Yoga Poses for a Stronger Core

This is Yoga for Your Core. This will tone up your midsection and help to create a strong and stable center. Come over to your mat, and start an Down Dog. So just walk your hands forward, put your palms on the mat. Lift up the heels. Press the heels to the mat a few times.

Lift the right leg to the sky. Take your knee into your nose. Reach your leg to the sky. Take your knee to the nose. That's knee to nose three times. Then the right knee to the right elbow. Three times here. Just take your knee up. Touch the elbow.

Now take the right leg, and cross over to your left elbow three times here. You're really engaging your side abdominal muscles.

And just step back in Down Dog. Move into the hips. Take the left leg to the sky. We're going to take the left knee to the nose three times here. Inhale, the knee to nose. Exhale, the leg long.

Taking the knee over to the left elbow, so left knee to left elbow. Do this three times. Taking the knee over. Get ready to take the knee to the right elbow, crossover.

Come back to Down Dog. Lengthen the spine. Take a Plank Pose. We're going to move into side plank. So the right hand on the floor. Left leg is long. You can step the right leg to the floor and stay there. Or you can bring your feet together, left hand to the sky, Plank Pose.

To make it more challenging you can take the leg up. If you like, you can reach for the big toe. You're really engaging the abdominal wall here, strong and steady. Just come back to the center, take a Down Dog, stretching the back muscles.

Inhale. Reach over to the other side for side plank, left hand on the mat. Again, your top leg can be on the floor. Or the legs could be side by side. Or you can lift the leg a few inches. Or for the more advanced pose, you take the toe with that right, or the top, arm.

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Planting your hands on the mat, take a Down Dog to reset the spine. Really take a few deep breaths here, lengthening the back body. Relax the neck, stretching through the heels. This is Dolphin Pose, where the forearms, your elbows, are on the ground. You can clasp the fingers. You can draw the body forward for Dancing Dolphin, just kind of moving the torso. The nose moves toward the hands, pressing through.

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Coming right back to Down Dog. You can walk or gently hop forward. And lower yourself to the floor. Bending the knees, taking Half Boat Pose, stretching your arms out. Or if you'd like, you can take the side of the feet, just bringing your front body toward your legs.

Soften through your gaze.

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Lengthening the legs, taking Boat Pose. And bringing the feet to the floor with the knees bent. Arms outstretched, and just slowly roll back, arms overhead. Inhale. Come on up, keeping your feet married to the floor, and just roll the spine back, reaching arms overhead. You can do this three times.

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Slow and steady here, bringing your arms to the floor. Palms on the ground. You're going to slide your arms under your back body. Bring your feet up, and just weaving your feet, as if you're making small stitches with the legs. The right leg goes in front of the left a few inches.

Left leg goes in front of the right. And then start to move your legs down toward the floor very slowly. This movement is really engaging the front of your abdominal wall. You're supporting the low back here. It starts to get hard at about a 45-degree angle. You can stay there for a while. And then start to move the legs back up to the sky.

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If you want to try it again, you can start the weaving. Keep the weaving motion going, moving the legs down, and bringing them back up to the sky.

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Hug the knees into the chest, press your low back Lengthening the left leg, take the right leg as you plant the right foot on the right leg. The right knee is out to the side. Your hands are bent. Your elbows are bent. The fingertips on the side of the head, and just gently lift up through the neck, through the shoulders.

It's not so important to lift up high here, but more important to really use your abdominal muscles and your upper back, without pulling the neck. Moving over to the other side, so the right leg is long. The left leg is bending. It's like you're in a Tree Pose, just lying down. Just gently let the fingertips touch the head, using the power of your center to lift up. Lifting up on the exhale, inhale, back.

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Drawing both knees in, and moving into a Knee Down Twist, crossing the right leg over the left. Just relax the body here. These poses will also improve your posture. You can really fire up the practice by doing the core poses. Take a hold of your feet. Bring your nose to your knee. Move into a twist on the other side. Cross your left leg over. Just drop the left knee toward the floor. Turn your head away from your knees. Take a few breaths. Really relax in this twist.

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Keeping the legs bent, just lift the feet off the floor. And just take your hands, grab your feet. You're just going to kiss your knee. Bring your knee up to the nose. Lengthening your body, take a rest. Let your breathing increase. Long exhales, deep inhales.

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