Beat Stress, Lose Weight, Get Fit – Add Yoga to Your Lifestyle

Last Updated: 27th March 2020

Yoga is about holding your body in different positions while breathing normally. Stretching your muscles and internal organs helps you beat stress, lose weight, and get stay fit. So add yoga to your lifestyle to live a more fulfilling life. Yoga workouts release endorphins in your body that beat stress. The breathing during these routines also calms your mind, which further helps you beat stress.

Here are some tips to get started:

Start with breathing exercises

Inhale and hold your breath for 10 counts. Exhale. Repeat 10-15 times. Keeping your eyes closed, or concentrating on a single point, helps more to beat stress.

Stretch your body

Stretch when you get up from bed in the morning.

Forward bend to touch with toes while not bending your knees, and then lean back to reach for the sky. Repeat 3-4 times. Inhale while going down to your toes. And exhale while reaching for the sky to make your experience more refreshing.

More stretching

Stretch if you’ve sat at your desk for more than an hour. You don’t have to get up. Simply twist around to your left, and try to grab the back of your chair with both hands. Don’t move your feet. Feel the stretch. Do the same on the right side.

Another stretch is getting on your tiptoes and trying to reach the top of the doorframe in your room. Hold the tiptoe for as long as you can. Feel the stretch.

Try Suryanamaskar

It’s a bit complicated when you are a beginner. It comprises of 12 different poses as stated below. So 12 poses in 1 cycle of Suryanamaskar will loosen your muscles, move body fat, while relaxing your mind.

Start with 2-3 cycles, going up to 12 cycles at a go. Go for more, if you want to push yourself more.

• • Starting Position – standing tall, feet together
  • Upward Tree Pose – standing straight with feet together, extend your hands up
  • Forward Bend Pose – keeping your knees straight, bend forward to touch your toes
  • Low Lunge Pose (Left) – bend your left knee while stretching out your right leg behind you
  • Downward Dog Pose – with both feet together, extend your forward bend pose into an inverted V shape
  • Plank Pose – move forward from the downward dog pose to assume the plank pose where your back is straight and your weight is in your arms and shoulders
  • Cobra – rest on the floor after the plank pose and then lift your upper body to assume the cobra pose
  • Downward Dog Pose – lift your butt to assume the inverted V shape of the downward dog pose
  • Low Lunge Pose (Right) – bend your right knee while stretching out your left leg behind you
  • Forward Bend Pose – same as before
  • Upward Tree Pose – same as before
  • Mountain Pose – stretch your back by moving your arms behind you.

As you can see from above, we are not trying to make yoga gurus out of you. We are recommending yoga as a part of your current lifestyle, to make your life more fuller.

Over to you..

We all follow pretty hectic lives and mostly unhealthy lifestyles. So what measures are you taking to ensure you are living a healthy life?

Do you practice yoga?

How do you stay fit?

How do you beat stress?

Share your views with us – we would love to hear from you.

Check out our Personal Grooming posts for more help.