12 Yoga Poses That Work For Weight Loss [Step By Step Guide]

Yoga sums up a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that aim to synchronize your body and mind.

Earlier thought to be a relaxing form of workout for the mind, yoga has its roots going beyond several physical benefits!

According to recent researchers, yoga can aid in weight loss, with its benefits spreading far from just calorie burn.

While some of the major results of yoga remain to be:

• Curbing stress
• Improving mood
• Supporting weight loss

Today we focus on the effects of striking poses of yoga that burn calories and even tone your muscles.

How does Yoga Aid In Weight Loss?

There are many contrasting views on Yoga Poses For Weight Loss Belly fat and other weight management strategies.

But evidence supports that the discipline of yoga aids in losing weight while keeping your body healthy and energetic.

The basic 5 rules that every yoga practitioner focuses on are:

• Right poses
• Diet
• Breathing
• Relaxing
• Meditating

Together these principles can help with the following benefits for your body.

Benefits of Yoga For Weight Loss

The main benefit of yoga for anyone who wants to lose weight is curbing stress.

It has been found that stress is one of the major contributory factors for weight gain revealing itself as anxiety or insomnia and other forms.

Talking about the physical benefits, many yoga poses engage various muscles of your body to give you results like:

• Boost in metabolism
• Higher energy levels
• Extra performance
• Flexibility
• Improved muscle tone
• Decreasing numbers on the weighing scale
• Better cardiac health

However, not all yoga asanas focus on weight loss, hence picking the right from an entire list becomes essential to focus on your goals.

12 Yoga Poses For Weight Loss – Regain Your Body Control

Yoga poses as compared to high-intensity workouts at the gym usually take time to show results.

You won’t practically find any poses of Yoga To Lose Weight In 7 Days!

This is mainly because these poses usually focus on building the required flexibility, concentration, and muscles for your goal.

However, there are also some power-packed yogas, also called power yoga that can work quickly on your weight loss which we will consider later.

Best Yoga For Weight Loss And Toning

#1.  Boat Pose

The boat pose works on your entire body engaging mainly the core.

This improves muscle strength and boosts metabolism.

It is considered one of the best yoga poses for belly fat as it burns many calories.

Procedure:

• Sit down straight on the mat with your legs out straight
• Bend your knees
• While keeping your shin parallel to the floor lift your feet from the floor
• Keep your hands parallel to the floor
• Hold for 30 seconds
• Release and repeat 5 times

#2. Side Plank Yoga

Yoga focuses on the love handles and helps you get rid of stubborn fat. It engages the core without exerting stress on the back.

This benefits over exercises like crunches that stress the lower back.

It also has postural benefits as it helps you balance as it involves all the muscles in the upper and lower body.

Procedure:

• Start with lying down on your side on the mat extending your legs straight feet resting on top of each other
• Place your right elbow under the right shoulder with the forearm away from you
• Now lift your hips off the floor maintaining a straight line from head to ankles
• Stay in the position for 30 to 60 seconds while focusing on breathing
• Repeat with the other side

#3. Cobra Pose

It is one of the simplest forms of Yoga Poses for Weight Loss for Beginners.

The pose not just aids in weight management but also keeps your reproductive system healthy especially in regulating the menstrual cycle among women.

Other benefits include improving blood circulation and giving you a radiant glow post-workout.

Procedure:

• Start with a position where you lie down facing the floor with your feet flat and arms resting on the sides.
• Push the floor with your hands while keeping your fingers right below the shoulder muscles
• Now pull your shoulders a little backward
• Start bending back while focusing on your abs with the belly button directed towards the spine
• Make sure your hips, hands, and feet are firm on the floor, now lift your torso while maintaining your chin up
• Continue with the posture for 4 -5 full breathing
• As you exhale try pushing yourself higher

#4. Bow pose Yoga

This form of yoga is not advisable for beginners as it focuses on the core and abdominal area stretching the entire body.

There are many benefits of the bow pose, it aids in good digestion and balancing posture.

It also relieves the tightness of the body by focusing on the chest, back, abs, legs, hip, and arms.

Procedure:

• Lie down flat on your belly
• Lift your upper body in a way that you can hold your ankles
• Gradually bring your feet closer to the hip region
• Lift your thighs along with lifting the heels to raise your upper body
• Stay in this position for 15 to 30 seconds

#5. Planks

Any yoga session is incomplete without the planks which are one of the best ways to tone your belly muscles and burn stubborn fat.

Though the pose is simple to perform but holds the key to many benefits like strengthening your back, shoulders, buttocks, and abs.

Procedure:

• Lie down flat on your belly
• Keep your hands down below your shoulder
• Now lift your body while rising with straight arms
• Keep your face down and balance on your toes
• Hold the position as long as you can, then take a break and repeat for a few more minutes.

#6. Camel Pose Yoga

The camel pose yoga focuses on stretching your upper body.

Since it is difficult to perform we suggest beginners not to try this, also it is not suitable for people with back problems.

The yoga pose has many benefits like burning calories and also relieving neck stiffness or backaches.

Since the pose also targets stretching of the ankle and thighs, it can be termed as the full-body stretching exercise.

Procedure:

• Keep your knees hip-width on the floor or mat and thighs at a 90-degree angle to the floor
• Extend your arms on your hips in a way that fingers face downward
• Now arch your back on the inner side as you lean back
• Hold your heels with your hands
• Stay in this position for 30 seconds to one minute.

