10-Minute Yoga Routine for More Core Strength
Work those abs and de-stress with these yoga poses.

Looking for a stronger core? You may not realize that your humble yoga routine is actually one of the best workouts to tone the midsection. Its constant focus on balance, flexibility, and stability means your core is constantly activated—and burning. (Anyone who has attempted a side plank can certainly attest to this.)
Before you settle on crunches, try this yoga routine to tone your core. In this episode of Flow, yoga instructor Elise Joan guides you through a yoga sequence that will challenge and build strength in your abs, giving you better balance and posture. While almost all yoga poses require some core engagement, these moves are some of the most rigorous. (Do we sense a six pack in the future?)
This yoga series to tone your core includes the following poses:
- Boat Pose
- Half Boat Pose
- Table Top
- Cat Cow
- Glute Lifts
- Child’s Pose
- Forearm Plank
- Side Plank
- Scissor Kicks
While doing these yoga poses, focus on keeping your core muscles activated at all times. If you feel your body drooping at the midsection while you plank, that means your abs are not doing their job! Tighten them up, keep your body straight, and smile through the burn.
For more yoga poses to work the core, try this 10-minute yoga routine for balance.
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[MUSIC]
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Hi, I'm Elise Joan and
I'm here with Healthi Nation.
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When we streamline our life, it helps us
stay focused on what's truly important and
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the same is true physically.
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So if you're looking for an intermediate
practice to stay focused on your core,
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your upper body and your seat,
then today's flow is for you.
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Get ready to be challenged, but also feel
a sense of accomplishment when you finish.
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Let's go ahead and begin and we're gonna
keep it low today, focused on the core.
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Let's go ahead and start off with
just a little bit of a core warm-up.
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I'm gonna bring my feet down and release
the palms in front of the shins, and
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take a nice big inhale
as I lengthen the spine.
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And then on this next exhale and
on every exhale in this sequence,
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I want you to think about pulling
the navel in toward the spine.
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[SOUND] So,
let's add a little bit of a flow.
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Just a little warm-up here,
we're gonna inhale, the arms lift up.
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And on the exhale,
draw the navel to the spine,
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contracting the front abdominal wall.
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Coming down to the back waist.
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And then on your inhale, reach back up.
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So, we have a modified boat
pose here at the top and
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then we exhale our way down
into a modified half boat.
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Let's just do two more.
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On the inhale, we think about maybe even
lifting the arms a little higher as we
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lengthen the spine and the exhale
is all about that core connection.
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One more together.
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Exhale, abs in.
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Articulate each vertebrae as
it rolls down onto the mat and
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then use that strong core to lift up.
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We're ready to shift to a hands and
knees position.
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So I'm gonna cross my ankles and
come forward to hands, and knees.
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This pose is also called table top.
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So, we're gonna start off with
some spinal flexion and extension.
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On the inhale,
reach the heart center forward and
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allow the tail bone to tilt up and back.
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And on the exhale, round through
the spine and engage the core.
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So on the inhale, tail bone tails up.
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Heart pose forward and
we have spinal extension.
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When we exhale,
we have that same strong core connection
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as we round through the back body for
spinal flexion.
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One more together.
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This is called cat cow.
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So as we tip the tail bone up and
pull the chest forward, cow tilt.
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And we as round to the side, cat stretch,
cuz it resembles a Halloween cat.
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And now that we've gotten
that space in our spine,
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we're gonna split the difference and
come to a neutral side.
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We always wanna support our low back
with the strength of the core, but
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today's focus is streamlining the abs.
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Pull the belly in and
keep your focus there.
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Extend the left leg back,
so we've got the core.
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We've got the stability in our upper body.
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We're gonna add the glutes.
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Lift that left leg from
the strength of the seat.
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Now if you're feeling challenged,
you're gonna keep both hands down.
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But if you wanna kick it up a notch,
this is an intermediate flow here.
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You can reach the opposite arm forward.
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We're gonna keep that core strong and
get some gluteal lifts.
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Lets lift that leg.
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Up an inch, we'll go for
five more lifts here.
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Up one, two, three, four and five.
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Now we're gonna stay strong in the core,
the upper body and the glutes and
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we're gonna add the hamstring.
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So bend the knee, engage the core and
give me five little presses here.
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Up one, two, three, four and five.
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Find that nice length through the spine.
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Come to neutral and
we'll do one cat cow stretch.
