Yoga to the Core Day 22

#yogatothecore Day 22 is Chaturanga Dandasana. The hosts offered a few different suggestions for how to work on this challenge pose. Kino blew me away with her Chaturanga or crocodile "jumps" - I did try them and they are super difficult! I went with downdog split, to one-leg chaturanga push ups. A few sets of these and my triceps are shaking! I am a bit sore today, which means I need to do more of these :-) I love chaturanga and feel like I've come a long way with my upper body strength since I've started practicing more regularly. The first several months, I was modifying this pose and vinyasa with the knees down. Good alignment is important in chaturanga. Make sure you shift your shoulders slightly over your wrists and keep your elbows tucked into the ribs - your arms should graze the rib cage as you lower. This isn't a regular push up! Keep the shoulders down and back don't "sink" in between the shoulder blades. Keep the chest expanded and derive the power in this pose from the core. If you are using the knees, be sure your knees are quite a ways behind your hips.

Yoga to the Core Day 21

Day 21 #yogatothecore was urdhva navasana variation. This is essentially a "lower" and harder version of navasana or boat pose. I did a little block relay here to prepare. This is challenging but I can definitely feel how effective it is! Here's a 15 second video showing a sped-up version of this practice. I think 3 sets of 10 would be a good start.

Yoga to the Core Day 20

Day 20 of #yogatothecore. I've literally been dreading this day. I have never thought about trying firefly. It just seemed so impossible to me, with my hamstrings being soooo resistant lately. I've yet to get to the bottom of that, but I digress. I searched YogaGlo for a tutorial on firefly, and found a 30 minute practice to work up to tittibhasana. I had already done a 45 minute yin/hang class, so this was challenging and I thought maybe I'd exhausted my muscles past the point of begin able to lift into firefly. But there I was. Once, twice, soon a half dozen times. I didn't hold this pose for more than a second or two, and my legs were tremoring like crazy, but I did it!! Super proud of myself today :-) This is a good lesson for me. I've avoided this pose, thinking it was a pipe dream. Never say never!! Your body is capable of far more than you give it credit for. Sometimes the only thing holding you back is your mindset. You might stumble, fall, and crash, but if you keep trying you just might surprise yourself, I know I did!

Yoga to the Core Day 19

Day 19 of #yogatothecore is press up to handstand. Well that's just not happening! haha! I saw a few fellow Instayogi's working on rolling up and back with a ball so that's what I practiced today. I have used this exercise before but I kind of forgot about it. I'm feeling this one a lot today, it seems this is a very effective practice which I shall be working on regularly. I would like to see my hips more over my shoulders here :-)

Yoga to the Core Day 18

Day 18 of #yogatothecore was a little boost for my confidence. I've been working on Astavakrasana or 8 angle pose off and on for awhile now. Some days are better than others, and I can achieve a pretty solid position on either side. I struggled with my running today (actually I'm more of a jogger.) I'm having IT band issues, so to pull this off after barely being able to walk home today, it felt like a win. Thus, the reason for the big cheesy smile. :-)

Yoga to the Core Day 17

We had jumping through, now we have jumping back from lolasana. /sigh #yogatothecore Day 17 brings another tough day for me in this challenge! This is even harder than jumping through, especially if lolasana isn't in your practice. Ha. So what do you do if you are unable to jump back from Lolasana? You jump back from whatever you can! Forward fold to chaturanga; Forward fold to Plank. Crow to Plank. Firmly engage your entire core, draw the energy to the center line and launch your legs backward. It takes just a little courage and a lot of faith.

Yoga to the Core Day 16

Lolasana is the pose of the day for #yogatothecore Day 16. Super difficult, seems impossible at this point. I took the suggestion by @stoked_yogi to work up to this demanding lift up by practicing this: Start in plank, strongly engage the core. Pull the right knee forward and lower the top of your right foot toward your left wrist; do the same with the left leg, keeping the knees as close to your chest as possible; Hold, try to lift one or both feet if you can. Then step back or hop back to plank. Repeat as many times as you can, I would shoot for 10-15. It's tough! There are no short cuts to these challenging asanas - you must put in the work!

