If You've Always Wanted to Try Yoga, Start With These 5 Postures
Yoga isn't all about lying in corpse pose or doing crazy arm balances. Those poses that look super simple, actually require a ton of core strength. Here are some beginner moves to help you feel the burn.
Here are a few moves to help you strengthen your core and move from basic moves to more challenging postures.
Cobra pose helps to strengthen and lengthen the muscles in your core, upper and lower back. The tops of the feet, knees, thighs and palms of the hands rest on the mat, while you arch your back and neck upwards. Hold the pose for 15-30 seconds while taking deep breaths in through the nose and exhaling out of the mouth.
Wind easing pose will help to loosen up tension in the hips, knees and lower back. With your head and back resting on the mat, you'll bring your knees to your chest and wrap your arms around them. This is a relaxing posture that's great for wrapping up your practice.
Bow pose is a great posture for strengthening core ab muscles and stretching out your back. You'll rest your stomach on the mat, bring your feet to meet your hands behind you and lift up. You can also roll forward and backward while in this posture to massage your stomach.
Plank pose is an essential part of yoga practice, but it can be challenging, despite looking so simple. It will strengthen your shoulders, back and ab muscles. You'll need to start by laying on your stomach, tucking your toes and putting your hand or forearms in line with your toes in push up position. Hold it for 15-30 seconds and then drop to your knees before getting back into the posture.
Boat pose is a great posture for gaining strength and definition in the lower abs. You'll start out sitting on your mat with your legs outstretched in front of you. Then lean back slowly as you lift your legs. You can straighten your legs out or keep your knees bent, depending on how flexible you are. The more you practice, the further you'll be able to go with it.
