Learn Yoga Poses for Belly Fat
How Yoga Can Help
Can yoga help you shed extra pounds, especially that troublesome excess around the midsection? Yoga is actually a very effective therapy for weight loss. Yes it is gentle, calming, and you might not even break a sweat while doing poses, but its benefits for the body are remarkable as it does much more than simply burn calories.
Yoga poses for belly fat work be encouraging the release of fat stores. How? Doing yoga increases blood circulation, allowing for waste to move through the body rather than accumulating. It also lowers stress, thereby decreasing the release of stress hormones such as cortisol. High levels of cortisol lead to deposits of fat in the abdominal area, which is where many cortisol receptors are located. Yoga exercises also increase insulin sensitivity. This signals the body to utilize food rather than storing it. Of course yoga does tone and stretch muscles as well, carving out a beautiful form beneath the excess.
Yoga Poses
The first pose for belly fat is called Bhujangasan. Start by lying on your stomach with your hands under your shoulders, palms spread on the ground, and forehead on the ground. Using your back muscles, lift your upper body with your head slightly looking upward. Hold for about thirty seconds while practicing deep breathing.
The next pose, Dhanurasan, can be done after Bhujangasan. Start by lying on your stomach. Then bend your knees behind you so your feet are in the air. Reach back with your hands and grab your ankles. Arch your body so only the stomach is on the ground. Again, try and hold for about thirty seconds and then release the pose.
For this pose to help reduce belly fat you are still on the ground but sitting rather than lying on your stomach. Your knees should be bent with your feet flat on the ground, hands are resting on your thighs and the back is straight. Raise you legs into the air and tilt your abdomen back. Put your arms out straight in front of you so they are parallel with the ground. The shape of your body should be a V. This may be difficult to hold for a full thirty seconds the first couple times it is done. Be patient, allow your strength to build with ten or twenty second holds.
Another yoga pose to tone the abs is called Willow or Tree pose. Stand with feet firmly planted on the ground. They should be close
together, whatever feels right for you. Arms should be at your sides. Place the sole of the right foot on the inside thigh of the left leg, being careful to rest your foot on the thigh not the knee. Bring your palms together at your chest and then raise your arms above your head, stretching your hands into the air. Bring your hands back down to your chest, and then to your sides while you release your leg. Do this pose again with the other leg.
Regularly doing these poses you are in a sense restoring your body to a state of harmony on a deeper level. Try doing these yoga poses for belly fat each morning to get your blood flowing and clear your body for the day. It will not take more than fifteen minutes and will greatly improve both your physical and mental well-being.
References
McGinnis, Marianne. “Slim Down with Yoga.” (Prevention) https://www.prevention.com/health/fitness/yoga/yoga-for-weight-loss-5-yoga-positions/article/a018d786593b4110VgnVCM10000013281eac\_\_\_\_
“Yoga Asanas for Reducing Abdominal Fat.” (Women Fitness) https://www.womenfitness.net/yoga\_abdomen.htm
The Hindu Universe https://www.hindunet.org/yogasanas/bhujangasan.htm
photo by Davey Nin (CC/flickr) https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveynin/4491798768/
photo by Lulumon Athletica (CC/flickr) https://www.flickr.com/photos/lululemonathletica/4426131380/sizes/m/in/photostream/
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