Yoga to the Core Day 15

15 days in to #yogatothecore and I'm having a blast and learning so much. The Instayogi's in this challenge with me inspire me to try new things and never say never. I am humbled every day, but also know that my body is capable of more than I once thought. Today's practice was Uddiyana bandha practice. Uddiyawhata? Yeah, that's what I said too. I suggest you do some research on this before diving in. In fact, everything I read recommended being introduced to this by a knowledgeable teacher. In the most simple terms, this is a "lock" and can be beneficial for detoxifying and "elimination" (pooping, you can say it.) It can help stimulate digestion and ease stomach ailments. I could tell just from the little bit that I practiced that this would be very beneficial to me. I was in unfamiliar territory today, but it was also a very intriguing practice and I enjoyed it :-) If you Google Uddiyana bandha or Uddiyana kriya, you will see some very odd pictures and/or videos. Note: If you decide to give this a whirl, be sure to practice it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I attempted a re-do after work and it was VERY uncomfortable :-/

Yoga to the Core Day 14

Day 14 of #yogatothecore and I can already see more definition in my abdominals. Especially my obliques. I'm liking the obvious improvement, but still feel like I can really increase my strength and flexibility by bounds. Today's pose is parsvabakasana or Side Crow. My crow isn't perfect, but it's definitely a confidence booster and one of the easiest arm balances to achieve. It's hard to tell from the photo, but I showed both sides (one side is always more available to me...that's normal) I'd like to see my arms straighter here, and my butt higher :-)

Legs to the right                                                          Legs to the left

Yoga to the Core Day 13

Day 13 of #yogatothecore is preparation for handstand using a roll up to Navasana. I have a pretty good handle on headstand, assisted headstand (hands on the back of the head), and am making a lot of progress with forearm stand. The magical handstand still eludes me. I am feeling a lot more confident though, and I feel my core growing stronger this month. Many of the challengers showed the roll up with the legs up at an angle, but I really struggle with that. I chose to keep my legs on the mat for a few tries, then gave my best effort with legs angled for the last one. Whew!! Major core burn but in a good way.

Yoga to the Core Day 12

Day 12 of #yogatothecore is preparation for firefly pose (tittibhasana.) I have yet to master firefly and it definitely intimidates me! I worked on it a little bit this morning but was feeling so tight in ... you guessed it .... my hamstrings, that I had to stop and decided to work on it in later today after a full hour of yoga. Anyway, I made this fun little video showing Pilates scissor legs with a straddle finish. I practiced these pretty slowly but sped it up for the sake of the 15 second limit on Instagram. Try doing an 8 count down with the scissors, then hold the straddle for 5-10 seconds & repeat 10 times. Woowee! Feel the burn. 

Yoga to the Core Day 11

Day 11 of #yogatothecore is reclined big toe pose. Here we go again! Holy tight hamstrings, batman. "Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are." As I mentioned before, I'm a big fan of building a pose around my body, rather than trying to jam myself into a pose that isn't accessible. I will probably always struggle with this one, but with practice I know I can be more comfortable here. Starring Bandit.

Yoga to the Core Day 10

10th Day of #yogatothecore is yogi bicycles. So many options here!! Bicycle variations are a great way to focus on building strength and definition in the obliques. Slow, low movements are even more challenging. I went with a suggestion by @beachyogagirl to finish in boat. :-) I would love to be anywhere on a boat today - alas - I live in Nebraska which has a few lakes and ponds but is landlocked. SAD. 

Yoga to the Core Day 9

Day 9 of #yogatothecore is another one that I really enjoy, and in looking at it you may think "this is a core-related pose?" YES! The stabilization in Warrior 3 comes from your abdominal area - obliques, upper, lower ... everything.  Sorry about the poor quality. I can't find my original video and the Instagram version doesn't translate very well.

