Why yoga works to balance weight

by | May 7, 2009 | diet and weight loss, fitness, general health & nutrition, health, metabolism, stress, thyroid, weight loss

We’ve all heard how doing yoga is one of the best practices to adopt when trying to balance your weight, lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, and also to reduce stress.

But we’ve also all wondered exactly HOW these 60 minute sessions of bends and twists can promise so much?

Here’s the key to the health benefits of yoga poses:

Like traditional exercize (running, walking, playing group sports etc), yoga can get your heart rate up and tone and strengthen your muscles. But the special qualities that yoga alone offers is the attention it gives to our internal organs. Here’s a quick fact about the major types of yoga postures:

All forward bending poses will help to massage the stomach, pancreas and intestines, bringing new blood to these organs and therefore helping them to work better.

All twisting poses massage and compress the different sections of the colon, helping to manually move food along it’s route from the stomach and onwards.

Also, all “chin to chest” simple poses will massage the thyroid and parathyroid glands which are responsible for our body’s ability to properly absorb calcium in addition to keeping our sleep and metabolism regular.

Like many things in life, it is the simple stuff that is often offering the most complex benefits. If you’re new to yoga, research the variety of DVD’s, classes in your neighborhood and of course, local practitioners that can help you learn more.