What Yoga Is Best For Weight Loss?

Many people globally struggle with their weight and look for ways to become healthier by losing it. Oftentimes when people do begin this process, they think of things like going to the gym and diets, but other practices might help them as well. Yoga has a lot of benefits when it comes to mental and physical health, and one of those is weight loss.

There are a lot of different styles of yoga to be chosen from, but a few are going to be better for weight loss and toning. If you're looking to incorporate yoga into your daily life specifically for weight loss then looking at practices such as vinyasa, ashtanga, and Bikram is a good option.

In the end, what yoga is best for weight loss depends on you and your physical requirements as well as preferences. Whether you go with Bikram or vinyasa understanding the benefits and what each of these styles brings to the table can be a great tool to have so that you can make an informed decision. We want to help with that, so keep reading and let us take an in-depth look at those questions and much more.

Why Yoga? A Quick Look At Yoga’s Benefits

Most people know the benefits of yoga when it comes to a spiritual aspect as well as a mental one. You may even know about the benefits when it comes to physical health, but there are specific habits and processes in yoga that you can use to build a healthier lifestyle that could impact your weight.

• Yoga practices teach you to be aware of your body as well as what you put into it. Through the mindfulness that is attached to the practice, you'll be more attuned with what you need and therefore make better choices for a healthier body.

• The awareness that comes with yoga and the mindfulness and meditation practices that go along with it allows you to really identify stressors that cause you to eat poorly. In other words, you become a mindful eater, which in turn will impact weight loss.

• There is a heightened effect on one's heart health when utilizing yoga as a part of your weekly exercise routine. It can lower blood pressure, reduce hypertension and help with hormonal balance, which in turn could all affect a person's weight.

• Yoga can be challenging, it builds stamina and test the limits of your body. Because of this, it's going to build higher stamina which allows one to exercise longer, therefore helping with any type of weight loss journey you're on.

• One of the reasons many people are unhealthy and often have weight problems is because they are not eating properly and have built up toxins in their bodies. But through the sweating during yoga, these toxins will be removed from the body, which could help in a wealth of different ways.

• Many people have weight issues because they are stress eating. So the fact that yoga reduces stress and anxiety will have a great impact on any type of weight loss.

What Yoga is Best for Weight Loss?

Now that we've discussed the benefits that you get specifically in regard to weight loss, you may be asking yourself what yoga is best for weight loss. The truth is, all yoga is going to be beneficial overall because it addresses issues like reduction of stress and getting your body moving.

But there are a few styles of yoga that through their process will have a greater impact when it comes to weight loss. Here are a few of those:

Vinyasa

Vinyasa is a more rapid form of yoga, and it goes through a series of movements rather quickly. Because of the speed of these movements, there will be more sweat involved. Most of the time, these classes last up to an hour and a half, so you're getting a really high-intensity workout.

Ashtanga

This is a variation on Vinyasa yoga. With this method, as you go through the poses, the idea is to increase the heat of the body and therefore burn more calories. It's also very effective when it comes to breaking down fat, and that always leads to weight loss. It also has some cleansing practices attached to it, including self-purification and focuses on breathing.

Bikram

Most people know this style of yoga as “hot yoga”. This is a yoga practice that is done in a very hot room which helps with better detoxification of the body through sweating which always burns calories very fast.

Power

Though most people think of yoga as a more meditation and low-impact exercise, some styles are more athletic. This style of yoga focuses on fast-paced movement, which helps boost a heart rate and burn calories. Instead of focusing solely on breathing and connection to the body, it is all about the athletic movements within the practice itself.

Rocket

This is another style that has been modified from Ashtanga. This is a very loose form of yoga and is definitely a high-paced option. It utilizes standing and seated poses and is divided into three different stages. The first deals with core strength, the second is a little more advanced and tends to burn more calories, and the third takes the first two and puts them together to make for a more impactful practice when it comes to weight loss.

Getting the Most From Yoga for Weight Loss

As we said, all yoga, because of the physical movement and focus on toning of the body, is going to be good for your overall physical health. The styles above, though, will have more impact when it comes to weight loss. But along with that, there are a couple of tips that we think you might be able to utilize after you figured out what yoga is best for your weight loss to elevate the results:

Daily Practice

To get the most from any type of yoga, it has to be something that you're dedicated to. Whether you do a full session or just some of the poses, it is ideal if you execute yoga every day. This is going to have more impact when it comes to your weight loss journey.

Hydrate

Just like with any type of exercise, making sure that you are hydrated at all times is key. On top of that, just for your overall physical health, making sure you drink enough water every day is one way to ensure that you are making healthy lifestyle changes. If you are doing yoga like Bikram, it is especially important because you're going to be sweating a lot, which may cause dehydration if not careful.

Eat at the Right Time

When it comes to eating, you're never going to want to do a yoga session on a full stomach. Ideally, you should eat a meal two to three hours before so that you don't wind up with any type of stomach upset. Once again, this is especially true when dealing with Bikram because you are executing these movements in a very hot room. You definitely should eat, but you need to allow for enough time in between the meal and the session to not end up causing problems.

Comfort & Calm

If you're stressed out and anxious when you go to your yoga session or in your home, it's not going to help ensure you're able to get the full benefits of the practice. So no matter what you do, make sure that you feel comfortable, that there is a non-competitive air in the place you choose to practice, and you should be able to reap the benefits.

Final Thoughts

It might be challenging at first to figure out what yoga is best for your weight loss journey. Because of this, we suggest you try a couple of different styles and even go with different instructors until you find the one that works for you. In the end, the styles that we talked about above are just a few of the options you have when it comes to weight loss and building a routine that is going to leave you with the happy and healthy life you've always wanted.