Best Yoga Poses to Stay Fit

Written by Gouher Munshi Updated on November 19, 2023

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Yoga provides the best benefits for the overall body, mind, and soul. While everyone likes to practice yoga, sometimes it is not possible. Everyone does not have enough space and a suitable and calm environment.

Yoga is a popular activity these days to focus on fitness levels. Some time age yoga was considered to be prevalent only to old age people and saints. Now yoga has taken worldwide popularity in young people also.

All thanks to celebrities who have continually added yoga in their daily routine for fitness. The younger generation follows their favorite celebrity as an idol.

Yoga for body fitness

Table of Contents

A perfectly toned body is the desire of everyone. Everyone likes to fit in their favorite dress and yoga can help to maintain that fitness. Here is yoga for overall body fitness.

Paschimottanasana pose

Sit over a yoga mat using legs stretched out in the front direction. Do not bend knees and keep your palm over the ground beside your hips.
Take a deep breath and straighten the spine.
While breathing out, flex front to reach the toes using fingers.
If you follow the right posture, your face should be on your knees. Otherwise, being a beginner, flex as much as possible for you, and if you feel problems, you may even flex your knees slightly.
Take some normal breaths and deep inhalation, sit up straight with the spine.
Release the hand and keep them by sides.
Repeat another five times using the same breathing process.

Dhanurasana (Bow pose)

How to do it?

Lie down with belly on the ground. Keep your chin reaching to the ground.
Place hands beside you with palms facing up.
Keep legs at 6 inches away from another leg.
Flex legs at the knees and get the heels near to hips
Now grip the ankles using both hands.
Slowly raise chin, neck, and head backward. Keep chest still on the ground.
Presently take a full breath and raise your legs, chest, thighs till the midsection are coming to the ground.
Balance your abdomen, and then pull your legs with your hands as you feel comfortable.
Get your feet together and look up toward the ceiling. It is your final position.
Hold breath while in this position. When you feel a strain over your back, breath out completely and get back to your original position.

Urdhava Hastotanasana

How to do it?

This yoga is best for stretching and slimming the waist.
Stand straight with feet together. Lift hands above the head in a form of namaste.
Now keep your legs grounded, flex your body to the right as you feel comfortable till you feel the strain on the left side of the waist. Stay for 15-seconds in this position.
Go back to the original point.
Now flex toward the left, stay in this pose for another 15 seconds.
Then slowly increase holding time to 30-seconds.

Baddha Konasana

It is the best yoga for shaping up buttocks and thighs. Regular practice of this yoga helps to keep the body fit and make thighs slim.

How to do it?

Sit over a yoga mat by keeping the spine straight.
Flex legs at the knees and the edge of feet soles reaching each other. The heels should be touching the inner thigh.
Now grip both leg’s ankle.
As you breathe deeply, straighten your spine and get your shoulders back.
Breath out and press the soles together.
Manage this posture as you feel comfortable and take deep breaths.
If possible, flex forward from the waist to touch the chin on the ground.

Yoga exercises for Calm Mind

Standing forward bend

This asana helps to relieve mental anxiety and stress, calm the brain and also cure mild depression.

How to do it?

Stand on straight and relax.
Get legs together and keep at some distance from another side.
Now flex forward and reach ankles with hands. Keep forehead in the front direction of knees.
A beginner may find it difficult to come forward and bend knees. Therefore, just flex your knees a bit and touch your ankles. Another option is that do not flex your knees, and instead of touching ankles place a block in front of you to support yourself.

Setu Bandhana

Setu Bandhana is another yoga for overall fitness. This pose can be more challenging for beginners. However, once you get practice, it will help to fight against any mental ailments, anxiety, depression, and stress.

Lie on the ground by keeping a straight spine and hands-on your side using palms downwards.
Now flex the leg at the knees by keeping feet together on the floor.
Now gently raise your hips over the ground while still having your feet grounded and keep hands by sides.
Hold this pose and raise your hands overhead.
This pose helps to relax and rejuvenate your mind.

