Women
who practice yoga have great butts and you can have one too.
These
are 3 of my favorite moves that you can use to tone your butt, which I’ve been
practicing for years.
You’re
going to notice how much strength and stability you have in your lower body as
your butt gets leaner,
tighter and firmer.
So,
the 1st move I want to show you today is called “Warrior 1″.
Wherever
you are step out towards the front of your mat, so that you line up. Even if
you don’t have a mat, you can do this at home.
Take
a deep inhale and on the exhale, step back with your left foot about 4 feet.
Now,
notice the toes, the right foot has the toes facing directly forward and the
left, back foot has the toes facing at about 11:00 o’clock.
The
heel is turned slightly in and then I look down to make sure my front heel is
in alignment with my back heel. It helps if you have wood planks so you can
line up the alignment of your heels.
You
can either leave your hands at your hips or if you’re comfortable you can bring them
up above your head.
Take
a deep inhale and on the exhale you’re going to bend that front knee 90
degrees.
So
this is the beginning where you can keep your hands at your hips. If you
would like to go further, reach your arms up over your head and gently look up.
Take
3 slow deep breaths… you really want to fire up that back thigh so that you
feel the butt working.
Let’s
do the other foot, so stepping back with your right foot about 4 feet, the left
toes face forward. Now, the back toes are going to face towards 2:00
o’clock, the heels are in alignment.
Take
a deep inhale, hands on the hips, exhale, and sink that front knee towards 90
degrees.
Now,
make sure you’re not collapsing, really lift
your heart and align your spine. If you’d like to raise your arms up over your
head, raise them up. Make sure your breathing.
Now,
you can feel that the right butt is really squeezing, squeeze that butt so that
you’re really firing up those butt muscles. Take one more deep breath.
Wherever
you are, sink a little deeper and then slowly come back to center starting to
feel it in the butt.
The
next move is called “Warrior 2″.
From
here at the front of your mat, you’re going to step out about 4-5 feet, so it’s
a much wider stance. I’m going to turn my right foot towards the back of the
mat, the left toes come in at 11:00 o’clock.
Now,
instead of the heels in alignment as in “Warrior 1″; for “Warrior 2” the front
heel will be in alignment with the back arch of my back foot. Take a deep
inhale.
You
can leave your hands at your hips if you’re comfortable here. On the exhale,
once again sink that front leg towards 90 degrees. If you’d like to go
further, raise your arms up and hold for 3 breaths.
So
I’m really squeezing my butt, so that I’m toning and shaping
while I’m squeezing out the toxins that cause cellulite.
Remember
to lift your
heart up, take another deep breath in, exhale, sink a little deeper and then
slowly come back to center.
Face
your toes forward and then flip that left toe so that it faces the front of the
mat, the right toe is going to come once again towards 2:00 o’clock.
Make
sure your front heel is in alignment with your back arch. Whenever you find
that stability in
your legs, take a deep inhale.
Draw
the energy up
through your body and then exhale, sink towards 90 degrees. You can stay here
with your hands on your hips or if you’d like to go further, lift your arms.
Now,
deep breathing is very important, this is how you bring in prana energy – life and vitality.
Every
time you exhale you’re releasing toxins, negative thinking and you’re
tightening that butt, squeezing those butt cheeks together while your thighs
are also engaged.
Take
another deep inhale, exhale, and sink a little deeper. Slowly come back to
center and then bring your toes together at the front of your mat.
Now
for the 3rd move, we’re going to do “Warrior 3″.
“Warrior
3″ you start with your toes and heels together. Take a deep inhale and
then exhale. You’re going to lift the right leg up and move your upper torso
towards the floor.
So
as you lift your
back right leg, your torso is in one, long, straight line. You can leave your
arms here or if you’d like to go further, you can bring your hands to your
heart.
Wherever
you are squeeze that butt that is on your standing leg and work towards
balance. If you fall down, just come back.
Take
a deep inhale and squeeze and if you’d like to go all the way, reach those arms
up and out. Slowly come back to center.
Really
feel that one, that’s a really hard pose and it’s all about balance and control, so the more you are
engaging and squeezing that butt, the more stability you’re going to have.
Let’s
move towards the right. Lift that left leg out, deep inhale and exhale, come
towards a straight line.
Engage
your quad – your thigh muscle. If you’d like, move your hands to your heart
center. Keep breathing, pose, and reach those arms out.
Squeeze
that butt on the leg that’s up in the air so that you get even more lift.
Deeply inhale and slowly come back to center.
Roll
your shoulders back. Shake out your legs. Now you can feel how those 3 warrior
poses really engaged your lower body.
This
is going to get you a nice,
toned, sculpted butt that you see with
people who practice yoga.
Keep
practicing these 3 yoga moves to tone your butt and watch as your butt gets
better and better.
By Andrea Albright,
she is an exercise specialist, fitness and weight loss expert and creator of
the My Bikini Butt program. This is a step-by-step guide for losing weight
while shaping and toning the lower body trouble areas like your legs, butt,
hips and thighs.
This program can
significantly reduce cellulite and is designed to work in just 28 days without
starvation diets, giving up your favourite foods, or killing yourself at the
gym.