Yoga : Primer on the Piriformis

Primer on the Piriformis

In a classroom of wavering Tree Poses, one tree stood tall in the corner. The student's Vrksasana had some undulation like the rest, but at the center was an unusual steadiness that was more than just concentration: She'd discovered the key that allowed stability and lightness to shine throughout the whole pose. The key—both surprising and under-appreciated is a small muscle that contributes mightily to sacral stability and provides lightness and openness in demanding yoga postures. That muscle is the piriformis.

The piriformis is primarily an external rotator, one of a number of small, deep muscles that rotate the leg outward at the hip. It's notorious for causing sciatic pain. When the piriformis gets tight, it pinches the sciatic nerve and causes a burning pain at various points along the nerve's path, which runs from the buttock all the way down to the foot. Tightness in the piriformis also can bring hot pains in the buttock during hip stretches such Pigeon Pose and can afflict forward bending with a feeling of tension in the buttocks around the hip joints and sacrum. Limitations in the piriformis can translate into pain and strain in the lower back, as well—even during everyday activities and bending in poses like Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend).

For all these reasons, the piriformis can seem like little more than a troublemaker, causing pain far out of proportion to its function. But this muscle serves an important purpose. Its most fundamental job is to provide stability to your sacrum, the triangular bone that connects the back of your pelvis to your spine. To understand just how it accomplishes this feat, it helps to be able to visualize the piriformis. There are two piriformis muscles that sit behind the hip sockets, extending from the upper, outer corner of each femur (thighbone) to the sacrum. The piriformis muscles are joined by a band of connective tissue, or fascia, that stretches across the sacrum just above the tailbone. To picture this, imagine that your leg bones are two trees. The piriformis muscles are two fans of ropes that blend into a fascial hammock that hangs between the two trees. The sacrum sits and rocks in the hammock, adjusting itself as the trees sway and move. This fascial hammock is the piriformis's secret to regulating movement and stability in the sacroiliac (SI) joints.

And the SI joints are tricky to regulate. The joints have to be loose enough to allow your pelvic bones to move with your legs when you walk or run, yet stable enough to support the spine as it rests on the sacrum. The piriformis helps hold the sacrum together—but it also has to know when to let go.

* Walk This Way

When you take a step, a shock wave of force travels up your leg to your hip, and the SI joints have to hold the pelvis together against that pounding. The piriformis assists the ligaments of the SI joint by contracting and hugging the sacroiliac joint even tighter during this phase of putting weight on the leg. But as soon as your weight comes off the heel, the piriformis has to release and allow the pelvic bone to swing with the leg. It's a finely tuned dance of hug-and-release, and a well-coordinated pair of piriformis muscles makes for a feeling of stability and lightness in your pelvis, which puts a youthful bounce in your step.

But if the delicate balance is thrown off and they become too tight or too loose, you run into problems, including SI joint pain. A tight piriformis can pinch the sciatic nerve, a large and lengthy nerve sandwiched between the piriformis and another external rotator known as the gemellus, causing radiating pain in the buttocks, hamstrings, calf, heel, and even down to the toes. Since these kinds of pain are caused by chronic tightness, asanas that stretch the piriformis to relieve such tightness are the usual cure. And asana can be a way of learning how to reposition the pelvis so that we don't habitually hang back in the piriformis hammock, tightening and straining the ropes.

The piriformis muscles also can fall short in their task if they are not tight enough to do their job for the sacrum. Sometimes the sacral ligaments are hypermobile, either from heredity or from years of extreme stretching, and this makes it harder for the piriformis to stabilize the SI joints.

One way to assess if you're hypermobile in your sacral ligaments is by observing your posture. When the pelvis is habitually—and excessively—tilted forward, establishing a deep inward arch in the low back, the sacrum is tilted away from the support of the piriformis hammock that helps keep the SI joints tight and stable. It's very much like habitually leaning to one side of a hammock, teetering on the edge of falling out. It's very unstable, and this type of instability can cause stabbing pain in the lower back.