Balasana

Balasana is a child pose. This pose will help to provide rest to the body after doing all yoga.

How to do it?

Sit over the floor using flexed knees. Keep them separated from one another. Let hips rest on heels.
Keep hands over thighs and begin bending forward to bring the upper torso over the thighs.
Flex further down to make the forehead reach the ground.
Get hands back and let them lie freely over the floor beside your feet using palm facing the roof or hold heels with your hands.

Yoga Exercises for A Healthy Heart

Supta hasta Padasana is the lying hand to leg pose.
Lie flat over back by keeping hands by your side. Take few normal breaths
Now gently lift the right leg with a deep breath. Your leg should be level to the upper torso.
Hold right leg at the ankle with your right hand.
If you feel difficult to hold it at your thigh with both hands, then hold this pose for five seconds and take normal breathing.
Now breath out, keep down the right leg, and repeat the similar with your left leg.
Perform some 5-6 rounds and take some rest.
Hold right leg at the ankle with the right hand.
If not possible, then hold it at the thigh using both hands.
Hold for five seconds and keep breathing to normal.
Now breath out and keep down the right leg.
Do it again for the left leg and perform 5-6 rounds and take a rest.

Vrikshasana

Stand straight by keeping feet together and hands by your side.
Raise your right leg with flexed knees and keep your foot on the left inner thigh.
Your hands should form a Namaste pose and raise them over your head, and avoid flexing elbows.
Manage whole body on left foot and breath.
When you wish to stop, place down your hands and legs and stand in a normal pose with hands by your sides.
Take a rest and repeat for another leg.

Benefits Of Yoga For Fitness and Health

Muscular System and Skeletal

It is a known fact that any type of exercise helps to stimulate muscles and bones. Yoga is not changed also. Some active mobility of limbs or control relieves muscle joints and raise elasticity. As you do practice and maintain these asanas for a long time, it slowly raises the physical stamina and strength. It is suggested that if you have had mishaps previously or as of now encountering any interior illness, accept your primary care physician’s recommendation or yoga master.

Digestive system

Yoga helps to improve the digestive system’s function. All those workouts for the abs burn fat from the belly area and gently massage the digestive tract to increase metabolic rate and boost proper digestion.

Cardiovascular system

Yogic asana helps to improve blood circulation to the heart and arteries. It is also believed that regular practice of yoga helps to control blood pressure.

Nervous system

Regular yoga practice helps to provide fresh oxygen and enough blood throughout the body and brain. Focused breathing helps to control brain functions and prevent anxieties and stress.

Also, remember that there is no specific age to do yoga. Yoga poses for health can be light-hearted also and hardcore. Yoga ranges from pranayam to asanas. While the asana involves body movement, the pranayams primarily calm your mind to relax.

Blood pressure

Doing regular yoga lowers blood pressure by better oxygenation and good circulation in the body. These two workouts can help to reduce blood pressure.

Pulse rate

A slower pulse rate shows that the heart is strong enough to pump extra blood with some beats. Regular doing yoga lower the pulse rate.

Circulation

Doing yoga helps to increase blood circulation and transfer more oxygen and nutrients to the whole body. Yoga practice increases the health of the skin, organs, and brain.

Respiratory

Like the circulatory system, a lower respiratory rate shows that the lungs are functioning efficiently. Yoga lowers the respiratory rate from a combination of managed breathing workouts and better fitness.

Cardiovascular endurance

A combination of reduced heart rate and increased oxygenation to the body leads to more cardiovascular endurance.

Organs

Yoga practice helps to massage internal organs, thus enhance the ability of the body to stop the disease. Additionally, an experienced yoga practitioner becomes better toned and function properly to respond quickly to diseases.

Gastrointestinal

Yoga also improves the gastrointestinal system in men and women.

Immunity

Yoga practice has instantly linked with a stronger immune system.

