Most people are introduced to yoga as a way to find inner peace and learn how to control their breathing. It’s true that yoga is an excellent form of exercise for your mind, body, and spirit. But did you know that it can also help you lose weight?
Even though a good yoga class will make you sweat, it is not only about burning calories. Yoga helps you get in touch with your body and mind, which can lead you to make better lifestyle choices in general. The more aware you are of what you’re eating, the easier it becomes to make healthy choices about food and your overall well-being.
Yoga for Weight Loss: Benefits
- Burning Calories: While yoga is not specifically designed to burn calories, it can help you burn more than 500 calories during a typical class. Your caloric output will vary depending on your weight and the intensity of the class.
- Yoga reduces stress: Stress is one of the biggest enemies when it comes to successful weight loss. Stress causes your body to produce higher levels of cortisol, which is a hormone that increases fat storage in the abdominal area. Yoga helps reduce levels of stress by helping you relax and teaching you how to cope with stressful situations in healthier ways.
- Yoga improves flexibility: Flexibility is an important component of physical fitness, which helps improve not only overall performance during exercise but also day-to-day activities like walking up stairs or bending over to pick something up off the floor.
- Yoga’s ability to improve body awareness can help with weight loss by teaching you how to control emotional eating. By being able to recognize the difference between physical hunger versus emotional hunger and determine whether or not you’re truly hungry, you’ll be better equipped to make healthy food choices.
