Yoga Poses Weight Loss

As an ancient way of making the body healthy, fit, and away from any diseases, yoga plays a very important role here. Yoga poses weight loss is really an effective method of cutting weight and making the body healthy as well as mind. So, there are different poses in order for you to lose weight, as a matter of fact you can also try this without the aid of yoga professional or master. Here are they:

1.    The wind releasing yoga pose. Such kind of pose is one of the most effective ways of fat reduction on the abdomen part. The first step is to lay down flat on the floor and then fetch your knees on your chest. Hold your ankles to successfully this position. The nest thing to do is to hold both arms together on your legs. Either way, you can also embrace both of your knees together, and then try to sit up on the floor through that position. Lastly, make a deep breath and relax.

2.    Boat pose. The benefit of this pose is that you can successfully burn fats in the abdomen part.  To do this, sit down on the floor and keep your feet as well as your knees closer to your chest. Now after such position is done, try to get both feet on a straight position but keep your legs as well as body on a vertical position. Lastly, don’t forget to stretch both of your hands.

3.    Cobra pose. The benefit of this pose is that is effectively losing fats on the abdomen and buttocks. First step is to lie down but your face down. The hands must be under the shoulders and put strength on both hands and push them slowly on the floor. Right after that, try to get your head up but make sure that that abdomen is still touching the floor. Do not force yourself too much but instead relax and slowly do the exercise repeatedly.

4.    Warrior pose. Such yoga pose is best for thighs, arms, and abs. This is also best for losing weight. The first position is to stand straight. Second is to keep the left leg right about 45 degree, then bend the right leg right about 90 degree. Your hands must be up with the body straight.

So, those four yoga poses are best to lose weight and can keep our body healthy. For those who are asking how does yoga works on our body? Well, it stimulates the liver system and helps purify the blood. The second health benefits of yoga is it helps in the balancing of pH in or body. Third health benefit of yoga, it helps increase the internal heat. If the body functions well, most probably there would be no bad fats on the body. You can also find many different yoga poses weight loss in the internet and you can do those poses even alone just as long as you know how to follow instructions carefully.

Types of Yoga for Beginners

If you are looking for a way to get fit and toned yet you do not want anything that will cause you undue stress, why not try yoga? It is a form of exercise that has been around for thousands of years and will really change the way you look at your body and the way you think about yourself. yoga is a form of exercise that will also work your mind and soul along with your body so you get a holistic form of exercise that will bring you benefits no other exercise can bring.

A lot of you may balk at the thought of being told to try yoga since you think that you are just too big or too ungainly to try those crazy yoga poses but that is where you are wrong. Yoga is not about doing crazy poses and twisting yourself into a pretzel. It is about testing your body and slowly pushing it to do more and be more. It is testing your will and using your mind to help your body achieve new heights. It is amazing what yoga can do and if you think you would like to try this holistic and low-impact exercise below are some types of yoga for beginners. Some types of yoga will stretch your muscles for greater flexibility while others will strengthen your body and others focus on the core. There are even some that will make you sweat for a complete detox experience like no other.

You can try them on your own or you can always go to your nearest studio and ask the yogi in charge what is best for someone that has never tried yoga before. You will love what he or she has to say so go on and give it a try.

Bikram yoga- this is also called hot yoga and what happens here is you do yoga in a hot room where you will be tasked to go through a set of poses and a specified number of breaths. You will be doing yoga in a hot room so expect to sweat profusely in the heat. However, the heat will also make your muscles suppler so this could be good for beginners. Ask your yogi about beginner Bikram yoga classes.

Ashtanga- this is one of the more popular types of yoga where every pose is done in sequence and by breathing. It is a lot like Vinyasa yoga but the difference is that they make use of different poses. This is an extremely demanding type of yoga but you will love what it does for the mind and body. When you take beginner ashtanga practice you will be taught the basic poses first and you will perfect that by way of repetition.

Anusara- this is a relatively new type of yoga and was developed by an American yogi. This type of yoga seeks to open the heart by way of physical exercise. Most beginners will find this gentle and quite fulfilling at that.

Abdominal Breathing for a Healthier You

There are so many ways to relieve stress and maintain over-all health. But the most effective and oldest way is mind control and proper abdominal breathing exercises. It started in ancient India and this has been incorporated in yoga, martial arts and other holistic practices. Abdominal breathing is highly recommended by healthy practitioners. It is easy and inexpensive way of relieving stress.

