For all my strong and powerful women out there, here is a list of five Yoga asanas or poses that you can incorporate into your daily workout routine to build strength and activate the core.
1. Kumbkhasana (High Plank Pose)
This pose is great for increasing one’s either static or dynamic strength, depending on the variations and modifications are done. You can hold the pose for five even breaths, making sure to keep your tailbone tucked and pulling your navel towards your spinal column, increasing your static strength. Or, you can combine some mountain climbers or alternate toe taps to activate the center part of your torso. An important alignment cue for this pose is to verify that your shoulders are slightly ahead of your wrists. This will then allow for an easier transition into your Chaturanga Dandasana (#5).
2. Vasisthasana (Side Plank Pose)
This asana is extremely fun to work with due to all the different leveled variations available for the practitioner. The easiest modification for this pose is to keep your bottom knee on the floor. This will place more emphasis on the lengthening of your sides rather than on the building of strength in the arms and core. If you would like to make the pose more intense, you could stack your feet on top of each other (making sure to keep your feet flexed) or you can lift your top leg, forming a star shape. An additional variation to test your balance is to grab the toes of the leg stacked on top and continue opening your chest.
3. Navasana (Boat Pose)
To get the most benefits from this pose, I like to focus more on my abdominal muscles by switching between this pose and Ardha Navasana (Half-Boat Pose). It is important to ensure that one is sitting on the fronts of their sit bones and that either the legs are fully extended or the knees are bent, while in Navasana. A common misalignment in this pose can be seen when the knees are kept bent and the ankles drop towards the mat. The ankles should always be at the same height as the knees. If coming into Ardha Navasana, bring your eyes to the same level as your feet, feeling the burning sensation in your lower stomach. Once you feel that fire, you know you have it right.
4. Bakasana (Crow Pose)
Bakasana is one of those postures that can either be easy for some or difficult for others. It requires large amounts of upper body strength to support your weight as you perch on the shelf created by your arms. Your hands should be directly underneath your shoulders and when bringing the knees onto the biceps, try to bring them as close to your armpits as possible. Rather than just pushing up into this pose, try to gradually transfer your weight into your supporting points, the hands. As you maintain your stomach tight and active, keep your big toes together to ascertain that you are carefully moving into the asana. If the regular crow is easy for you, you can always try other variations like Side Crow (only hands turn, not the entire torso) or Baby Crow (on forearms).
5. Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose)
Usually done as part of your Vinyasa transition between poses or in your opening Surya Namaskars (Sun Salutations), this classical pose is great for feeling a burn you would normally not associate with the practice of Yoga. The back toes should be active, and your hips should not fall lower than your chest. Another additional hint is to keep your arms glued into your ribs. If Chaturanga with the legs extended is too intense for you at the moment, you can always drop to your knees. However, even if you are dropping to your knees, pull your chest forward so that you are still activating the upper parts of your back and arms when you lower down.