Does Yoga help you lose weight

Yoga is a great practice that comes with lots of health benefits both physically and mentally. It is first introduced to the west hundreds of years ago, for the purpose of teaching people how to achieve inner peace. On the other hand, some people may be wondering if yoga could help with weight loss. The answer is simply yes. Though described as a gentle and meditative practice, yoga can contribute to weight maintenance from multiple aspects.

Yoga can relieve stress

Stress is one of the factors of weight gain. When you’re chronically stressed, the cortisol level in your body will rise, increasing your appetite stimulant and fat storage. This is why most people tend to gain weight when they’re under too much pressure. Luckily, relaxing yoga can help lower the level of cortisol and thus make it easy for you to shed some pounds.

Yoga can promote mindful eating

One key aspect of yoga is mindfulness. When you alternate your exhalation and inhalation or hold a posture for a certain period of time, you’re actually paying close attention to your breath and body. Through repeated exercise, you will learn how to have better control of yourself.

The same is true for your eating habits. You will gradually have the ability to determine when you’re hungry or when you’ve reached the boundary of binge eating. So you’ll naturally tend to choose a healthier diet plan rather than comfort food that can make you feel bloated, lethargic, etc.

Yoga can help calorie burning

The most important thing to losing weight is calorie burning, and you can achieve that by doing intense yoga, such as Ashtanga, vinyasa, and power yoga. They ask you to move a lot in a short period of time, so you will definitely burn more calories. In addition, the more gentle yoga (like restorative yoga and yin) needs you to use your muscles to keep balance, which will burn calories as well.

Yoga can improve sleep quality

After you practice yoga for a while, you may find that you fall asleep more easily and sleep more deeply. A good night’s sleep can ensure you a normal metabolism and offer you enough energy to shed more pounds than those who don’t follow a normal sleeping pattern.