Yoga is a great way to boost flexibility, minimize stress, boost happiness, and develop exceptional balance and focus. It's also a great way to shed fat and lose weight. Check out top 5 weight loss bonuses you can get from yoga plus 3 ways to add it to your day.

1. Yoga minimizes fat storage: Life is hectic and stressful which often leads to high levels of the hormone cortisol which increases blood sugar, fat storage, and fatigue that leads to cravings and overeating. Yoga restores hormonal balance and reduces all the hormones that cause you to gain weight. It also gets your body back in fat burning mode vs. fat storage mode.

2. Yoga aligns the body: It's not easy to exercise and eat healthy on a regular basis when your body aches, you're tired, and you're cravings get the best of you. Yoga re-aligns your body, corrects muscular imbalances, and restores function which means less fatigue. This in turn boosts energy, a more active lifestyle and increased calorie burning.

3. Yoga improves digestion: The modern diet is highly processed, loaded with sugar, and devoid of nutrients. This impairs digestion and affects your metabolism. Yoga increases blood flow to the digestive tract and makes digestion more effective. Since digestion accounts for 60% of your metabolism, a more effective digestive system means a faster metabolism.

4. Yoga boosts lung capacity: Fast and shallow breathing is a common practice these days due to stress, sedentary jobs, and the environment. Decreased lung capacity means less oxygen to the entire body resulting in fatigue, depression, and an impaired ability to burn fat and rid the body of toxic waste (carbon dioxide). Yoga increases lung capacity through pranayama. This in turn boosts oxygen levels and leads to improved digestion, less toxins, more energy, and increased fat burning.

5. Yoga promotes positive thinking: Healthy behavior is often difficult when you're feeling, run-down, stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Yoga combines positive physical action with mental and spiritual awareness. This mind, body, soul connection creates more awareness in all areas of life making it easier to seek out healthy behavior vs. cookies when life gets chaotic.

3 Ways To Incorporate It
Perform 3 Sun Salutations early in the morning to boost energy and improve focus. Try Sun Salutations with Shiva Rea


Add 2 yoga poses at the end of your cardio or strength training routine to align the body and boost lung capacity. Try Yoga: The Poetry of the Body: A 50-Card Practice Deck


Challenge yourself with one longer yoga workout each week. TryMy Yoga Online