Breathing is a rhythmic process of expansion and contraction. Many cultures think that breathing is the essence of being. In yoga, breathe is prana or the universal energy that can be used to find a balance between the body-mind, the conscious-unconscious, and the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system. The breathe is easily used to communicate between these systems which helps facilitate positive change/ Breathing is the only bodily function that we do both voluntarily and involuntarily.

When we are emotionally stressed, our sympathetic nervous system is affected and results in a number of physical responses. Our heart rate is fast, we perspire, and our muscles go tense. And our breathing becomes tense and shallow. If this continues for a long time, our sympatric nervous system is stimulated and may lead to an imbalance. Our physical health is affected and may lead to high blood pressure, muscle pains, to name a few. It is more difficult to consciously slowdown our heart rate, decrease our perspiration or relax our muscles than to take a slow and deep breathe. Breathing can be used to directly influence all of this stressful change in our body. Proper breathing can be done to reverse the changes in our body.

Breathing can be trained for both positive and negative influences on our health. That is why it important to have the proper and correct breathing to relieve our body of all the bad elements which leads to an imbalanced body. Using and learning proper breathing techniques is one of the most beneficial things that can be done for both short and long term physical and emotional health. It is best to use abdomen breathing rather than chest breathing.

Abdominal breathing should be done twice a day to relieve pain or to turn your mind away from any unstressful things or thoughts. According to Integrative Medicine by D. Rakel, here is how to do the proper abdominal breathing:

•    Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. When you take a deep breath in, the hand on the abdomen should rise higher than the one on the chest. This insures that the diaphragm is pulling air into the bases of the lungs.

•    After exhaling through the mouth, take a slow deep breath in through your nose imagining that you are sucking in all the air in the room and hold it for a count of 7 (or as long as you are able, not exceeding 7)

•    Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of 8. As all the air is released with relaxation, gently contract your abdominal muscles to completely evacuate the remaining air from the lungs. It is important to remember that we deepen respirations not by inhaling more air but through completely exhaling it.

•    Repeat the cycle four more times for a total of 5 deep breaths and try to breathe at a rate of one breath every 10 seconds (or 6 breaths per minute). At this rate our heart rate variability increases which has a positive effect on cardiac health.

Burning Calories by Raking Leaves

The calories that we burn during an exercise vary depending on body mass and the frequency of the said activity, the intensity and the duration of the exercise. If you want to lose weight, remember that 3,500 calories is approximately equivalent to 1 lb. of fat. Therefore, you should burn 3,500 calories more than you take in, regardless of what type of exercise or the intensity of that exercise.

Calories are burned when raking leaves in your yard. A study showed that a 125 lb. person raking a yard for 30 minutes will burn 120 calories. A 155 lb. person doing the same will burn 149 calories. Here is a data of how much calories are burned when raking leaves for an hour, according to a study done by the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal:

•    130 lbs : 254 calories burned
•    155 lbs : 303 calories burned
•    180 lbs : 351 calories burned
•    205 lbs : 400 calories burned

But I guess this will really depend on how big your yard is and how often you rake it. Raking is one form of exercise which is really to your benefit. It is like hitting two birds with one stone! Why? You lose all your unwanted calories and in the process clean your yard! But the downside of this exercise is that when the leaves stop falling then you also stop raking.

Calories are burned when raking leaves and these calories accrue in time if you do it every day. You use your arms when raking the leaves and you do footwork by moving around the yard. Just remember to wear enough protection from the heat and rays of the sun. Don't worry if your yard is small because all the calories that you burn from raking everyday will add up to the desired calories you need to lose. And there is always the backyard to rake too. And if you still feel that you haven't burned off the calories you think you need to lose, why not rake your neighbor's yard too. You burn off all the unwanted calories and you earn extra money!

Now, isn't that a cool way to lose all the unwanted calories in your body? Raking leaves for just 10 minutes counts toward the 150 minutes of moderate aerobic or cardiovascular exertion recommended per week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for adults 18 to 64 years old. So, even our grandparents can do this on a regular basis. At least this is an easy way of exercising for a 64 year old person.

Raking leaves can also be your way of bonding with the family, so this task can be done with the whole family. Raking your yard need not be considered a tedious work, or one of the household chores. You can think of it as an exercise so that you can look forward to doing it every day because you know that however you take it, it is beneficial to you.