* Just Right

To help the piriformis do its job properly, it's important to establish pelvic alignment that strikes a balance between chronic tightness and laxity. The key to sensing this lies in developing an awareness of your sitting bones. Try this: Sit upright on a firm chair and feel your sitting bones beneath you. From there, tilt your pelvis back in a slump. Feel your sitting bones slide forward as you lean back, curling your tailbone under. This drops you back into the hammock of the piriformis and the ligaments of the low back, and you may be able to feel a tightening or grabbing of the piriformis and the other deep muscles surrounding the sitting bones.

Next, tilt your pelvis in the other direction, arching your back inward and drawing your sitting bones back and apart so that you're resting on their front edges. Notice how your lower back and groins start to harden. At the deepest level, the hip flexor muscles shorten as part of the action of tipping your pelvis forward. And notice how the muscles at the outer edges of the sitting bones and behind the hip joints, including the piriformis, are inactive. The low back will feel tight because of the forward tilt of the pelvis, but the sacral joints will feel unstable and unsupported.

After moving your pelvis between these two extremes, try to find some middle ground. Allow your tailbone to get heavy and descend so that your weight comes to the center of your sitting bones. When you do this, you invite the tailbone and sacrum to descend into the fascial hammock of the piriformis, which provides greater support and stability to the SI joints. It should also feel like you are standing tall on your sitting bones, which creates tone and lift in your lower belly and also tones and supports the muscles across the sacrum, just below your waistline. This type of awareness exercise will help train you to hold the pelvis in a healthy alignment, and it will balance the tone of all the muscles involved, especially the piriformis. Yet, notice how the instruction is to let the tailbone get heavy, not "scoop." At some point in your yoga career, you may have heard the instruction to "scoop" the tailbone down and forward to prevent pinching in the low back and sacrum, especially during backbending actions. But if you focus on this action alone, it actually destabilizes the sacrum by tipping it backward. It also tightens the piriformis at the hip joint—just where you don't want it to tighten. Simply shifting your focus away from the "scooping" action and toward properly grounding through the legs will allow the piriformis to do what it does best: provide stability to the SI joints by supporting the sacrum in its hammock. This is especially helpful in deeper movements of forward bending and backbending, as well as for releasing the torsion in the SI joints during twists.

You can cultivate this awareness of pelvic alignment when you're standing, too. You may notice that, instead of having a well-balanced pelvis, you find yourself standing with your tailbone scooped, your groins pushed forward, and your feet turned out. Standing like this turns the tops of the thighs out and shortens the piriformis. The sacrum sits too heavily in its hammock, tightening the piriformis at the outer hip just behind the head of the thighbone. This tightness shows itself as a deep dimpling in the outer flanks of the buttocks. In this case, the tightness of the piriformis particularly affects the outer hips and compresses the SI joints and lumbar spine.

Just as you found optimal pelvic alignment while seated, you can find it when standing. This sweet spot in your posture, where the piriformis muscles are best situated to stabilize the sacrum without over-tightening in the buttocks or hip joints, brings a feeling of lightness and energy. When you find it, you feel truly grounded through the legs without a feeling of hardness or excessive effort.

To find optimal alignment for the piriformis in your normal standing position, bend your knees slightly to unlock them, tilt your pelvis forward a little—just enough to deepen the inward arch in your lower back and soften your groins—and then shift your hips backward until you feel your weight become more grounded through the center of your heels. At the same time, spread your toes and bring equal weight and contact to all four corners of your feet. Then, as you straighten your legs, let your tailbone descend while gently toning and lifting through the pit of your abdomen.

Imagine the tailbone sitting lightly in the hammock of the piriformis; any extra effort to scoop the tailbone takes you out of this sweet spot, hardening the groins and hip flexors. When you feel grounded through the bones of your legs and experience a lightness and lift in the arches of your feet and your pelvic floor, you've found the sweet spot where your hips are aligned and your piriformis is supporting your sacrum.

* Powerful Ally

The path to making the piriformis your friend lies in this subtle practice of realignment, using the feeling of weight and alignment in your sitting bones and feet as a guide. But taken by itself, this can seem too subtle. There is a third player that helps steady and center you while exerting a calming influence upon the piriformis: the gluteal muscles.

