If you go online, you can probably find a dozen different ways to lose weight, but none can be as natural and free of side-effects than yoga. With an existence that has lasted millenniums, this naturalistic fitness routine helps you manage your weight efficiently.  Most other weight-loss methods and treatments bring with them their own baggage. Some are not suitable for people with injuries while others are not flexible to all age groups. With yoga, all these barriers are cut off because of its universal nature. 

Therefore, today, we bring before you some of the most effective yoga exercises that will help you lose weight.  

Yoga as an Effective Weight Losing Method

Contrary to popular belief, yoga isn’t only performed to gain spirituality and to increase flexibility.  There is hardly an area of your body that it doesn’t cater to. Why else do you think it has become so popular not only in India, which is its origin but across the globe? You can find a yoga center in almost any populated place now. Its appeal lies in the bunch of benefits it provides, one of them being weight-loss.  

Weight loss is a sensitive process. You have to be healthy about it. Vigorous or excess body weight loss can lead to various health hazards. This is why yoga is so reliable. It neither believes nor promotes dramatic weight loss. It allows your body to adjust to the change of weight, which is crucial for staying healthy.  

The exercises that we are mentioning here today will help you naturally lose weight. However, these exercises are not one-trick ponies. They have other benefits as well. From helping you develop perfect abs to helping you sleep better, they do it all. So, this means you will invariably bless your overall body in your journey of losing weight through yoga.

Best Yoga Exercises to Lose Weight

Although many yoga exercises will help you lose weight, we have listed just the best and most effective ones among them. They are as follows:

Seated Forward Bend Pose

Start this exercise by sitting on a mat with your feet straight in front of you. Follow this up by pressing your top thighs down the floor. As you press them down, make sure the top of your sternum is lifted towards the ceiling.

Next comes the leaning part. You need to ensure that you lean forward from your hip joints instead of your waist.  Also, keep in mind that your inner groins have to be drawn deep into your pelvis before leaning.

Now, initially it might be a bit difficult to lean forward completely. So, you can use a strap around your foot soles and use it to lean forward. Once you are used to it, simply touch the sides of your feet with your hands and lean forward.

Your head must be raised and your front torso must be lengthened into the pose. The sequence that you need to follow is to make your lower belly touch your thighs first, followed by your upper belly, then your ribs, with your head touching the feet last.

Hold this pose for around two minutes, although for beginners 30 seconds will suffice.  To come back to the starting position, you need to lift your torso away from your thighs. Don’t forget to straighten your elbows as well. While lifting the torso, keep inhaling and pulling the tailbone into your pelvis.

Warrior II Pose

Stand up and keep your legs 3-4 feet apart from each other. After that, lift your hand parallel to the ground and reach out to your sides with your palms down and shoulder blades widened.

Make sure to align your right heel with your left heel. Next, you have to bring the center of your left ankle in line with the center of your left knee cap. To do this, you need to turn your left thigh outwards.

Proceed to bend your left knee over your left ankle and don’t forget to exhale while doing so. This ensures that your shin is perpendicular to the ground. Based on your comfort level, bring your left things as parallel to the ground as you can.  You then have to strengthen your right leg to anchor the movement of your left knee.

Keep the sides of your torso long and ensure that your shoulders are directly over your pelvis region.  Your arms must be stretched away from the space created between your shoulder blades.

Stay in this position for 30-60 seconds. Keep inhaling while you come up. Repeat the process with the other feet as well.

Extended Side Angle Pose

This has a lot of similarities with the previous exercise, with a few exceptions. Much like the previous one, start by simply standing with your legs 3-4 feet apart from each other. Lift your arms parallel to the ground and reach out to your sides with your palms down and shoulder blades widened.  

Here comes the exceptions part. Bring your left hip forward towards the right while rotating your upper torso to the left side. Next up, raise your inner left groin deep into your pelvis. You then have to bring your inner knee towards the left side of your foot.  Try to keep your right thigh parallel to the ground here.

Now, you need to raise your left hand towards the ceiling. After that, bring your left palm towards your head. Slowly inhale, and try to reach the arm over the back of your left ear.  The entire left portion of your body has to be stretched which means right from your left heel to the fingertips of your left hand. While you are at it, face your left arm. Your right thigh should stand parallel to the ground.

Hold this pose for 30-60 seconds and inhale to come up. Don’t forget to repeat the same process on the opposite side now.

Upward Plank Pose

Sit with your arms behind your hips and put your feet on the ground while bending your knees. Next, place your feet on the ground. At the same time, bring your big toes inwards.

Proceed to press down your hands against the ground and get your hips in a reverse table-top position. Your arms and shins should be perpendicular to the ground while your thighs and torso should be parallel to the ground.

Next, one by one, straighten both of your legs. Raise your hips, but don’t harden your butt. Your shoulder blades must be pressed against your back torso. Put your head back without compressing the back of your neck.  Hold this position for 30 seconds.

Boat Pose

Begin by sitting with your feet laid straight in front of you.  Strengthen your arms by pressing your hands on the ground. Make sure that your fingers are pointed towards your legs.

Follow this up by lengthening your torso between the top sternum and pubis. You then have to sit on the “tripod” that lies between your tailbone and your two sitting bones. Next, angle your thighs at 45-50° to the ground while bending your knees. You then have to lift your legs off the ground.

Try and stretch your arms parallel to each other. If you can’t keep your hands in the air, then just keep them in the ground beside your hips. This is especially true for beginners.

Don’t harden your lower belly, but keep it firm though.  Keep breathing and lift the top sternum by pressing the heads of your thigh bone to the ground.  During your initial trials, hold this position for 10-20 seconds because it might cause intense feelings in your stomach and that is completely understandable. We don’t expect you to master it in a week or so. But as you get used to it, increase the time to around a minute.

Final Thoughts

Yoga helps develop your body and mind in a way that no other form of exercise can. Besides, its lightweight nature makes it extremely relaxing, which is in sharp contrast to let’s say, a high-intensity workout, which sometimes can be daunting for people to get used to.

Although yoga can be done at the comfort of your home, we recommend you get consultations from certified yoga practitioners. Nowadays, almost all of the best multi-gyms have dedicated yoga sessions because of their high potential. The fact that while losing weight with yoga, you are inadvertently contributing to the overall development of your entire body is in itself a reason enough for you to start this beautiful experience.

At the end of the day, the goal shouldn’t be just losing weight. It should be losing weight healthily, which is what yoga is all about.