Pain

Pain management is higher among those who do yoga regularly. Additionally, pain tolerance, for example, back pain can be lowered by yoga practice.

Metabolism

Increased metabolism can maintain a healthy weight and control hunger. Regular yoga helps to find the balance of the body and create a more active metabolism.

Aging

Yoga helps to stimulate the detoxification process in the body. Detoxification has been noticed to delay aging, which is one of the health benefits.

Posture

The nature of yoga makes the practitioner learn how to control and hold the body in a more healthful position. By doing consistent practice, your posture will improve and enhance your appearance in a healthy way.

Strength

Yoga benefits increase the overall strength of the body. It makes the body more flexible and increases the elasticity of the skin.

Energy

Doing regular yoga provides consistent energy. Many yogis say that doing proper yoga makes you feel more energetic after the yoga session rather than tired.

Weight

Doing yoga helps to promote metabolism as well as keep manage a healthy weight. Additionally, the muscles stretching helps to lower cellulite that accumulates around muscles.

Sleep

Yoga routine helps regulate healthy sleep patterns and increase sleep benefits. According to one study, people suffering from insomnia were provided with basic yoga training. The research discovered an improvement in various aspects of sleep, including less wake-up between sleep at night.

Yoga provides the basis for a long-term and sustainable healthy lifestyle. It reduces stress and boosts better sleep.Â

Balance

A basic piece of the yoga practice is equilibrium and power over your body. With reliable practice, you will find that your general equilibrium will improve outside the yoga class.

The Combined Function Of The Body

Yoga is derived from a Sanskrit word to join one’s attention. Yogis recommend yoga for efficient and graceful body movement.

Body Awareness

Doing yoga will helps to increase awareness of own body. You are often called upon to make some subtle movements to enhance alignment. Over time, it will increase the comfort level in own body. It can lead to increase posture and best self-confidence.

Core strength

With a strong core, you get better posture and complete body strength. A strong core benefit to lower injuries and heal. It is the reason many athletes also do yoga practice as cross-training.

Sexuality

Yoga can improve your sexuality through greater control, more unwinding, and more self-assurance.

Mood

Yoga practice helps to improve your mood also. The mood is an important thing to connect your mind and body to function effectively in a healthy way.

Stress Reduction

Yoga practice needs complete concentration to calm down the mind and reduce stress. Stress can affect your overall body at some point and increase the risk of life-threatening diseases. Adding yoga to your routine helps to reduce stress.

Anxiety

There are various uncomfortable situations and physical symptoms that cause anxiety, such as tightness, feeling, pain, and sensitivity. Yoga postures help to ease the physical discomfort occurred with anxiety. Yoga work to lengthen, stretch, and balance your muscles. This posture can assist in releasing accumulated tension in muscles and body stiffness.

Yoga poses give sequences of strong physical exercise. It also removes anxious thoughts and negative thinking patterns from the mind. Yoga also makes you do meditation, focus, and visualization with breathing, which removes fear.

Depression

The negative belief that you may be feeling is brought to the exterior during certain yoga asanas. When this occurs, the negative energy is no longer remains in you but released from exercise. Regular clearing of every negative feeling helps to reduce depression.

Self-acceptance

Focusing on inner feeling and realizing from yoga is not the goal, self-acceptance starts to take over. With regular yoga practice, you will learn to accept yourself.

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Mind-body connection

Some other workouts provide the same body and mind connection that yoga does. As you do control breathing with the body movement, you retrain the mind to get that place of peace and calmness for a long time.

A positive outlook on life

Yoga practice also supports the nervous system and hormones, which brings a positive and firm approach to life.

Hostility

Most yogis report a huge decrease in the hostility amount they feel an authority sense when becoming angry. It calm effects of relaxation and meditation combine in the yoga practice that leads to complete calm of the nervous system. Low hostility causes lowering blood pressure and stress.

Concentration

According to research, doing eight weeks of yoga practice helps in better motivation and concentration.