The gluteals provide powerful support to the piriformis's secondary actions of external rotation and abduction, which allows the piriformis to better perform its primary function of stabilizing the SI joints. The main focus in working with the gluteals to relieve the piriformis is the action known as abduction. In the case of the legs and hips, abduction refers to taking one leg out to the side, away from the centerline of the body. Abduction can be an actual movement or an isometric action. When it's an isometric action, abducting the gluteals stabilizes the hip joint. For instance, when you balance on one leg, the gluteals contract the same way as when you lift your leg out to the side. But since the standing leg cannot move, the effect is to lift and level the pelvis on the hip. The more efficiently the gluteals do this, the more the piriformis is free to stabilize the SI joints. But if the gluteals fail, the pelvis wobbles and tips sideways at the hip, causing the piriformis to contract in the absence of its helper.

When you work on optimal pelvic alignment in your everyday sitting and standing postures, you can imprint the sensations of proper alignment and apply them to your yoga poses, too. There, the benefits of enlisting the gluteals to take on the work of abduction and relieve the piriformis to do what it does best will be all the more evident. You'll feel ease and spaciousness in your low back during forward bends and backbends and find greater lightness and stability at your very center during standing and balancing poses.

* Practicing Abduction: Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)

When you practice abduction in Uttanasana, you use the gluteals to center and stabilize the thighbones in the hip joints. This helps you to overcome the habit of hanging back into the hammock of the piriformis for support, and it brings greater ease to your forward bend while reducing strain on your low back.

Begin standing with your feet hip-distance apart. Microbend your knees and draw your thighs and feet apart, as if you were trying to stretch the sticky mat between your feet. Keep the knees facing straight forward to make sure you're not rotating your thigh out. Don't pull the feet apart so strongly that you feel your buttocks tighten inward, but rather feel how the muscles above the hip joints are drawing the tops of the thighs laterally outward, away from the hip joints. That expansion at the hips is abduction. You'll also feel a subtle broadening or release across your sacrum, at or below your waistline and in your low back. It's up to you to calibrate just how much abduction is enough to create this feeling of release. If you tend to be tight in your low back and hamstrings, give extra attention to isometrically pulling your heels apart without turning your knees inward.

From this engaged standing position, move into the forward bend. First tip your pelvis slightly forward, increasing the inward arch in your low back, and shift your hips back until you feel your weight come into the centers of your heels. With your knees slightly bent and your thighs abducting, fold forward at your hips to touch the floor, yoga blocks, or a chair. You can straighten your legs to complete the hamstring stretch, but continue to isometrically draw your inner heels apart to increase the stretch to the outer edges of your legs and hips. This action releases the piriformis, along with the other rotators. If you are very flexible, ground through your outer heels while maintaining the abduction. This action engages the hammock of the piriformis, steadying the sacrum while reducing the extreme forward tilt of the pelvis that tugs at the hamstring attachments. To come up without straining your lower back, microbend your knees and isometrically draw your thighs apart laterally.

* Creating Stability: Vrksasana (Tree Pose)

Balancing poses challenge the piriformis in the standing leg to work strongly in order to stabilize the SI joint while at the same time enlisting the aid of the gluteals to hold the pelvis level. Tree Pose challenges you to use the gluteals to abduct and open the hip of the lifted leg while teaching you not to overuse the piriformis by tucking or scooping the tailbone.

Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) next to a wall on your left side. With your feet hip-distance apart, turn your right foot out slightly so you can more easily ground your outer heel to activate the piriformis. Shift your weight onto your right foot, bringing weight to your outer heel. Balance your weight evenly between your big toe mound and outer heel, and spread your toes.

As you extend down into the earth through the bones of your right leg, you will feel the gluteals at your outer hip activate in order to keep the pelvis steady and level. Lift your left foot, turning your thigh out to the side, and place the heel at your inner right thigh, just behind the thighbone. Your left knee will be in contact with the wall to help you balance. Keep your hip points and torso facing directly forward.

