Burn Fat with Yoga

I love yoga.  I've been doing it off and on for about 15 years.  (Obviously more "off" in recent years.)  I find that yoga is easy on my joints and tough on my fat stores.  I've just started doing yoga again - not in a class, but at home in between bouts of laundry and wiping poopy baby butts. This is what I usually look like when I'm doing yoga.  Fat, happy and flexible!

As with most exercises, some yoga poses burn fat better than others.  So I did a little research: here are some beautiful poses (asanas) that will invigorate my spirit and, according to nameless online yogis via You Tube, help me take off the extra weight.  I usually do these poses within the confines and flow of a Sun Salutation.  But since I now know that these are fat-burning poses, I tend to linger in these positions. 

Downward Dog

Chaturanga

The Bow

Warrior I

The pose below seems deceptively simple, but let me tell you - this burns and works!  Root your feet to the floor and sit back as far as you can as if sitting on a chair.  Arms stretch up in alignment with your spine,  I hang here for 10 full breaths and then continue through my sun salutation.

Utkatasana

At first glance, most of you will look at the pose below and think, "Yeah right".  I certainly did.  I do the handstand up against a wall for full support.  At my current weight, doing this pose unassisted in the middle of the room would be ridiculous.  Can you imagine?  I performed this pose last week for the first time since nursing two babies and my boobs slid out of my bra and flapped onto my chin. So I recommend that you sweethearts with large bosoms wear protective gear.  I do this after my sun salutation series.  I stay here for 10 full breaths and then slowly lower my feet and then my knees to the ground.  I always feel invigorated after this pose.  I switch this up with a headstand if my arms feel like baloney from the other poses. 

Adho Mukha Vrksasana

I always finish with a resting pose.  This helps my body decompress and process what it just did.  It's also a deeply meditative pose.  Sometimes I fall asleep in this position, which is no surprise for a mother of two little ones who are up every morning at 5:30am.  So Jack, if you're reading this, don't be surprised when you come home from work and I'm on the floor in the middle of our living room doing this pose.  Don't worry.  It's intentional.  I'm doing yoga.  The kids are fine.  At least... they were fine before I fell asleep.

Shavasana