Yoga For Weight Loss : 11 Poses That Destroy Fat
*just a note: if a pose is one sided – always perform it on the other side as well.
1. Wide-legged forward bend (Prasarita Padottanasana)
Standing firmly on the ground, place feet 3 – 4 feet apart.
Now, bend forward from your hips, not your waist
Maintain straight long back, don’t hunch over
Stay in the pose for at least 30 seconds while breathing deeply in and out
If you bend properly from your hips, you should feel intense stretch in hamstrings. Try to bring hands towards the sky so that you get a good stretch in your arms and shoulders, as well.
2. Half boat pose (Ardha Navasana)
Place hands firmly on the floor so that you can keep balance
Now, lift the legs up
Once you get stable in the pose, you can lift your arms off the floor as well
Make sure that your arms stay parallel with the floor
Maintain the pose for at least 30 seconds
It may look easy, but it’s actually super hard and challenging to maintain this pose. It will work your tummy, not only building the abs, but improving digestion and boosting metabolism, as well.
3. Side plank (Vasisthasana)
First, you get into the regular plank pose, but keep feet together
Than tilt your whole body to one side, resting on one foot, as the other foot stays on top of it
Keep the weight on your foot and one arm, as you bring the other arm up over your body, reaching toward the sky with it
Keep hips and shoulders aligned
Keep the core strong
Maintain the pose for at least 30 seconds
Side plank works the whole body, but especially the core. It’s very challenging so if you can’t maintain it for 30 seconds, just do what you can and keep working at it. Same goes for any other pose, too.
4. Chair pose (Utkatasana)
Stand up straight, keeping feet hip width apart
Bring your arms over your head
Than sit down into a squat position
Get thighs parallel with the ground as much as you can
Hold pose for at least 30 seconds
You can feel this one in your legs, especially quadriceps.
5. Shoulder stand (Sarvangasana)
Start with laying on the floor on your back
Than, bring your legs up towards the sky
Push your hips forward and bring your chest close to your chin, as much as you can
Support your back with your arms and elongate your legs
You should be standing inverted on your shoulders
Stay in the pose for at least 30 seconds
Inversions are extremely useful for overall health. They feel stressful and uncomfortable at first, so start slowly with them. But definitely, do practice inversions.
6. Tree pose (Vrikshasana)
Start just with standing firmly on the ground
Than, shift the weight from both feet to just one foot
Now, as you’re standing on just one foot, lift the other foot against your thigh
Arms go above the head
Core needs to be very strong here
Maintain the pose for at least 30 seconds
Another pose that appears easy, but once you try it, you realize how hard it is to keep the balance and not fall to the sides.
7. Dolphin pose (Ardha Pincha Mayusarana)
Come down to your knees and elbows
Hands in front of you with fingers interlocked
Curl your toes and lift your knees and hips up off the ground
Put your head down and keep back in a straight line
Stay in pose for at least 30 seconds
Dolphin pose is great to build arms and shoulders strength.
8. Fish pose (Matsyasana)
Begin by sitting down with legs straight on the ground
Keep elbows to your sides
Roll your back slightly backwards and place elbows down on the ground
Open the chest up and bring top of the head over to the ground
If you can’t reach ground with the top of the head, adjust the elbows
Maintain the pose for at least 30 seconds
This pose relieves shoulder and back tensions (which we all suffer from, unfortunately). It also gets blood moving through the whole body.
9. Side leg lift pose (Ananthasana)
Lay down on one side of the body
Bring the leg (that’s on top of the lag laying on the ground) towards your head, bending it at the knee
Now, grab the toe with your hand and extend both the leg and the arm together up towards the sky
Maintain the pose for at least 30 seconds
This pose is great to shrink your waistline. So, if you’ve got some rolls on your waist, do this pose regularly to get rid of them.
10. Bridge pose (Setu Bandhasana)
Lay down on your back
Place your heels as close as you can to your butt
Hold your ankles with your hands but keep your thumb outside
Now, lift your hips up and get them as high as you can
Stay in the pose for at least 30 seconds
Work the whole body with this pose, but especially the tummy and the back. Great pose to flatten bloated stomach.
11. Bow pose (Dhanurasana)
Begin by laying down on your belly
With your arms kept to your sides, reach for the outer side of the feet
Relax the chin down to the floor and relax the glutes
Now, that you are relaxed in this pose, lift yourself off the ground, lifting both upper body and legs
Lift yourself up as much as you can, head should be straight with eyes looking directly in front of you
Hold the pose for at least 30 seconds
Great pose to work the whole body and melt away fat from your thighs. It improves digestion and speeds up metabolism. Reduces belly bloat very fast, too.