Firm and press your right thigh in against your left heel while continuing to ground down through the right leg. At the same time, press your left heel into your right thigh, which will keep the right leg from excessively rotating out. It's the slight inward rotation of the thigh that keeps the piriformis from tightening.

To open the left thigh, inhale and firm your lower belly, drawing the pit of your abdomen in toward the spine and up. Press the left knee into the wall as you extend down through your standing leg and up through your head. From the combination of all of these forces, your left thigh will open naturally without a feeling of pinching or gripping in your left piriformis (which you would feel deep in your left buttock, just behind the hip joint).

Press your palms together in front of your heart. Then release the pose and repeat on the other side.

* Stretching a Tight Piriformis: Pigeon Pose

Pigeon Pose stretches the part of the piriformis that causes the most problems. The gluteals provide some abduction to moderate the intensity of the stretch. From Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose), bring your right leg forward, your knee toward the outer edge of your mat, and your heel in line with your left hip, with your shin at about a 45-degree angle to the front of the mat. Lean forward and extend your left leg back. To go more deeply into the right piriformis stretch, turn your left toes under, lift your left knee, and

walk your hips back. Your right thigh should rotate out, and your right hip should descend toward the floor. If your hip doesn't fully reach the floor, support it with a block or folded blanket. From there, lean forward to further deepen the stretch to the piriformis.

Next, point through the left big toe and spiral your thigh inward so that the center of your thigh muscle faces the floor. Your left hip point will turn more toward the floor, increasing the stretch to the right piriformis muscle. If the stretch is too intense or causes a twisting in your right knee, sit up higher on a prop. To incorporate gluteal abduction, bring your torso upright and lift your hips slightly up and away from the floor. Firm the pit of your abdomen back toward the spine and isometrically draw your thighs apart, engaging the outer hips much like you did in Uttanasana. Then descend your pelvis into the space between, allowing your pelvis to tip forward slightly as needed. The piriformis will get an intense stretch, but notice how the abduction of the thighs spreads the stretch throughout the hip, opening up a space of ease in the area of the sacrum.

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Fat-Blasting Yoga Plan

Fat-Blasting Yoga Plan
A plan to get you leaner, stronger, and healthier

Today we're going to share with you how to weight loss with yoga.
If you bypass yoga because you're more interested in firming your body than raising your consciousness, here's a mind-body routine your muscles will love.

This fat-blasting yoga-inspired workout, designed by Beth Shaw, owner of YogaFit in Redondo Beach, CA, turns up the burn with multiple repetitions of each pose. In this yoga workout to lose fat, once you complete one pose, you flow directly to the next, with no resting between sequences. Yoga, when practiced in this vigorous style, works just as well as strength-training for shedding fat. The yoga workout to lose fat also makes your heart stronger and boosts cardiovascular fitness, found a study from the University of California, Davis. Practice regularly to stay slim, fit, and serene.

* Workout Basics

Reps and sequences Start by quickly inhaling and exhaling through your nose for 20 breaths. Then perform each sequence the specified number of times before moving on to the next without a rest. Aim for 4 or 5 workouts a week. Each should take about 30 minutes.

Equipment A sticky yoga mat.

Technique To oxygenate muscles and relieve stress, do one movement per inhalation or exhalation.

Cool down Relax by lying on your back with hands on abdomen, legs extended, for 15 breaths.

Results You should feel stronger and look slimmer in 2 to 4 weeks.

Sequence 1

Chair Flow Tones thighs and gluts

Stand with feet hip-width apart. Extend arms straight out in front. Lower body (don't let thighs go lower than parallel to floor). Straighten legs and raise arms overhead, palms facing forward. Return to start. Do 10 to 15 reps.

Sequence 2

Moon Flowers Tones thighs, gluts, and core (abdominal, side, and back muscles)

A. Stand in a wide straddle, toes pointed out slightly. Extend arms straight up.

B. Lower until tailbone is almost level with knees (keep knees behind toes) and pull elbows down toward ribs. Return to start. Do 15 to 20 reps.

