How yoga and reduced belly fat go together
Yoga is the best known and safest way to shed excess body weight, all over. Normally, obese people tend to accumulate more fat around the middle and hence the connection between Yoga and a reduced belly. Those serious about not just reducing belly fat but shedding all excess weight and developing a slim, trim and healthy physique ought to take up all the following practices:
- Asanas (Yoga poses)
- Pranayamas (Breath control techniques)
- Kriyas (Cleansing techniques) and
- Yoga diet
The Yoga exercises and asanas (poses) help exercise the body, burn calories, tone up the muscles, internal organs and glands as well. Secondly, the practice of pranayamas (breath control techniques) don’t just regularize and help to channelize breath and Prana (bio-energy), there are also certain heat generating breathing exercises that help burn excess body fat. Then there are the kriyas (cleansing techniques) that are designed to detoxify and purify the body which, in the process, help you shed weight as well. Finally, Yoga tells us, “You are what you eat,” so it is very important to watch your diet.
There are literally dozens of Yogasanas (poses) and are, normally, done in the following positions:
- Standing
- Seated
- Supine
- Prone
- Inverted and
- Balancing
The pranayamas (breath control techniques) are seven in number, but you needn’t do all of them. They are:
- Kapalabhatti (Skull Cleansing)
- Anuloma-Viloma (Alternate Nostril Breathing)
- Bhastrika (Bellows Breath)
- Brahmari (Bee Breath)
- Suryabhedana (Right Nostril Breathing)
- Sitali (Cooling Breath)
- Sitkari (Hissing Cooling Breath)
Even though, in the strictest sense, Kapalabhatti (Skull Cleansing) is not a pranayama (breathing exercise) but a kriya (cleansing technique), it is grouped with breathing exercises since it is a mandatory practice, prior to all other breathing techniques.
The Kriyas (Cleansing techniques) are seven in number and include:
- Kapalabhatti (Skull cleansing)
- Nauli (Stomach churning)
- Jala Neti (Cleansing of the nasal cavities with water)
- Sutra Neti (Cleansing of the nasal passages with a rubber catheter)
- Shanka Prakshalanam (Yogic oral enema)
- Basti (Yogic rectal enema)
- Trataka (Eye exercises)
Finally, to shed excess weight, a Yoga diet is necessary. This implies that your diet should be Sattvic (light, pure and largey vegetarian) and should include liberal servings of fresh fruits and nuts, salads, sauteed or steamed vegetables, preferably green leafy vegetables, pulses, whole grain wheat bread and brown rice. Avoid non-veg fare – as far as possible – deep fried, spicy, stale and junk foods or fast foods as well as caffeinated beverages. Finally, steer clear of cigarettes and any form of intoxication.
Better enroll into the nearest Yoga institution and learn all the above practices and do them, at lest initially, under expert guidance.
