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As the world rolls out its mat on June 21 in an ode to celebrate International Yoga Day, 2025, millions around the globe will unite to celebrate health and wellness. This year’s theme, “Yoga for One Earth, One Health,” truly resonates with the fact that health is not a luxury but a necessity.
At its core, this year’s theme reiterates the point that wellness is a well-rounded concept and how fitness requires a balanced approach to the physical, mental, and environmental health, something yoga has always championed.
But as conversations around fitness keep evolving, one question remains: ‘Which is better for your body: Yoga or Gym?’ To put the question to rest, OnlyMyHealth talked to Mayank Mishra, NCSF-certified Health and Fitness Coach, and Ekta Singh, Certified Yoga Instructor, on which is better according to people’s health goals.
Is Yoga Good For Weight Loss?![Yoga poses for women]()
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Yoga is a slow and steady process that leads to weight loss, but with a dynamic and physically demanding form of yoga. Moreover, yoga doesn’t offer drastic changes instantly, but it's rather a consistent and sustainable transformation route.
As per yoga instructor Ekta Singh, “promotes mindful eating and a better relationship with our body. Yoga tones muscles, improves posture, builds core strength, and increases flexibility, which can lead to a visibly transformed and leaner physique.”
“However, yoga won’t build bulky muscle mass or dramatically change body composition unless you combine it with other resistance or metabolic training,” she added.
ALSO READ: International Yoga Day 2025: How This Became a Worldwide Movement With Support From Yoga Gurus
Yoga Can Help with Weight Loss and Body Toning, Says Ekta
Burn the Calories with Dynamic Styles: Yoga postures such as Vinyasa, Power Yoga, and Ashtanga burn calories and give you lean muscle.
Yoga Builds Lean Muscle, Not Bulky: It strengthens muscles, lifts posture, tones the core, and enhances flexibility, resulting in a leaner shape.
Reduces Cortisol (Stress Hormone): Yoga helps to keep your mind healthy by reducing cortisol levels. As cortisol is also associated with carrying belly fat, a decrease in its levels can result in long-term weight loss and the ability to control emotional eating.
Tones the Core: Various yoga postures strengthen the abdominal muscles, resulting in strengthening of the core and well-toned abdominal muscles.
Most Popular Myths About Yoga Debunked by Ekta
- Myth: “Yoga is either stretching or breathing.”
- Fact: Beginner yoga is mild, but styles such as Power Yoga or Ashtanga are hardcore, entailing high plank, push-up derivatives, strengthening core muscles, and requiring a lot of resilience.
- Myth: “Yoga is not good for burning calories.”
- Fact: Vinyasa exercise is a fast-paced yoga form that can help you burn 250 -600 calories per hour, depending on how vigorous the session is.
- Myth: “Yoga is not a strength-building activity.”
- Fact: yoga is a bodyweight resistance activity that can tremendously increase functional strength, particularly core, arms and legs.
- Myth: “Yoga is slow and will not work.”
- Fact: It will not provide instant change as the HIIT, however the overall yoga, mind, body, breathing, change is enduring and deep-rooted.
ALSO READ:The Dangers Of Overdoing Yoga: How To Recognise The Signs
Yoga vs Gym: Which is Better?![workout routine for beginners]()
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According to Fitness trainer, Mayank Singh, “Yoga is a great tool to enhance mind-body health simultaneously. It encourages mindfulness that would enhance consistency in fitness regimens. Whereas gym Workouts are tailored towards muscle-specific workouts, more calories are burned, and other fitness goals.”
“In my opinion, if building a bulky and strong physique is your goal, then the gym is the option to choose. But if mind-body overall fitness is your objective, then yoga might be better suited for you,” he added.
5 Basic Yoga Poses for Beginner
- Start with mountain pose (Tadasana): This basic pose can help you get foundational support and help improve posture and body awareness.
- Child’s Pose (Balasana): As the name suggests, this is a resting pose that stretches your back and calms the mind. Try it if looking to lower your stress and anxiety levels.
- Downward Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana): This full-body stretch builds strength in arms and legs while working on strengthening the core and elongating the spine.
- Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaeyasana-Bitilasana): This spine-friendly yoga pose might help you the most if you sit at a desk for long hours, as it works on improving mobility and warming up the body.
- Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottasana): This calming pose works to stretch the hamstrings and calms the nervous system.
Final Word: Choose Your Better
The beauty of yoga lies in its flexibility to help out in both the physical and mental aspects of the human body. It just doesn’t strengthen your core, it strengthens your mind and calms the anxious nerves. Moreover, if sustainable weightloss is your objective this year, yoga is the way to go. But, yoga is not just for that, when combined with weight training., this becomes an ideal workout combo that can make you invincible, both mentally and physically.
This International Yoga Day, Choose Yourself & Your Fitness.