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Memory & Attention

Doing yoga also improves blood circulation to the brain and reduces stress, which benefits memory.

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Social skills

During yoga, you learn the interconnectedness of life. Yoga practice soon emerges from a personal journey to connecting with the community at large where you can improve your yoga practice.

Calmness

Focusing so eagerly on the thing your body is doing has the impact of bringing calmness. Yoga likewise acquaints you with meditation procedures, for example, observing how you inhale and separate from your considerations, which help calm the brain.

Body Chemistry

Various aspects of body chemistry like glucose levels and red blood cells are impacted by yoga. Here is how to improve body chemistry from yoga.

Cholesterol

Yoga practice reduces cholesterol from increased blood circulation and burns fat. Yoga is the best tool to prevent cholesterol levels.

Lymphatic system

The lymphatic system promotes immunity and lower toxins in the body. Movement in the body helps to keep the lymphatic system healthy. The specific movements involved in yoga are specifically well-suited for boosting a strong lymphatic system.

Glucose

There is evidence to recommend that yoga may reduce blood glucose levels.

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As does any good workout program, yoga also lowers the sodium levels in the body. In the present world of fast and processed foods, people consume more sodium. Therefore, avoiding these foods can be a healthy choice.

Endocrine functions

Doing yoga helps to control and regulate hormone secretion. A healthy endocrine system helps in hormone balance and boost better emotional and overall physical health.

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are an important chemical produced from fat in the blood, and raised levels can cause the risk of high blood pressure and heart diseases. According to a recent study, yoga can lead to lower triglyceride levels.

Red blood cells

Yoga has been shown to boost red blood cells level in the body. The red blood cells are accountable for carrying oxygen from the blood. Low red blood cells can cause reduce energy and anemia.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C helps to increase immunity, collagen from its great content of antioxidant. Yoga helps to increase vitamin C in the body.

Low risk of injury

Because of low impact yoga and controlled motions, there is less injury risk during yoga practice compared to other types of exercise.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

In different forms of workout, the sympathetic nervous system hits in, providing you with that sensation of fight-or-flight. Yoga does the opposite and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic system reduces the blood pressure and lowers the breathing pace, which allows healing and relaxation.

Muscle tone

Consistently doing yoga leads to better muscle tone.

Subcortex

Subcortical areas of the brain are linked with well-being, and yoga is believed to dominate the subcortex instead of the cortex.

Lower Oxygen consumption

Yoga practice helps to reduce the oxygen consumption than the traditional workout routines, thereby making the bodywork more efficiently.

Breathing

Yoga practice also controls breathing during exercise. This type of breathing workout provides extra oxygen with healthy air for the body and lower fatigue.

Balanced exercise of opposing muscle groups

As with every yoga, balance is important. If a muscle group is worked properly, it will also get worked in the opposite direction to manage balance. This balance leads to a better workout for the overall body.

Non-competitive

The reflective and self-building nature of yoga removes competition in the workout regimen. Lack of competition, the yoga is free to work slowly to skip injury and boost balance with the stress-free workout.Â

Joint range of motion

According to the study of Pennsylvania-School-of-Medicine shows that joint range of motion had improvement in yoga participants.

Eye-hand coordination

Without practice, eye-hand cooperation decreases. Yoga manages and increases coordination between eye and hand.

Dexterity

The strong body and mind connection can be adopted from yoga, which leads to skill and grace.

Reaction time

According toÂ Research, the reaction time can increase with specific yoga and breathing exercise in combination.

Endurance

Yoga gives work to the entire body and helps to improve your endurance. Most athletes choose yoga for specific training.

Disease Prevention

Yoga helps to prevent the following diseases.
Heart disease
Osteoporosis
Alzheimerâ€™s
Type II diabetes

Symptom Reduction or Alleviation

Carpal tunnel syndrome
Asthma
Arthritis
Multiple sclerosis
Cancer
Muscular dystrophy
Migraines
Scoliosis
Chronic bronchitis
Epilepsy
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