Sequence 3

Cat to Cow Tones core and upper-body muscles

A. Get on hands and knees. Pull navel toward spine and round back, dropping chin to chest and tucking buttocks.

B. Lift head, chest, and tailbone. Allow belly to lower toward floor and arch back. Return to start. Repeat 10 to 15 times.

Sequence 4

Downward Facing Dog, Warrior I, Plank Push-Up Tones and shapes all major muscles and improves balance.

A. From Cat position, move into Downward Dog by tucking toes, pressing palms into floor, and lifting hips. Straighten legs and press heels down. Hold for 10 to 15 breaths.

B. From there, step forward with right foot (keeping palms on the floor, left leg extended) and bend right knee (knee should be directly over ankle). Come up and extend arms overhead to perform Warrior I (see image). Go back into Downward Dog by bending at hips, planting hands on floor at each side of right foot, stepping right foot back, and lifting hips.

C. Shift into a modified Plank pose by dropping knees onto floor. Body should form straight line from head to knees, and hands should be directly beneath shoulders.

D. Do a Plank Push-Up by bending elbows back, close to ribs. Slowly lower chest toward floor. Press back up to Plank position. Lift hips back into Dog. Repeat sequence, this time stepping left foot forward into Warrior I. Repeat sequence 10 times per side.

Sequence 5

Boat Angles Tones core and abdominal

A. From Downward Dog, lower knees to floor, sit back, and raise torso. Shift butt to floor and bring legs around to sit with knees bent and feet flat on floor. Grasp lightly behind thighs.

B. Pull navel toward spine and, keeping back straight and feet on floor, lean back to a 45-degree angle. Hold for 2 to 5 breaths. Straighten back up. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

Sequence 6

Boat Lifts Tones core and thighs

From the start position for Boat Angles, contract left quad and lift and extend left leg. Lower leg to start. Repeat with right leg. Repeat 5 to 10 times on each side, alternating legs.

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10 Yoga Poses For Health Problems

10 Yoga Poses For Health Problems

Fix body aches and pains, sugar cravings, hangovers and more by doing these yoga poses

1.Yoga Cures for Body Woes

Here’s what you probably already know about yoga: It can flatten your tummy, tone your arms, and calm your thoughts when your mind is acting like an untamed monkey. But beyond these body-and-mind makeover benefits, few people realize that specific poses may be able to cure all kinds of mental and physical aches and pains, too. To get you started, we spoke with Tara Stiles—star of the Yoga Anywhere DVD series and author of the new book Yoga Cures—to get her 10 best fixes for frustrating everyday problems. And don’t worry: You don’t have to be bubble-gum flexible or as patient as Buddha to reap the rewards. Here, our 10 favorite yoga cures for everything from hangovers and sugar cravings to sleepless nights and shin splints.

2. For Long Car Rides

...try a standing side opener

“We've all been crammed in the car for too long, and there are some simple poses to help open up your body,” says Stiles. “Standing side opener is great because you're bringing length back into your side and spine, a reversal of when it gets crunched in the car.”

• Try it: Stand with your feet parallel, shoulders aligned with your hips. Inhale and reach your arms out and up. Grab your left wrist with your right hand. Gently pull your left arm up with your right hand. Let your torso naturally arch over to your right side. Stay here for three breaths and then work the other side, too.

3. For a Hangover

...try an easy seated twist

“Twists are great for helping toxins move their way out of your body—and out of your life,” says Stiles.

• Try it: Start seated (as shown), inhale and lift your left arm straight up. As you exhale, grab your right knee with your left hand. Press your right fingertips into the ground behind your hips. Inhale and sit up tall. Exhale and twist your torso further toward the right. Then switch your legs and repeat on the other side.

4. For Shin Splints

...try hero pose

This is a very mild, gentle movement that is designed to relieve pressure on the shins, says Stiles. “The even pressure feels great for most runners.”

• Try it: Stand on your knees so they are aligned under your hips. Press the tops of your feet down and into the ground. Press your thumbs into your legs, behind your knees, open your calves out to the sides and sit your hips down to the ground (if your butt doesn't touch the ground, sit on a yoga block or a rolled up yoga mat). Hold for 10 breaths.

