Week 3: ‘Yoga Butt’ & More
“Yoga butt,” coveted by many, worn by few. Yoga can be viewed in many lights, one of which is how the light reflects off your derriere. The physical practice of yoga can be used to target specific parts of your body, but yoga is truly holistic — a full body-mind experience — and should be viewed as such. That said, there need not be any shame in your game if you seek a yoga routine to give your backside a little lift.
Use this flow of postures, set to breath and intention, to give your butt that extra attention:
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downdward Facing Dog, Knee-to-Nose): Begin on all fours, tuck your toes and send your hips to the sky for Downward Facing Dog. Spread your fingers, rooting them all down and press the earth away. Draw your belly in and reach your hips towards the ground (no need to touch!). Inhale your right leg into the sky, hips level, toes pointing down. On your exhale, draw your knee in towards your nose, as your shoulders come right over your wrists. Inhale lift back into three-legged dog. Repeat five times before switchiing sides.
2. Plank (with Leg Lifts): From Downward Facing Dog, roll forward to Plank, or the top of a push up. With hands directly under your shoulders and fingers widely spread, body parallel to the floor, let your heels activley reach back, your thighs rotate in towards one another. Keep your belly in tight, making sure that your booty isn’t collapsing or sticking up in the air. Stay here for at least three breaths. Then lift your right toes a few inches up off the ground. Hold for a couple breaths before switching to the other side.
3. Utkatasana (Chair Pose): From standing with your feet hip distance apart, sweep your arms up over head, face your palms in towards one another. On your exhale, bend your knees, sink your hips low. Be sure to draw your navel in and drip your tailbone down towards your heels, also rocking your body weight into your heels; you can even lift your toes up. Reach out with your hands, broadening your collarbones. Sink a little deeper on each exhale. Stay for five breaths, or longer if you can!
At the end of the day, you may begin your foray into yoga in search of a “yoga butt,” but don’t be surprised if yoga takes you under its wing and transforms your desire for buttock perfection into a spiritual awakening to uncover your truest and highest self… I’m just warning you; for your body will one day fail you, but what yoga truly offers can stay with you forever.
Check out Week 1: Yoga for a Powerful Core and Week 2: Yoga for Balance.
image: tarotastic
