Yoga for Overweight Beginners – Any physical movement seems like a tough task in itself for people who are overweight. Since practising yoga requires practising physical asanas, yoga stretches, and much more, it could become a challenge in itself for people who are obese. However, practising yoga for overweight beginners can be a perfect start for them.

You can start slow to enjoy the life-long benefits of yoga. However, you need to design a well-structured plan to move towards an easy yoga experience. The following points can help you to have a comfortable practice of yoga without worrying about getting injured. Keep reading.

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How To Practice Yoga For Overweight Beginners

Let us now check out how does yoga help you get rid of that extra fat.

Pick a Yoga Style

For a complete beginner, choosing the right yoga style is very crucial in deciding how good or bad the yoga practice goes. Moreover, for overweight people, the selection plays a significant role since they need to be extra careful not to take any injury.

Therefore, while selecting a style of yoga for overweight beginners, you need to take your physical capabilities into consideration. You need to avoid a vigorous yoga style that can push your body to its limits. Therefore, you must include very basic and easy yoga poses into your yoga routine to make your body and mind ready for more complex yoga poses.

Learn Basics

When it comes to practising yoga for overweight beginners, the most common mistake that they might do is to start practising yoga without any research. It pushes them into a ditch of darkness and can confuse them as to where to start or how to start.

Therefore, if you want to learn the basics of yoga, you can join the yoga for starters class. Moreover, you can seek the guidance of a certified yoga instructor to have an insight into more detailed yoga knowledge.

Avoid Forcing Positions

Sometimes, you might feel over-excited or motivated to try something new. In turn, you start pushing yourself too soon or too hard. Therefore, it results in either you giving up or your body giving birth to an injury. Whatever be the case, it results in putting a halt to your yoga practice.

Thus, while practising yoga for overweight beginners, you need to be sure to have a proper warm-up and cool-down routine. It ensures that your body never runs into any trouble. Moreover, if you want to try something new out of excitement or curiosity, you need to work in accordance with your yoga instructor.

Know Your Pace

Have you ever thought that how much time and effort is required to master a trade? Similarly, you can never rush things when it comes to practising yoga. No matter how hard you practice or push your limits, your body needs time to recover from all the fatigue or muscle it had endured.

You need to listen to what your body demands. If someday you feel like not going to the extreme end of your yoga practice, you need to respect your bodily needs. Thus, instead of pushing it, you have to incorporate a more easy approach.

Live And Eat Simple

You might not get the desired results if you are practising yoga at one moment and then letting your desires get over you in the very next one. To say, you are eating senselessly. You need to implement a few basic rules in your life when it comes to how what, or how much you should eat.

Therefore, you need to incorporate a yogic lifestyle into your life. Moreover, breathing in the right way plays a significant role in balancing your internal and external connections. Thus, you can practice yoga breathing exercises for beginners to improve your lungs’ capacity for efficient functioning.

Let us now check out how does yoga help you get rid of that extra fat.

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The Link Between Yoga And Weight Loss

By now, you must have understood that the benefits of yoga go far beyond the mat. Yoga also takes into consideration your mental and spiritual health.

With that said, given below are three solid ways how yoga helps you lose weight.

1. Yoga And Sleep

Yes! This is counterintuitive but an important step to losing extra pounds is doing nothing. It does not mean you should just sit on the couch, binge on Netflix and popcorn.

Do you know that a deep good night sleep plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy body weight? Yes! A study conducted on overweight and obese individuals put on a controlled diet found that reducing bedtime by 90 minutes for five days affected their body weight.

Moreover, a shorter sleep duration does have an impact on the quality of diet you consume. However, daily practice of yoga under the guidance of a yoga teacher helps you sleep peacefully at night. It is not from getting tired after a yoga session, but from the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps you sleep.

2. Yoga & Mindfulness

Regular practice of yoga has been shown to have an impact on one’s mindfulness, especially regarding food choices. Although becoming a vegan or following your daily diet is an independent decision, it does help you become aware of what you put into the body.

In the long run, the more yoga you practice the more likely you are to consume healthy fruits and vegetables and not fried food.

3. Yoga & Stress

There is a link between overweight and obesity. Stress easily impacts your ability to control your impulses, especially the impulse to eat unhealthy food. This mental health issue triggers overeating foods high in sugar and fat.

If left untreated, stress can easily make your lifestyle sedentary and disturb the normal sleep pattern. It creates a loop where when you are stressed out, the first thing you do is chomp on comfort foods.

Luckily, practising yoga on a daily basis helps bring these impulses under control and eventually counter stress.

Amongst the countless ways to stay fit, it is yoga that offers you a gentle and holistic way to get rid of stubborn belly fat.

But, when it comes to losing belly fat, you also have to practice the right yoga exercises.

To make it easier for you, yoga experts have come up with four yoga exercises to help you get rid of those extra pounds.

1. Kapal Bhati (Skull Breathing)

The best yogic breathing exercise which helps you get rid of belly fat without much hassle. Kapal Bhati also improves your body’s metabolism rate, digestion system along with helping you lose that stubborn fat.

Steps to Practice Kapal Bhati

• Sit on the yoga mat/floor in a cross-legged position and back straight.
• Close your eyes, place your right palm on your right knee and your left palm on your left knee.
• Inhale and exhale with all your force to sink the stomach inside-out.
• Repeat this process at least 15 times, especially if you are a beginner.

2. Ustrasana (Camel Pose)

This is an intermediate-level back-bending yoga exercise that provides your body with more flexibility and strength.

Steps to Practice Ustrasana

• Kneel down on the yoga mat and place both hands on your hips.
• Make sure the knees are in line with the shoulders. The soles of your feet should face the ceiling.
• Inhale and draw in your tailbone towards the pubis.
• Arch your back and slide your palms over your feet till both arms are straight.
• Do not strain or flex your neck too much.
• Stay in this position for a couple of breaths.
• Exhale and come back to the starting position.
• Slowly withdraw your hands and straighten up.

3. Viparita Shalabhasana (Superman Pose)

The best yoga exercise that stretches and strengthens your abdominal muscles and lower back. Superman pose is also the best yoga exercise to keep that belly fat under control.

Steps to Practice Superman Pose

• Lie on the yoga mat with both feet touching each other.
• Stretch both arms in the front while lifting your chest, shoulders, arms, and legs on the mat.
• Inhale deeply and focus on the stretch.
• Now, you will experience a pull in your lower and upper body.
• Make sure both elbows and knees are not bent.
• Exhale. Lower down your arms, chest, and legs back to the yoga mat.

4. Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

Although from the pictures you might find the Bow Pose a bit easier, it is an excruciating experience for your abs. However, this is the best yoga exercise to strengthen them and also keep unnecessary belly fat away.

Steps to Practice Bow Pose

• Lie on the yoga mat face down.
• Bend your knees and hold both feet with your hands.
• Inhale. Lift both hands and feet.
• Raise your chest and thighs at the same time.
• Hold this position for 30 seconds. Slowly work up to 90 seconds.
• Release this position with an exhale.

Conclusion

There is so much to explore and implement in life before and after you start practising yoga for overweight beginners. You get the opportunity to learn about human physiology, its mechanisms, and coping measures. Over time, with consistent yoga practice, you can achieve an ideal physique that you have always desired to have.