Yoga has been known to diminish levels of stress in the human body and this may involve the great emphasis that yoga places on deep breathing. Lowered stress helps your improve the quality of your heart and can even improve your ability to digest food. While yoga’s results may vary with the individual, due to performance and medical history, it seems that yoga can also diminish cholesterol.

The Science

There have been a handful of studies that have drawn a link between the frequency of regular yoga sessions and the amount of cholesterol in the body.

Moves to Try

If you want to work yoga into your wellness routine and work on your cholesterol, start with these moves after running it by your doctor.

Seated Forward Bend

  1. Take a seated position, legs straight ahead. Feel free to use a blanet or folded towel.
  2. Inhale while lengthening your spine.
  3. Exhale and begin to bend over the legs, moving from your hips instead of the waist. Keep the back flat and head upright and stop the moment you feel pain in your back.
  4. Continue to breathe as you reach to your feet or ankles, whatever stays comfortable.
  5. Hold this pose for 1-3 minutes, based on your level of comfort.

Kid’s Pose

  1. Start kneeling with your soles facing your back.
  2. Widen your knees to the width of your hips and lay forward between your thighs. Keep the arms laying along the torso, palms upward. You can also move the arms in front of you with the palms facing the mat.
  3. Breathe freely.
  4. Hold anywhere from half a minute to three minutes.

Seated Spinal Twist

  1. Sit upright with your left leg bent to the floor, with your left heel adjacent to your right hip and your right leg crossing the left and your right sole along the floor.
  2. Stretch your spine as you stretch your left hand upward.
  3. Begin twisting to your right, stopping once your left elbow moves outside the right knee.
  4. Breathe in to find more length, then breathe out to deepen the twist.
  5. Hold 30-60 seconds, then switch sides.

Legs Along the Wall

  1. Move your mat against the wall, sit sideways with your shoulder against the wall.
  2. Lay down with your legs along the wall, scooting closer if needed.
  3. Stay this way for 1-2 minutes or until you stop feeling comfortable.
  4. Continue breathing.
  5. When you are ready to descent, slowly move your legs along the wall, bringing your knees into your chest.
  6. Rock your body laterally for a few times and then release.