Sun Salutations for Weight Loss

Sun Salutations for Weight Loss

Putting on weight? Easy. Losing weight? Not so much.

You certainly need to put in blood, sweat and tears to lose weight. There are many methods, which can be used to lose weight, such as tennis, running, cycling, going to the gym, etc. One of the most effective weight loss programs is Yoga.

Yoga is followed all over the world not just for its weight loss benefits, but also for its techniques that work every part of your body to bring back synergy. The Sun Salutation, or the “Surya Namaskar” as it is named in Sanskrit, is one such technique that can help you lose weight.

The Sun Salutation is a good option for those who have hectic work schedules and who therefore don’t usually have the time to perform yoga. Doing at least 12 sets of the Sun Salutation, if possible at sunrise, can prove to be a great cardio workout.

Apart from helping you lose weight and burn calories (as many as 417 calories per workout), the other benefits of Sun Salutation are:

  • Increased flexibility
  • Improved digestion
  • Prevention or reduction of anxiety
  • Increased concentration

Read on to know how each pose in the Salutation helps you lose weight naturally.

The Prayer Pose (Pranamasana)

It is the first step of Sun Salutation. You have to stand at the edge of the mat (in case you use one) with the rest of carpet behind your feet, join both feet together, and let your weight to distribute equally on both of them.

Raised Arms Pose (Hasta Uttanasana)

Continue from the first pose, hold your palm still in the position of prayer and take deep breaths. Rotate your palms towards yourself, point your fingers at your chest and move your elbow outwards.

Hand to Foot Pose (Hastapadasana)

From the last pose, stretch your position, breathe out and move forward. Now, you will reach a vertical standing pose with your hand stretched up and your fingers pointing upwards. Bend your knees while standing straight and stretch outwards. Then, bend forward but make sure that your spine is straight. Now, your upper body will be parallel to the ground.

Equestrian Pose (Ashwa Sanchalanasana)

Keep your palms on the ground on either side of your feet, breath in and then move your right leg far away from your body. Now, bring your right knee on the ground, keep your palms on the ground and your left foot between your palms. Look up straight towards the sky, and then breathe out.

Stick Pose (Dandasan)

As you breathe in, apply pressure on your hands and palm and take back your left foot. Let your heels touch the ground and bring the rest of your body to a straight line. Make sure your arms are perpendicular.

Eight-Point Salutation (Ashtanga Namaskara)

Push back your hips and slide it forward down, and place your chest and chin on the ground.

Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

While breathing in, slide forward and put pressure on your hands and palms. And push your chest and head up while keeping the elbow a little bent and hugging your ribs. Now relax and don’t move close to your ears.

Mountain Pose (Parvatasana)

While breathing out, push your hips into the air, lower your chest and head down while keeping the feet and palms in their position.

Back to Equestrian Pose (Ashwa Sanchalanasana)

Take back your right foot in front of you between your palms. Let your left knee get lower slowly and take down your hips. Look straight at the sky or ceiling.

Repeat Hand to Foot Pose (Hastapadasana)

Repeat the Hastapadasana, as mentioned above.

Repeat Raised Arms Pose (Hasta Uttanasana)

Inhale and then roll up your body stretching your hands out. Stand straight and vertically, now let your hands stretch. After that gradually stretch out.

Final Pose (Tadasana)

Slowly breathe out and get back to a vertical position while your hands still stretched out. After that bring your arms back and relax.

Now that you know how to perform Sun Salutation poses properly, just get onto the yoga mat, and move gracefully from one yoga pose to another slowly. A great weight loss program for women and men alike, Sun Salutation is definitely something worth trying out as soon as you can!

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.
Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.
How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.
All You Need to Know about Cat Food

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.