FITNESS Yoga for abdominals

Flat tummy is plain sailing


Yoga
Lee kennedy

Most of us are quite keen to lose a few inches around the waist and tone up the abdominal area. When joining a yoga class for the first time, most students ask especially for abdominal exercises.
However, it is unscientific and impractical to begin with these asanas, the standing, more upright, yoga postures prepare the body to facilitate toning, while the inversions can help protect the abdominal area from wear and tear that some of these abdominal postures may present for new takers to yoga. Therefore, abdominal work must be done after preparation with standing and inversion poses, so problems are not invited, always seek advise from a professional yoga teacher, if in doubt.
Navasana, the boat pose, is a challenging abdominal pose that can help build stamina. It works at the very core of our body, stretching out the inside, fostering a sense of strength that can extend directly into our personal lives. This pose can also strengthen the abdomen area, the hip flexors and the spine, as well as stimulate the kidney and prostate areas, while also  helping to alleviate digestion problems.

Boat pose

• Sit upright on your yoga mat, with the legs stretched out in front of you
• Thighs together, feet together, toes pointing straight towards the ceiling
• Sit exactly on the sitting bones, distributing the weight evenly on both buttocks
• Place the hands by the sides
• Take the trunk slightly back and raise the legs from the ground, make sure to keep the legs firm (muscles contracted)
• Bring the arms up and extend them straight, parallel with the floor, palms facing each other
• Move the spine back into the body so that you do not collapse
• The entire body is balancing on the buttocks
• Take 3-5 breathes
• To release, exhale lower the arms and legs and come back to sitting.

Be warned: This is not as easy as it sounds. For those of you who struggle, at first, to balance, keep the palms on the floor while the legs are up.
If the legs and abdominal area are not strong enough to maintain the posture with balance, try keeping the heels raised against the wall, or a stool may work too, again keeping the hands by the sides of the body.

Lee Kennedy qualified with The BKS Iyengar Yoga Association UK, the YTTC and Ana Forrest of Forrest Yoga. She specialises in pregnancy-related yoga and also studied with Janet Balaskas, founder of the Active Birth Foundation, UK. Call 0863906343 for more information.