5. For Killer Cramps

...try an easy forward bend with rolled up blanket

“This move is great to sooth the mind, the mood, and cramps,” says Stiles. “The gentle pressure from the blanket and your torso is really grounding and comforting, and just plain feels great.”

• Try it: Roll up a blanket. Sit down with your legs straight in front of you. Place the blanket on your upper thighs. Gently fold your torso over the blanket. Stay here for 10 long, deep breaths.

6. For a Sugar Craving

...try a seated meditation with arms in a “V”

“Yoga trains and reprograms the mind so it can come back to a calm and neutral state free of anxieties and cravings,” says Stiles. “This seated meditation with arms up in a V gives your body just enough to do to allow your mind to focus. Spend a few minutes in this position and you'll be able to conquer your sugar cravings with ease.”

• Try it: Starting in a comfortable seated position, raise your arms overhead into in a V shape. Relax your shoulders down your back and reach out through your fingertips. Stay and breathe here for 3 minutes. Finding the ease in staying here for several minutes will clear your mind and release loads of tension from your body.

7. For When You're Feeling Sad

...try tree pose

“Regular yoga can help ease and reverse depression, bringing people back to their natural state of happiness and ease,” says Stiles. “Standing poses like tree have a lot to do with that. Finding balance in different ways on our feet translates into our lives. The key is being gentle and consistent.”

• Try it: Stand tall with your feet parallel and a few inches apart. Shift your weight into your left leg. Bend your right knee into your chest and hug your shin with your hands. Grab hold of your right ankle with your right hand and press your right foot into your left inner thigh. Either stay here with your hand holding your ankle for balance, or reach your arms straight up. Stay here for five long breaths. Try the same thing on your other side.

8. For Easing Stress

...try half-pigeon pose

“Our hips store a lot of tension from all sorts of anxieties and stresses,” says Stiles. “The energy has to go somewhere and often it winds up in our hips. Pigeon is a super-calming pose for the mind and will give you a deep tension release in the hips.”

• Try it: Start in a cross legged position and then lean into your right hip and reach your left leg long behind you (as shown), keeping your right leg in front of you and bent at the knee. If your hips don’t reach the ground, sit on a pillow or a block. Turn your hips and shoulders so they both face forward. Stay here for 10 long, deep breaths. Switch legs and repeat.

9. For a Cold or Flu

...try alternate nostril breathing

“This technique is known for keeping people from getting colds or the flu, as well as helping them get better faster,” says Stiles. “It's great for clearing congestion. It also does wonders for cultivating an easy mind, so even when the flu strikes you'll feel easy and calm while you are recovering.” (Check out 11 Other Tricks to Bounce Back Fast From a Cold.)

• Try it: Sit up tall, however you can sit comfortably. Take your right hand and curl down your index and middle finger into your palm. Press your ring finger over your left nostril and inhale for 4 counts. Close off your right nostril with your thumb so both nostrils are closed. Hold all the air in for 4 counts. Release your ring finger and let all the air out your left nostril for 4 counts. Repeat this breathing pattern for 3 to 5 minutes.

10. For a Blinding Migraine

...try headstand preparation

“Recurring migraines can be so multi-factorial and, of course, everyone is different, but yoga has been known to help,” says Stiles. “A little pressure on the head with a prep of a headstand can bring blood flow to the head… and it just does the trick! Deep breaths of course!”

• Try it: Sit on your heels with your shoulders above your hips. Interlace your fingers loosely and place them on the ground. Place the top of your head on the ground so your fingers cradle the back of your head. Stay here for a few breaths to get comfortable in the position. If you are comfortable, tuck your toes and straighten your legs like you would in a down dog. Stay here for 10 breaths.

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Yoga Poses for Beginners

Yoga Poses for Beginners

Here we've 12 Yoga Poses for Beginners, hop you like it & It'll good for all of our viewer. If you've any problem about Yoga, Yoga Poses than please tell us we'll solve your problem through this Blog.

1. 12 Yoga Poses for Beginners:

1. Mountain Pose:

• Stand tall with feet together, shoulders relaxed, weight evenly distributed through your soles, arms at sides.
• Take a deep breath and raise your hands overhead, palms facing each other with arms straight. Reach up toward the sky with your fingertips.

