By now most of us have received enough benefits from our yoga practice to keep us coming back for more. It lightens our mood, clears our heads, and is a great workout.
Overall, we usually leave a session feeling rejuvenated and revived. Sure, there’s something to be said for the endorphin high that all exercise seems to provide us. But with yoga, there’s something more…
Over time, we notice that we stand a little taller, we’re more flexible, our appetites and sleep schedules have regulated, and our leggings start fitting better. What exactly is behind all this?
What began as a practice of centering our minds and energy has expanded across our physical bodies, too. Yoga for weight loss is a benefit no yogi can deny. Read on for 3 ways yoga can help with your weight loss goals:
Yoga Relieves Stress
Okay, so if you’re thinking “this isn’t a physical benefit of yoga”, you’re not alone. But the reality is that stress plays a huge role in how good our bodies feel.
High-stress levels mean we’re releasing more cortisol throughout our bodies. This can impact how we break down food, nutrients, and even how we break down fat! Stress can actually make you fat, studies show.
We can think of stress as having a detrimental trickle-down effect on our overall health. While the immediate benefit of stress-relief is mental, we can’t emphasize enough how a lifestyle of less stress can benefit your body.
2. Yoga Invigorates Your Muscles
The flow of poses we run through during every yoga session we participate in is designed to awaken and lengthen our bodies. This is true whether our sessions are light and meditative or strenuous and hot.
When we activate muscle groups that aren’t used often, especially in the specific ways many yoga poses call for, our bodies have to work twice as hard to meet the challenge. A lot of this is simply due to the fact that our bodies can’t rely on the muscle memory they use to perform routine tasks.
It’s a great reason to keep challenging ourselves with new moves and pushing ourselves even harder on the ones we already know!
3. Yoga Promotes Healthy Living
Because those of us in the yoga community are so dedicated to our craft, we try to walk the walk that helps us achieve more of our goals.
Our biggest goal? To become even better yogis! So, we try to work positivity, focus, peace of mind, and healthy living into our everyday lives. It’s honestly so much easier to get right with a session after a healthy, sustainable meal than if we’re eating junky snacks.
With each session, we see improvement and become more motivated, and we carry that with us into our kitchens and nights out. Over time, those healthier choices start adding up and we start feeling like a million bucks in your yoga pants.
Weight loss, which once upon a time seemed like a painful chore, is just one of the many benefits yoga gifts us! What are your experiences with yoga for weight loss? Let us know!
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