. Thankfully, yoga provides you with the best of both worlds! Yoga is great for both the mind and body.
If you’re new to yoga, you will first want to understand what yoga is exactly. Yoga is a series of stretches, poses, and breathing techniques. The relaxation techniques in yoga can help to ease chronic pain, such as pain from arthritis, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, or back pain. Yoga has also been proven to lower blood pressure, reduce insomnia, and even assist in weight loss. Most importantly, yoga is excellent for protection from injury and keeping the body safe and stress-free.
If you’re looking to lose weight with yoga, you’ll want to concentrate on practicing the Sun Salutations. Not only is this set of 12 postures great for weight loss and building muscle, but it’s also great for stress relief. Sun Salutations also help to improve circulation and overall health and wellness. Sun Salutations are used to generate heat in the body to cleanse both the body and mind.
Sun Salutations are a gentle form of yoga, but the flowing series of poses are actually helping to build muscle. Sun Salutations become even more effective at weight loss when you add in other poses such as Warrior I, II, and III, or the Triangle pose. Poses that involve lunging or twisting are also great additions. Practice Sun Salutations for about 8 rounds and then add in other poses for about a minute each.
The Plank pose is another great yoga pose for weight loss. The Plank pose helps to train all muscles in the body and when practiced regularly, it can help to slim your waistline, strengthen and tighten your back and thighs. The Plank pose is most effective when practiced several times during your yoga practice and when each Plank is held for at least 30-90 seconds each.
Even if you’re not trying to lose weight, yoga is an excellent activity that benefits men, women, and children alike. According to the American Osteopathic Association, yoga is a healing system of theory and practice, which helps to create strength, purpose, awareness, and harmony in the mind and body.
If you’re interested in learning more about weight loss or improving your overall health, Premier Health Chiropractors can help. Contact us today and see if you or your family could benefit from chiropractic care this summer.