Yoga is useful for many reasons. It is great for stretching, refreshing the mind and resting after a busy day. Some people indulge in relaxing, low-key poses, while there are others who love higher intensity poses. In this article you will find yoga exercises to strengthen your body.
If you belong to a group of yoga fans, we have great high-intensity yoga poses for you that will bring your mind and body into a state of complete balance. However, if you are one of those people who prefer “lighter” poses, this text may make you want to do a more powerful workout than usual.
Bethany Lyons, founder of Lyons Den Power Yoga in New York, teaches her students a special yoga method she calls Baptiste Power Yoga. According to her, this method covers everything: stretching, strength, sweat, cardio and rejuvenation.
Downward Dog, high plank, low plank, high plank, Downward Dog
- Start the sequence in the position of the dog looking down. The head should be between the arms and facing the feet so that the body makes the inverted letter “V”.
- Push the floor with your hands, inhale and move into the high plank position.
- Bend the elbows and lower the body onto a low plank, hold it for a few seconds and return to the high plank.
- Breathe evenly the whole time and keep your body straight from the ankles to the shoulders during the plank.
- Return to the position of the dog looking down.
- Repeat this five times.
Squats
- Stand upright and spread your legs shoulder-width apart.
- Bend your knees and go down into a wide squat, pushing your hips back.
- Hold your hands to your chest as if you were praying.
- Take a deep breath and raise your arms high above your head.
- Exhale and repeat. Make 3 rounds of 30 seconds each.
Move as fast as you can to increase your heart rate.
Crow Pose Beinheben
- Let the hands rest on the floor. Place them shoulder-width apart, fingers wide apart.
- Raise the hips and straighten the arms. Bend the knees as far as possible towards the armpits.
- Then shift all the weight onto the arms by lifting one leg and then the other leg into the air.
- If you manage to lift both feet, hold this position for a few seconds and then lower your feet until they almost touch the floor. Then raise both feet again.
As with the previous exercise, do 3 sets of 30 seconds each.
Downward Dog, Three-Legged Dog, Knee across, Knee to triceps
- Start the sequence in the dog looking down position, but instead of leaning on both legs, lean on one and lift the other up so that it forms a straight line with the spine.
- Then lower your leg so that you touch your elbow with your knee.
- Raise the leg in the air again and then lower it onto the elbow of the opposite arm.
Although it seems easy at first glance, performing these poses is extremely challenging. So she does one after the other for both feet.
Down Dog, Three-Legged Dog, Knee to nose, Knee across, Rock-star, Knee to triceps, Arm Balance
Here comes another challenging group of yoga poses that bring body and mind into harmony. Do these yoga exercises once for both feet.
- You start exactly as in the previous exercise (Down Dog – Three-legged Dog – Knee to nose – Knee across).
- You bring the knees towards your head in a similar way to the previous exercise, except this time you bring the knee closer to the nose. You start exactly as in the previous exercise (Down Dog – Three-legged Dog – Knee to nose – Knee across).
- Then perform the rock star by going forward with the knee, but do not bring the leg back to its original position, but extend it. At this moment you also lift the opposite arm and bend the body backwards.
- Return to the starting position and bring the knee towards the triceps.
- Change from this posture to the arm balance posture by shifting the entire body weight onto the arms and lifting your lower body.
- Zurück in die Ausgangsposition.
Leap Frogs
- From the Down Dog position, push the body with your shoulders in front of the wrists.
- Keep the legs bent, the knees also slightly bent.
- Jump slightly, push the hips over the shoulders and then return to the starting position.
- Do as many repetitions as possible in 30 seconds. Again do 3 repetitions of 30 seconds each.
Use the Baptiste Power Yoga method the next time you are trying to relax, stretch and lose negative energy.
We hope that these intensive yoga exercises will help you to strengthen your body and your mind.
Related articles:
- Sleep better with these 5 yoga exercises
- HIIT combined with yoga: perfect home workout
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