8 Great Yoga Moves For A Complete Core Workout

In my last post, we worked on the smaller muscles to engage the abdominal wall. This time, we're going to engage the whole body!

Makara Adho Mukha Svanasana

From a high plank position, lower to your forearms. Be sure your elbows are underneath your shoulders and your forearms are parallel. Push down in order to round your back slightly.

Press yourself back up to a high plank. Lift your right knee and bring it in toward your chest as you lean forward so that your arms are straight and your shoulders are slightly in front of your wrists. Push the floor away from you.

Engage the back leg and contract the abdomen. Bring your knee as close to your face as possible, and try to kiss your knee.

Next draw your right knee toward the left elbow and round your back. Push the floor away from you with your hands and keep your shoulders slightly in front of your wrists — this will activate your core muscles even more.

Vasisthasana Vrksasana

Lift yourself up into a plank position and come to the outside of your left foot. Stack your right shoulder above your left shoulder and your left shoulder directly above your left wrist.

Make sure your left middle finger is pointed forward and spread your fingers to have more surface area. Engage your whole body and lift your right leg up to plant it on the inside of your left thigh (above or below the knee) for a Tree Pose.

Vasisthasana B

From your Side Plank Tree Pose, grab your right toe with your right hand, and with a lot of balance (and focus!) start lifting your right leg up toward the sky.

Go very slowly, and make sure you are supporting your whole body with a strong core and strong arm. See if you can straighten the leg entirely with both arm and leg extended, but don't force it.

Ardha Chandrasana

Bring yourself back to a plank and transition into Downward Dog for one breath. On an inhale, step your left foot forward between the hands. Walk your left hand about 6 inches in front of your left foot, and about an inch over to the left.

Use your core and back muscles to engage the left leg as you push off it to extend the right leg long behind you. Open through your chest as you maintain the lift the of the right leg, keeping it parallel to the floor. Your right arm lifts up toward the sky and your whole body is strong and supported by your muscles.

Ardha Chandra Chapasana

From Half Moon, bend the right leg and try to reach for it with your right hand. Keep the left hand barely on the floor so that you ensure your standing leg is doing most of the work. This helps build your core (back and abdominal muscles) more.

Tolasana

Now for the grand finale! Lower to your knees and sit back on your heels and rest for a few breaths before you begin. When you're ready, place your hands on the outside of your knees with your fingertips in line with the edge of your knees. Bend your elbows so that your chest touches your thighs.

On an inhale, press the hands firmly into the floor so that your arms straighten and your back rounds slightly. As you straighten your arms, lean forward and keep your thighs pressed up against your chest as much as you can. The legs will drop a bit, because of the need to build strength in the abdomen and quads.

Keep leaning forward as you try lifting one or both feet off of the floor and contract your hamstrings so that your heels touch your glutes.

Even if your legs don’t come up off of the floor, keep pushing the floor away from you with your hands and keep trying. Eventually it will happen! Be patient. Take 5 deep breaths or 5 push attempts.

When you're ready to release the pose, you can also try my, "Fire Up Your Core With These 7 Yoga Moves" sequence if you've still go some fire left in your belly.

Otherwise, lay down on your back and rest your whole body for a few minutes, to disengage all of your muscles and reap the benefits of your hard work.