Yoga to the Core Day 8

#yogatothecore - Day 8 brought upward bow, or wheel pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana.) Just like locust, wheel can be a challenge for me with cramping sometimes occurring in my lower back and/or hamstrings. Today I warmed up really well. I did several long breaths in bridge, and slow reps of moving slowly between bridge and neutral spine. I can definitely see my progress in wheel pose in just a short time. Just imagine how much I could improve if I practiced this every day! I marvel at those who can "drop back" from standing into upward bow. The strength and courage that takes is truly impressive. 

That's my dog Tuffy in the chair. He's pretty cute. And very naughty. 

Yoga to the Core Day 7

Day 7 of #yogatothecore brought a big challenge for me. Heron pose looks fairly easy, but this was really difficult! I tend to be tight in the hamstrings and it takes a lot for me to become more pliable in the back of my body. I thought I had warmed up pretty good to prepare for heron, but I felt like the tin man here. I couldn't even come close to this alignment on the other leg. There is a lot more to this pose that I can't show you, and I will definitely need to work on this. After all, the poses that are most demanding are the ones we need the most, right?

Yoga to the Core Day 6

Day 6 of #yogatothecore. I haven't mastered the jump through, but I'm definitely seeing progress with practice. You could use blocks or some other apparatus to raise your arms up until you build enough strength and technique to jump through your hands from downward dog to seated staff pose.  I've made progress since I filmed this, so that feels pretty great!

Yoga to the Core Day 5

Day 5 of #yogatothecore - side plank. Another one of my favorites for building core strength. I'm now getting the hang of video and editing on iMovie. Our local Beach Body coaches have a free "Fit Club" every Saturday morning. I don't remember what torture they had in store for us this day, but I do recall being completely wiped out afterwards. In practice I would hold side plank for 6-10 breaths.

Yoga to the Core Day 4

Day 4 of #yogatothecore and I felt so weak! I'm not sure what was going on but this wasn't my best day. Ah well. You do the best you can, with what you have, wherever you are. I did a little video and some photos. Locust builds strength in the lower back and core, of course.

Yoga to the Core Day 3

Day 3 of #yogatothecore is one of my favorites! Plank! It's such an overall strength building pose. If you aren't doing plank or some variation of plank in your fitness routine, you are missing out! I enlisted the help of my big, strong husband Jeremiah to help demonstrate how plank can make you STRONG. Plank builds strength in the shoulders, chest, back, abdominals, thighs...yep, pretty much everywhere in your body. Make sure you BREATHE when you're in this position. Natural tendency sometimes defaults to holding the breath. Jeremiah wasn't too sure about trying this. He wasn't sure I could handle his weight. Two weeks before this, two of my girlfriends and I rocked a 3 level plank so I wasn't worried. Strong is sexy. 

Yoga to the Core Day 2

Day 2 of #yogatothecore is vyaghrasna (huh?!) or tiger pose. RAWR! This pose builds core strength and flexibility in the shoulders and hip flexors. Some days I can make this work, other days I get a wicked cramp in my hamstrings and/or lower back. This day worked out and I was able to get a few really long breath cycles in before changing sides. I'm learning to use my shoe as a tripod. It's pretty slick. I showed some preparatory movements here - balancing table to crunch. Repeat several times on each side to build some heat in your body.

Yoga to the Core Day 1

April 1, 2014 I started my first Instagram challenge ~ #yogatothecore. It's Day 19 and I'm having so much fun!! I wanted to share each day with a short description of the pose and how I made it work for me. I am a firm believer that we can build a pose for our bodies, rather than forcing our bodies into a pose that isn't immediately accessible to us. I realize that I may never achieve certain asanas, but that's not important. The journey is the gift - the process is the prize. You'll learn more about yourself during the practice than you will once you master a pose! Yes it's great accomplish a new goal, but be patient with yourself and enjoy the progress.

Day 1 of Yoga to the Core was boat. I practice some variation of boat in almost all of my yoga classes. It's a simple but versatile pose with a lot of possible variations for more or less work.