Yoga is considered among the best workouts for the body and mind. The calories you burn by practicing the simplest yoga techniques for an hour are equivalent to the calories you would burn by walking in the park. When you practice yoga, you are not just exercising your body. You are also exercising the mind for concentration and tranquility to understand your body that allows you to manage it better. A Yoga workout allows you to exercise your muscles and your mind to burn the extra calories you've been accumulating.
Benefits of Yoga
Yoga has both physiological and psychological benefits. It makes your body more flexible, increases the lubrication of the joints and muscles, gets rid of your toxins, keeps you and active and healthy, and teaches you how to carry a better posture whether you are standing, sitting or lying down. But the major benefit of yoga is that it can help you shed your extra pounds by a simple workout that can be practiced by anyone and everyone. Here are a few exercises and forms of yoga that can help you bur your calories faster.
Types of Yoga
There are various types of yoga- some are gentle and some are vigorous. Hatha yoga is a gentle form of yoga that focuses on meditation and breathing exercises for flexibility of your body and tranquility of mind, but not helpful in burning fat. The two main forms of yoga that can help you lose fat are Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga and Bikram yoga.
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga - Ashtanga vinyasa yoga is a series of quick and rapid asanas or movements of body, while practicing different postures, which help in burning fat. This form of yoga also save you time as you practice the asanas at a faster pace. You can burn up to 34% of your calories by an hour of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga.
Bikram yoga - Another form of yoga which is very efficient in burning fat is the Bikram yoga. Also known as Hot Yoga, and introduced by one Bikram Choudary in the 1970's, Bikram yoga is the hardest for of yoga. Bikram yoga is performed in a room with a constant temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, and consists of various postures and breathing exercises practiced for a complete hour and a half.
It is explained that when you practice Bikram yoga, the heat in the room reduces the chances of straining or injuring our muscles while stretching for different asanas. As your muscles get warmed up and get loose, you will be able to push yourself further for more difficult postures and exercises. Considering the heat and the dynamic workout, you will definitely lose more calories at a faster rate - as good as 550 calories when you take a brisk jog or run.
Yoga practices have a strict set of rules and guidelines you should follow to keep your body safe and healthy. Each and every muscle and organ of your body is exercised with various asanas performed while sitting, standing or lying down - that detoxify and increase the supply of oxygen to heart keeping you healthy and sound.
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