2. Downward Dog:

• Start on all fours with hands directly under shoulders, knees under hips.
• Walk hands a few inches forward and spread fingers wide, pressing palms into mat.
• Curl toes under and slowly press hips toward ceiling, bringing your body into an inverted V, pressing shoulders away from ears. Feet should be hip-width apart, knees slightly bent.
• Hold for 3 full breaths.

3. Warrior:

• Stand with legs 3 to 4 feet apart, turning right foot out 90 degrees and left foot in slightly.
• Bring your hands to your hips and relax your shoulders, then extend arms out to the sides, palms down.
• Bend right knee 90 degrees, keeping knee over ankle; gaze out over right hand. Stay for 1 minute.
• Switch sides and repeat.

4. Tree Pose:

• Stand with arms at sides.
• Shift weight onto left leg and place sole of right foot inside left thigh, keeping hips facing forward.
• Once balanced, bring hands in front of you in prayer position, palms together.
• On an inhalation, extend arms over shoulders, palms separated and facing each another. Stay for 30 seconds.
• Lower and repeat on opposite side.
• Make it easier: Bring your right foot to the inside of your left ankle, keeping your toes on the floor for balance. As you get stronger and develop better balance, move your foot to the inside of your left calf.

5. Bridge Pose:

• Stretches chest and thighs; extends spine
• Lie on floor with knees bent and directly over heels.
• Place arms at sides, palms down. Exhale, then press feet into floor as you lift hips.
• Clasp hands under lower back and press arms down, lifting hips until thighs are parallel to floor, bringing chest toward chin. Hold for 1 minute.
• Make it easier: Place a stack of pillows underneath your tailbone.

6. Triangle Pose

• Extend arms out to sides, then bend over your right leg.
• Stand with feet about 3 feet apart, toes on your right foot turned out to 90 degrees, left foot to 45 degrees.
• Allow your right hand to touch the floor or rest on your right leg below or above the knee, and extend the fingertips of your left hand toward the ceiling.
• Turn your gaze toward the ceiling, and hold for 5 breaths.
• Stand and repeat on opposite side.

7. Seated Twist:

• Stretches shoulders, hips, and back; increases circulation; tones abdomen; strengthens oblique
• Sit on the floor with your legs extended.
• Cross right foot over outside of left thigh; bend left knee. Keep right knee pointed toward ceiling.
• Place left elbow to the outside of right knee and right hand on the floor behind you.
• Twist right as far as you can, moving from your abdomen; keep both sides of your butt on the floor. Stay for 1 minute.
• Switch sides and repeat.
• Make it easier: Keep bottom leg straight and place both hands on raised knee. If your lower back rounds forward, sit on a folded blanket

8. Cobra:

• Lie face-down on the floor with thumbs directly under shoulders, legs extended with the tops of your feet on the floor.
• Tighten your pelvic floor, and tuck hips downward as you squeeze your glutes.
• Press shoulders down and away from ears.
• Push through your thumbs and index fingers as you raise your chest toward the wall in front of you.
• Relax and repeat.

9. Pigeon Pose:

• Targets the piriformis (a deep gluteal muscle)
• Begin in a full push-up position, palms aligned under shoulders.
• Place left knee on the floor near shoulder with left heel by right hip.
• Lower down to forearms and bring right leg down with the top of the foot on the floor (not shown).
• Keep chest lifted to the wall in front of you, gazing down.
• If you're more flexible, bring chest down to floor and extend arms in front of you.

10. Crow Pose (Part - 1):

• Get into downward dog position (palms pressed into mat, feet hip-width apart) and walk feet forward until knees touch your arms.
• Bend your elbows, lift heels off floor, and rest knees against the outside of your upper arms. Keep toes on floor, abs engaged and legs pressed against arms. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths.

11. The Crow (Part - 2): Intermediate

• From beginner position, squeeze your inner thighs to lift heels off floor.
• With fingers spread wide, slowly move body forward until your weight is balanced over your hands.
• Draw abs inward (as if pulling belly button to spine) to lift your hips up higher, keeping your face forward. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths.

