Celebrities like Gisele Bündchen, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jessica Alba are among the long list of A-listers that are constantly sharing photos of yoga poses on Instagram. They just can’t get enough and just like many others that love yoga, they do it because yoga helps them be flexible, build strong muscles and stay fit, but yoga does so much more for your body.
When you do yoga you’re not just stretching, but relaxing your mind, bringing oxygenated blood to your organs. Breathing deeply, in and out helps focus better and even release angry feelings or stress your body is holding in. If you’re a stress eater, when you practice yoga, your adrenal glands which produce cortisol, the stress hormone, ease up, so you don’t crave fatty foods as much, which often keep you from losing weight. There are so many benefits and here are just a few yoga poses that do a variety of things to your body:
Low Lunge Twist: Helps Debloat, relieves sciatica pain & improves concentration
Seated Forward Fold: Improves digestion, helps de-stress, & cleanses lymph system
Seated Spinal Twist: Helps keep you regular, stimulates organs
Yoga for Runners
Eagle Pose: Helps flush toxins out, detox
Downward Dog: Helps blood circulate and stimulates digestive organs
Child’s Pose: Helps relieve stress, detox, and promotes digestion
Happy Baby Pose: Stimulates spine, urinary bladder and liver
Cat/Cow Stretch: Strengthens your Kegel muscles, improves posture, stretches abs
As you can see, practicing yoga can not only keep you looking fit and strong, but it also helps stimulate your body from inside out. If you’re a beginner, find yourself a class or start practicing these poses at home if you don’t feel ready for a class. You’ll soon start seeing the benefits, not only physically, internally, and emotionally because there’s just something about yoga that makes you happy.