#7. Chair Pose Yoga

Chair pose focuses on your legs and has many benefits.

Though there are many different types of chair poses, all of them support the muscles of your legs.

Its benefits include burning belly fat and toning your legs as well as buttocks.

Beginners can find maintaining the pose for a longer time difficult.

Procedure:

• Start with a standing position in a way that your feet are apart.
• Extend your arms in front of each other with the palms facing toward each other
• Bend your knees
• Bend your upper body in a forwarding direction while pushing your pelvis down
• Stay in this position for at least 30 seconds

#8. One-legged downward-facing Dog Pose

It is a postural yoga that balances your body as it goes from a resting pose to a radical pose while strengthening your arms and back.

Procedure:

• Start with the downward-facing dog pose for which you have to rotate your thigh muscles and upper arms inward as you press down on through your hands and heels.
• Now straighten your one leg and lift up
• Bring this straightened leg right under your abs
• Repeat the whole exercise for both the legs

#9. Warrior pose

Warrior poses not just tone your thighs and shoulders but also improve concentration.

The longer you hold the position the more beneficial it becomes.

Its benefits include strengthening the back, legs, and arms, also toning them. Other benefits also include burning belly fat quickly.

There are many variations of the warrior pose and all of them work effectively.

Procedure:

• Start with standing upright with your feet together
• Stretch your leg back and forth
• Bend the knee in front and the other one at the back should be parallel to the floor
• Extend your hands above your head
• Hold the position as long as you can, the longer you hold the more beneficial it gets.

#10. Trikonasana or Triangle Pose

The yoga position targets your lower muscles also focusing on improving blood circulation.

Its benefits also include relieving backaches.

But the one benefit that makes us include it on the list of Yoga To Lose Weight In 10 Days is its high rate of burning calories and belly fat.

Procedure:

• Stand upright with the hands over your head
• Widen your legs sideways
• Stretch down to touch your feet with your arm. This forms a triangle.
• Keep your other hand upward-pointing towards the ceiling.
• Hold this position for 5 to 6 seconds
• Repeat with the other side

#11.  Seated Forward Bend Pose

The pose stretches your back and helps in managing stress.

Anyone could perform it as it is an easy and good way to lose weight for beginners.

Procedure:

• Sit down with your legs extended straight
• Stretch your arms out on the sides and then slowly bring them above your head.
• As you inhale pull your spine straight
• While exhaling, bend forward and touch your feet with your hands
• With every, inhale extend your spine, and with each exhale bend forward

Though in the initial days, you won’t be able to hold your feet eventually you will get there.

#12. Gas Releasing Pose

Gas releasing pose is one of the trusted poses for losing belly fat and aiding in weight loss.

It helps release the excess gas present in your belly and reduces bloating.

Procedure:

• Lie down flat on your back while stretching your legs out
• Bend one of your knees trying to bring it closer to the chest
• When your knees are around the chest hold them with your hands to lock the position
• Now bend forward trying to touch the knees with your nose
• Hold and then repeat

Other than these amazing yoga poses for losing weight, there are also much other powerful yoga poses that you can practice daily.

Essential Tips that you must remember with every yoga pose are:

• Initial days, the positions feel tiring and you might not be able to hold the positions for the required time, but eventually, you would reach there.
• Always start your yoga session with warm-ups to prepare your body for what is coming next.
• Make sure you eat a healthy diet as an important principle of yoga is eating the right food in the right portions.
• Follow meditation post every workout to relax and calm your mind

Conclusion – Can You Lose Weight Doing Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient practice of calming and relaxing your body as it increases mindfulness and concentration.

But recent reports also highlight the important benefits that yoga can have for your weight loss management with results like a boost in metabolism and toned muscles.

Though not all yoga poses work for weight loss, most of them do work for better flexibility, tones muscles, stress release, and better focus.

From the above list of 12 power-packed yoga poses for weight loss, pick your favorite additions and start prepping for a new journey toward health.

For any queries feel free to drop your questions in the comment box.

Yoga Poses FAQs

1. Can I lose weight by doing Yoga?

Yoga helps establish a strong connection between your mind and your body.

Though researchers claim of yoga is helpful in weight loss, not all yoga yield the same results.

For example, some yoga focuses on mindfulness while some focuses on strength.

Performing yoga poses that focus more on strength and endurance can help lose weight as they burn calories.

2. Can I lose weight in 10 days with yoga?

Many answers would recommend you to follow Yoga To Lose Weight In 10 Days With Pictures

But in our suggestion, yoga takes the weight loss process slower as compared to high-intensity workouts.

However, you can increase the pace with power yoga poses like:

• Boat pose
• Plank pose
• Cobra pose

3. How much weight can be lost in a month by yoga?

According to health and yoga experts, adding up yoga to your daily life can help you lose 10 to 12 kgs of weight in a month.

However, this could vary from person to person and also depends on what you eat and how you perform your yoga.

4. Are 30 minutes of yoga daily enough?

15 to 20 minutes of yoga daily can help you with many benefits for your mind and body.

5. Which is better – yoga or walking?

According to reports just 1 hour of walking burns 242 calories, on the other hand, performing power yoga for one hour can burn as much as 342 calories.

In these terms, yoga is a better option for weight loss.