By Elizabeth Herman | Posted on : December 17, 2020
You can use yoga of breath for healthier weight today with these 3 weight burning breathing exercises.
Do you fear gaining weight every year during the holidays? If so, you have a great deal of company.
Many people think that it's common to gain five pounds during the festive period. But research actually suggests it's more like one pound. So if your goal is to lose weight after the holidays or to simply maintain your weight as it is, it's not as hard as you might think.
It may help to use some methods for weight loss that are natural and healthy, such as yoga of breath. If you start before the new year arrives, you can pre-empt that usual feeling of holiday heaviness. Breathing exercises from yoga are one example of an easy practice for lightening up.
What are yoga breathing exercises?
If you've tried a yoga class, you've noticed the way you breathe. Using the breath helps ease physical stretching and many types of exercise. Yoga teachers often introduce movements that coordinate with inhaling and exhaling.
If you haven’t heard of it before, yoga of breath has its origins in the ancient Indian science of yoga. It is known in Sanskrit as pranayama. Prana means vital universal life force or energy. Yama means to control or moral discipline.
The breath, like food, rest, and a calm state of mind, is a major source of prana. Breathing exercises help you discipline yourself to control your prana for the sake of your own well being.
Pranayama breathing exercises can help prepare the body and mind for meditation. For health and happiness, people learn to breathe in particular ways. Practitioners of yoga of breath discover adjustments to the length and direction of movement of the breath. This knowledge forms a vital part of meditation and physical yoga posture practices.
What are some benefits of breathing exercises?
Breathing exercises can affect your entire being and improve your holistic health. Here are some of the many ways you can benefit:
Access a source of prana, like food, but with no calories
Make your mind calmer, happier, and enthusiastic
Rejuvenate both body and mind
Gain energy for exercise
Stay in yoga postures longer with less likelihood of injury
Focus your attention on how you're feeling inside
Attend to the present moment, without worries about the future or regrets about the past
Purify and cleanse your body and mind
Can you lose weight by doing yoga breathing exercises?
Of course, you can, when you practice them often along with other healthy commitments. Medical research has shown that most weight loss occurs through the breath. As we exhale carbon dioxide, we release burned calories that we metabolize.
When you feel your energy waning, breathing can stop your craving for sugary snacks. Often this hunger occurs in mid-morning or afternoon during a workday. Instead of chips or cakes, yoga breathing exercises can bring you a boost in energy.
Intentional breathing can also change your attitude to your body. It strengthens your sense of confidence in your own physical prowess. You grow in your ability to bounce back and handle challenges.
As a result, you can let go of the power of your impulses towards overeating. You may still experience them, but you won't need to give in to them as often.
How do you reduce weight with breathing exercises?
Your decision to use breathing exercises can help you work towards weight loss in a few ways. There's a biological increase of oxygen in your body's cells. Helping your oxygen levels boosts metabolism, encouraging your cells to absorb nutrients. This results in the burning of extra fats in your body.
It also stimulates the lymphatic system to shed toxins. By pulling the breath in and pushing it out, the abdominal muscles become leaner and more toned. The improvements in your blood circulation have such a positive impact. You will feel the difference right away.
Breathing exercises also lower your stress. The relief from stress can provide you with the right mental attitude for weight loss. You'll have less emotional resistance to exercise and healthy eating. Engaging in these good habits becomes more of a joy and less of a chore.
What are some yoga breathing techniques that help you lose weight?
Try the following techniques in the order they’re given since the last one is the most advanced:
Diaphragm breathing starts when you lie down on your back. Relax, breathe, and notice how your chest and stomach move. Continue, making each breath deeper upon exhaling and inhaling. Your digestion will improve from practicing this often. It will also help to remove fat around your stomach.
Deep Belly breathing concentrates on your muscular abdominal area below the lungs. You can sit, lie down, or stand while you do this exercise. Place one hand on your tummy. Your thumb should be near your navel. Place the other hand higher, on your chest. Now take deep breaths, and make sure your chest doesn’t rise at all. Allow your abdomen only to rise and fall with each deep breath.
Skull Shining breath (Kapalbhati) happens in a comfortable seated position with your spine straight. Place your hands on your knees, palms facing the sky. Take a deep breath in. As you exhale, contract your lower belly, forcing the breath out in a short burst. You may keep a hand on your stomach to feel your abdominal muscles contract. Release your abdomen. Allow your breath to flow into your lungs. Take 20 breaths in this way to complete one round. After completing one round, relax with your eyes closed. Observe the sensations in your body.
The exhalation in Skull Shining breath is active and forceful. Don't focus too much on the passive inhalation. The moment you relax your abdominal muscles, inhalation will happen naturally. Just keep your awareness on breathing out.
What is the proper technique for breathing to lose weight?
You’re a unique person. The breathing exercises you need may differ from those that others need. The right technique is the one that brings results and improves your feelings of happiness and wellbeing. Yoga or breathing meditation teachers can recommend helpful techniques for individuals after getting to know their circumstances.
It’s best to not compare yourself with others. You can find the best balance by paying attention to your own progress. Your life will blossom if you love and accept yourself as you are!
Browse our entire yoga poses library, or attend our yoga course and learn more about each breathing exercise in detail. If you are interested in becoming a yoga teacher, click here for more information.
While a regular yoga practice can result in improved health, know that it is not a substitute for medical treatment. It is important to learn and practice yoga under the supervision of a trained teacher. In the case of a medical condition, practice yoga after consulting a doctor.
Join Beyond Breath - a free online session with a live instructor. You'll experience guided breathwork and meditation. You'll also learn about SKY Breath Meditation. It has helped millions of people worldwide to reap the deeper benefits of yoga.
Wishing you a wonderful, healthy holiday season full of breath, love, and light!
Elizabeth Herman is a long time meditator, a trained yoga teacher, and a PhD in English, with concentrations in Rhetoric and Composition, and Literature. She offers writing support to clients, teaches locally, and volunteers for a better world.
