Establishing Core Strength I
This class is meant to be a part of a series that you can see in our program Establish Your Core Stability and Strength and on our Yoga for Beginners page. After you have learned how to breathe and engage your core and stretch your body while your core is engaged, now David teaches you how to strengthen your core. Core strength will not only make you stronger and protect your spine, it will make you feel taller and lighter in your everyday life.
Comments
Thank you for this recommending & creating this class. =) It was a challenging, fun journey.
Tortoise is so nice.
+ What is the name of the leaning back posas exercise while squeezing the pillow with the knee exercise?
+ Any suggestions for transitioning from laying to sitting? It does help to lean into that top arm & engage the core when pushing up, but it still hurts my low back.
(The twist stretch was too painful for some reason, so instead, I returned to my back with a book under the lumbar vertebrae & sacrum, knees bent, heels facing out & felt a nice release before shavasana =)
For a second, I thought you said “allow your limbs to go limb” instead of limp =P
Thanks David for a powerful class, confirming my core needs work! I wondered if when in staff pose, my outer thighs are intensely sore- is this an indicator that these muscles (and perhaps very tight glute muscles too) are overcompensating for a weak core? When looking in a mirror, it looks like I’m unable to keep a straight back, and my lower back is rounded.
Comment Replies
+ I am not certified, but tried doing the staff pose without core & felt some outer thigh straining. Practice is key.
+ It may help to do additional core exercises, like tree pose, standing on one foot, supine twists, deadbugs. Walking lounges, triangle pose, pigeon stretch, quad stretch.
+ Also, to activate the pelvic floor muscles with our core, it may help to pretend to hold in pee.
+ Tensor Fascia Latae stretch may help: https://youtu.be/SlvgfhQKIEA
+Anatomy of leg muscles: https://youtu.be/1oARrC3Jtpk - knowing which muscle is straining helps to inform what stretches would help
+Many of us tense up or over exert muscles during exercise so we can explore how to find a challenging contraction without straining. If anything, we can take a quick breather break from the exercise.
Hope this helps!
You're welcome! Yes, the sore thigh muscles could relate to a weak core. But your lower back and hamstring muscles could also be quite tight, making it hard for the thigh muscles to lengthen both your legs and your lower spine.
This class is tough for me, but a good challenge. I have two questions:
- Should we try to keep pelvic floor + TVA engaged throughout the entire session? Or just when you remind us?
- When doing the back arches, should we be flexing or relaxing the glutes?
I like the music - reminds me of Brian Eno's "Music For Airports." Cheers from Wash DC!
Comment Replies
Thanks! To answer your questions:
- Ideally, yes, you want to keep them engaged throughout.
- When doing any backbends, yes you want the gluts to engage. They help tilt the pelvis back with the spine.
Cheers back!
Nice wake me up session thank u