Yoga for Body Toning | Body Toning Workouts

Body Toning Exercise

Yoga has been used to redistribute body weight and tone the body for quite some time. Almost all exercises of Yoga help in stretching and toning the body. Many yogic techniques are used to firm various parts of the body and increase stamina.

Best Toning Exercise

The Yoga poses not only tone the muscles, but also help massage them and lubricate the joints. These poses, which were created thousands of years ago, help in bringing health and mental peace to life. They were designed to bring a harmonious balance between the body, mind, and the soul. Not only do these poses firm and tone the muscles but also help in replenishing energy in the nerves and endocrine glands. In fact yoga is the most potent self-care method.

When the poses are done in the right manner, their effect increases manifold and therefore it is important to learn the correct way of performing these techniques with the help of a qualified instructor. Each yoga pose works on a particular target area and a set of muscles, ligaments and joints. The muscles get strengthened, toned as well as relaxed.

Yoga Body Toning

The yoga poses or the body toning exercises are divided into two parts. There are the simple poses for the beginners and the more difficult and complex ones that are advanced and are for those who have mastered the simple ones. No matter which ones you do, it is best to start off with light warm up exercises and deep breathing. Eye rolls, neck rolls, and shoulder lifts are good warm up exercises.

To start with, you can practice the Cat Position (Bidalasana). This will help you warm up for the more rigorous poses that will follow. The Mountain Pose or the Tadasana, helps to strengthen the leg muscles and the spine. The Hero (Virasana) and the Warrior (Virbhadrasana) poses should be next. These two strengthen as well as relax the muscles of the body. A seated forward bend pose stretches the muscles in the shoulder and the back. It also works the hamstrings and makes them more flexible.

The Lotus Pose (Padmasana) is also a famous sitting pose that helps relax muscles. The Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukh Svanasana) and the half spinal twist stretch the arms, waist, back, spinal column, legs, shoulder, and other peripheral muscles. This is one of the complete body toning workouts of yoga.

There are also many yoga postures that are used to improve motor skills. However, those require a lot of co-ordination and balance. Since these are advanced poses, they are usually practiced by those who have mastered the simple poses.