Cholesterol yoga is beneficial for lowering cholesterol by massaging internal organs & activating glandular systems responsible for the illness. Yoga can balance the body, mind, & spirit.
Yoga information: If you are new to yoga and want to practice yoga with maximum benefits without injury, then we advise you to go through Yoga tips for beginners, Yoga safety tips to avoid yoga injury and Benefits of a yoga pose.
8 Yoga Asanas for Cholesterol
High blood cholesterol causes are poor thyroid function (hypothyroidism), sub-clinical liver problems or fatty liver, Infections, food allergy, leaky gut, kidney disease, opting to lose weight, and adopting a low-carbohydrate diet.
Yoga poses help lower cholesterol by improving the functions of thyroid, liver, digestion, and kidney. Also, it eradicates and corrects infections, food allergy, and leaky gut.
Start Yoga session with Warm-up - Most of the Yoga Masters insisted not to practice yoga poses straight away. Instead, they emphasized to do some warm-up exercises before the yoga session.
1. Sarvangasana is the queen of all asana, it stimulates the thyroid and parathyroid glands responsible for protein, fat, and carbohydrate metabolism. It provides all the benefits of Sirsasana; additionally keeps you calm and cool. For more visit Sarvangasana.
2. Vajrasana is a Sanskrit word, Vajra means diamond or thunderbolt. This yoga makes you strong, energetic, and healthy as a diamond/thunderbolt. The Muslims and Buddhist monk conduct their prayers sitting in Vajrasana. This asana corrects the disorders of the stomach, intestine, liver, kidney, etc. For more visit Vajrasana.
3. Ardha Matsyendrasana provides deep internal massage of the abdominal organs, thus squeeze out toxins, cleanse, and rejuvenate the body. It stimulates digestion, and supply organs with fresh circulation. It can massage the pancreas, kidneys, stomach, small intestines, liver, and gallbladder. For more visit Ardha Matsyendrasana.
4. Paschimottanasana stimulates liver, pancreas, and kidney. It is not only beneficial for the treatment of cholesterol; additionally, it helps lower blood sugar and high blood pressure. It activates the nervous system, calm mind, and relieves your stress. To learn more, click Paschimottanasana.
5. Shalabhasana massages your internal organs and stimulates Swadhisthana chakra. It enhances liver function and keep cholesterol under control, relieves constipation, dyspepsia, and alleviates gastric ailments. It reduces excess fats around the hips, waist, thighs, and abdominal area, by burning and eliminating fat deposits. It stimulates solar plexus, massaging the heart, activating adrenal and prostate glands. For more visit Shalabhasana.
6. Kapalbhati – is a Sanskrit word, Kapal means skull (include all the organs under the skull) and Bhati means to shine, lighting or illumination. It detoxes your body and makes your brains shine. For more visit Kapalbhati pranayama.
7. Anuloma Viloma Pranayama - is a Sanskrit word, Anuloma means successive (continuous), Viloma means produced in reverse order, and pranayama means an extension of the breath or life. Literally, it means alternative nostril breathing. For more visit Anuloma Viloma Pranayama.
8. Finish Yoga session with Savasana – Well experienced Yoga Guru's always suggested ending a yoga session with a relaxing yoga pose called “Savasana.” It helps to gain the most from the yoga poses you have just done. Furthermore, make you more relaxed; it is a simple asana, difficult to attain perfection.
Clinical studies prove yoga is effective in lowering cholesterol
Patients with advanced coronary artery disease have benefited from yoga.
At the end of one year of yoga, training cholesterol was reduced by 23% in the yoga group as compared to 4% in the standard treatment control group. And, serum low-density lipids also decreased more in the yoga group (26% versus 3% in the control group).
Reference: Beneficial effects of yoga lifestyle on reversibility of ischemic heart disease: caring heart project of International Board of Yoga. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2004; 52:283-9.
Yoga lifestyle intervention retards coronary atherosclerosis.
A study on coronary artery disease, a dietary change plus yoga group was compared to a group who only made dietary changes. After one year of weekly sessions, the yoga group has decreased body weight and lower serum total cholesterol levels. Low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Reference: Retardation of coronary atherosclerosis with yoga lifestyle intervention. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2000 Jul; 48(7):687-94.
Yoga beneficial to heart failure patients by decreasing inflammation.
A group of heart failure patients’ yoga led to improved cardiovascular endurance. In addition, decreased inflammatory markers (Interleukin-6 and C- reactive protein) suggest the immune effects of massage therapy.
Reference: The benefits of yoga for African American heart failure patients. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2010 Apr; 42(4):651-7.
Therapeutic benefits of yoga in blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol & triglycerides.
In this study, yoga was practiced daily for 1 h for three months. By the end of the study, the participants had decreased blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides and improved subjective well-being and quality of life.
Reference: Therapeutic potential of yoga practices in modifying cardiovascular risk profile in middle-aged men and women. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2002 May; 50(5):633-40.
How do Yoga Lower Cholesterol & Triglycerides?
Everyone will accept, yoga is effective in stress reduction. Reducing stress lowered risk towards numerous health conditions including inflammation and thus high cholesterol and heart disease.
Many studies confirm that doing yoga provide a modest reduction in weight. Losing weight lower body fat may have lowered cholesterol and triglycerides levels. Additionally, yoga lowers the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol.
Is yoga safe?
Yoga is well-tolerated in studies, with few side effects reported in healthy individuals.
Yoga poses that put pressure on the uterus, such as an abdominal exercise, should avoid during pregnancy.
People with disc disease, fragile or atherosclerotic neck arteries, a risk of blood clots, extremely high or low blood pressure, glaucoma, retinal detachment, ear problems, osteoporosis, or cervical spondylitis should avoid some yoga poses.
Certain yoga breathing techniques should avoid by the people who had heart or lung disease.