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LUNGE
Sanskrit: none

Benefits: Strengthens leg and back muscles; stabilizes hips; stretches hip flexors; and improves balance.

Movement:

• Bend knees (if needed) to place hands flat on floor, wrists in line with shoulders on either side of your feet and arms straight. Inhale and step back with your right foot, placing ball of your right foot on the floor, leg extended behind you, heel lifted.
• As you step, bend your left knee to align with your left ankle, foot flat on floor.
• If you can balance, sweep your arms up overhead, forearms parallel; keep breastbone lifted, spine long, abdominals in and tailbone down.
• Otherwise, keep hands on the floor. Exhale and hinge forward from your hips as you lower hands to place them on the floor on either side of your left foot.

PLANK POSE
Sanskrit: none

Benefits: Strengthens core, upper body, leg and hip muscles.

“A lot of us give away our energy and end up feeling depleted. Creating core strength is about more than getting flat abs, it is about bringing new energy into the center of ourselves, recharging and getting stronger.”

Movement:

• Keeping arms straight but not locked, inhale and step backward with left foot to meet right, balancing on the balls of your feet, legs straight, feet hip-distance apart and pressing back through your heels.
• Lower your hips if they’re hiked up and press them gently forward until your body is parallel to floor and in one straight line from head to heels.

YOGA PUSH-UP
Sanskrit: Chaturanga dandasana

Benefits: Strengthens core muscles and upper body, particularly triceps and chest; boosts confidence.

“It is amazing what can happen when a woman develops upper body strength. Not only does it change her whole posture, but she gets a spring in her step, a boost in confidence.”

Movement:

• Maintaining plank position, exhale and bend elbows, hugging them close to your sides all the way down, lowering your body toward the floor without rounding your shoulders, lifting your butt in the air, or letting your hips sag.
• Use your abdominals to maintain equal body weight between your torso and legs as you “hover” above the floor with elbows close to body and bent at a 90-degree angle. Don’t let the belly sag or the butt stick up.
• Continue to exhale as you lower your body to the floor, elbows in line with your shoulders, forearms and hands on the floor, palms down, toes turned down.

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