These series of poses helps to build an inner fire and strengthen your core muscles. These poses help you to find your center, which is important in supporting your arm balances such as crow and handstand. Since we are again creating heat here, it will increase your heart rate and breathing rate again. For awhile, it was thought strengthening your core can help to decrease back pain. While it may be true that stronger muscles support your spine in general, it is no longer linked to decreasing your back pain. While these poses in this series are great for giving your abdominal muscles a burn, realistically, we strengthen our core in all of the poses we do throughout the yoga practice.
Scissor Legs
This helps to strengthen the lower abdominal muscles. It also helps to improve your coordination of leg movements.
Alignment:
- Hands behind your head
- Lift your shoulders and neck off the mat
- Keep chin tucked towards your throat
- Keep one leg lifted and other leg to a hover above your mat
Modifications:
- Bend the leg that is supposed to lift towards the ceiling
- Place one foot on the ground
Benefits:
- Strengthens lower abdominal muscles and legs
- Stretches hamstrings of lifted leg
Abdominal twists
This pose integrates your core with your arms and legs so that you can feel your center more powerfully.
Alignment:
- Hands behind your head
- Press chest to the ceiling
- Bring opposite elbow to opposite knee
- Extend opposite leg
- Flex feet
Modifications:
- Keep both knees bent
- Keep one foot on the ground
- Don’t lift shoulders from the mat
Benefits:
- Strengthens lower abdominal muscles and legs
Boat Pose
This pose helps to strengthen the abdominal and the hip flexor muscles. This pose can be a lot for the hip flexor muscles. It is important to go at your own pace. And know that strengthen the hip flexor muscles make it easier to do things like step your foot between your hands from downward facing dog.
Alignment:
- Lift legs up towards the ceiling
- Create a V shape with your body
- Draw shoulder blades towards your spine
- Pull low ribs in towards your spine
Modifications:
- Place hands behind knees
- Place feet on floor
- Place hands on floor behind your back
Benefits:
- Strengthens abdominal muscles and hip flexors
- Stretches hamstrings