12. Child's Pose:

• Sit up comfortably on your heels.
• Roll your torso forward, bringing your forehead to rest on the bed in front of you.
• Lower your chest as close to your knees as you comfortably can, extending your arms in front of you.
• Hold the pose and breathe.

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8 Yoga Poses For Flatten Your Abs

Flatten Your Abs With Yoga

Learn 8 yoga poses to burn belly fat on the mat:

* Slim Your Stomach:

For a strong core, try this ab-focused yoga series

Take a break from crunches and get the flat belly you want with yoga. As you work through these yoga poses, you’ll engage your core muscles and concentrate on balance and breathing. If you can’t hold a pose for very long, don’t worry. You’ll build strength each time. Just do as much as you can and work up to holding each pose for 10 breaths.

Lose fat with this yoga for weight loss routine.

* Straight Leg Lift and Lower, Part 1:

1. Lie on your back and place a block between your upper thighs.

2. Bring your legs straight up to the ceiling and flex your feet.

3. Keep your lower back pressed firmly into the ground. Hint: If you don't have a block, try using a sturdy throw pillow.(Also, see 4 Important ExercisesEvery High Heel Wearer Should Do.)      

 

* Straight Leg Lift and Lower, Part 2:

1. From the position above, start to lower your legs toward the ground.

2. Only lower them as far as you can, keeping the lower back flat on the ground. If you drop your legs all the way down and your lower back pops up, this move loses its ab-strengthening power and can strain the lower back.

3. Repeat 10 times.

* Spine Massage Roll-Ups:

1. Stay on your back and bring your legs straight up. Think of this move as a massage for the spine rather than an abdominal exercise.

 

2. Bring your feet over your head, rolling on your spine slowly until your feet touch the ground behind you. If this is too much on your spine or neck, only bring your feet as far as you can without feeling pain in your back.

3. Return your feet to the straight-up position. 4. Repeat 10 times.

* Rocking Boat:

1. Come into Boat Pose with bent knees.

Boat Pose:

a. Sit with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor.

b. Hold on to your legs under thighs, grabbing just above the knees. Lean back slightly.

c. Raise your feet off the floor and press them together. Lift your feet until your shins are parallel to the floor.

d. Extend your arms straight in front of you to shoulder height, palms up.

2. Tip your knees to one side and then the other. Try to keep the motion steady.

3. Keep breathing and repeat 10 times.

* The Modified Wheel:

1. Lie on your back and give your abs a nice stretch in the opposite direction. Interlace your hands underneath your lower back and press your hips up into a Modified Wheel Pose.

Modified Wheel Pose:

• a. Lie on your back, feet flat on the floor, palms down.
• b. Lift your hips and torso off the floor, pressing into your palms and feet.
• c. Interlace your hands and press your shoulders and upper arms into the floor. Lift your hips higher toward the ceiling. d. Hold for 10 breaths. Lower your gluts back to the floor, and separate your arms.

2. Keep breathing and try to back slightly off your fullest possible pose. This will ease the strain and train your body and brain to stick with poses longer.

* 1-Minute Plank Pose

1. Come into Plank Pose.

Plank Pose:

• a. Get into a push-up position: Hands are shoulder-width apart, feet are hip-width apart, and your heels, ankles, butt, spine, shoulders, neck, and head should be in one long line.
• b. Bend your elbows to lower your body, keeping your elbows hugged into your ribs.

2. Try holding this position for 1 minute. You’ll feel this in your abs as well as the whole body.

3. Keep focused on your abs so you can keep the entire body in one strong line.

* Upward Dog Stretch:

1. Lie face-down  the tops of your feet on the mat. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor beside your lower ribs.

2. Push up, straightening your arms without locking your elbows, and lift your upper legs and torso into the air.

3. Arch your chest upward, lifting the sternum. Keep elbows in, close to your sides. The main purpose of the pose is to give your abs a nice stretch, so breathe deep and enjoy your hard work.

Hint: Roll your shoulders back.

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