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Exhale, round the back
like a Halloween cat.
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Core strength there.
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And on the inhale,
the front abdominal wall gets a nice
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stretch which is a little
relief as we open the heart.
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Cat tilt.
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Neutral spine, we're ready for side two.
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So, the key to getting gluteal work is
really extending through that back heel.
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The key to getting core work
is engaging the belly and
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the key to the upper body is stacking
shoulders over elbows over wrists.
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I believe in you, so
we're going to go ahead and
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try reaching the opposite arm
forward as we float that back leg.
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Remember, you can always
set the hand down.
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As soon as we defy gravity,
the seat is working.
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So let's add a few lifts here and
we'll go for five more, four more.
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Up three, two, hold on one.
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It's almost like you're making
a fist with that butt cheek.
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Engaging, lifting and shaping the seat.
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Go ahead and bend the knee,
adding the hamstring and
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we'll take five strong lifts here.
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Remembering to keep your core nice and
engaged, stabilizing the spine.
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There's our last one.
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Let's find a nice big extension and
this may remind you of warrior three, so
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it's a great prep for that.
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Hands down, knees down and
take a child's pose.
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[SOUND] I always like to take a nice,
deep exhale, kinda clear the palette.
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For our next pose which is
going to be a four armed plank,
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adding some of those leg lifts.
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Little more in the core and the lats.
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So we're gonna bring the elbows down,
palms plant.
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One leg at a time,
you extend the legs back.
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The alignment for forearm plank is
exactly the same as regular plank.
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Lengthen the spine and
strengthen the core.
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Now, this is already an advanced pose.
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So if you wanna add a little bit more,
you float the left leg.
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Bend the knee in half and
we're gonna take ten little hamstring, and
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gluteal lifts here.
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So, be sure you keep breathing.
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There's five, five more to go.
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Lift it up, last four, three, two.
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And as you hold on one,
extend the leg straight.
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Maybe you feel the shoulders, the core,
the lats, the side of the waist.
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All good things.
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Now, I'm gonna stay here in forearm plank.
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If you need a rest between sides,
find a child's pose and then come back and
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rejoin.
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So, there's always a level
that's accessible for you.
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Float the opposite leg.
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Bend the knee and those same ten glute,
and hamstring presses.
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Good, feel that lift.
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We have five more to go.
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Keep the core strong, last four.
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There's three,
building a lot of heat here together.
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Two, one.
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Back to forearm plank, knees down.
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Sit back on the heels and
take a little bit of a breath.
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We're half way through and already really
energized in the core, the seat and
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the arms.
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We're gonna flip that
forearm plank on its side.
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So, let's try it together.
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We set up for forearm plank and then
we roll to the outer edge of the foot,
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and take the opposite arm up.
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Pretty advanced pose.
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So if you need a kickstand level one,
you just step that top foot down for
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a little extra support.
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If you're feeling strong today,
keep the balance.
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We're gonna bring that top
hand behind the head and
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we're gonna take traditional
curls with the fitness flare.
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So, we're here in our side forearm plank.
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Exhale, twist just the upper body.
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Elbow to elbow and then open.
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Let's try few more.
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Exhale, twist and open.
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So when we twist, that rotation in
the spine, we are using our obliques.
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Internal and external obliques.
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Of course, the transverse core which is
the innermost layer of our abdominals is
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working pretty hard too
to stabilize the spine.
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Great, let's reach it up.
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Come back through center.
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Knees down, sit back on the heels.
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So you probably feel that
supporting shoulder a lot, as well.
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Let's go ahead and take side two.
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Be sure you're setting up a nice
strong base here in forearm plank,
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strength in the core.
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From here, you start to roll to
the outer edge and stack it up.
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Right away, you may need that kickstand.
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Please feel free to take it as
you build strength and stamina.
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If you're feeling good,
I want you to stack it up.
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Engage the core and
bring the opposite hand to the head.
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Try to keep the hips steady, so
the twist comes from the true waist.
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Exhale, twist and inhale, open.
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So, what are we doing?
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Well, rotation and mobility in the spine
is imperative to health and wellness.
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It's the main part of functional movement.
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There's no point in being super fit,
if we can't touch our toes or bend over.
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Put on our socks.
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So, that's why we do this work.
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And then of course,
the benefit is streamlining the waist.
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Narrowing the waist and
getting that physique we're looking for.
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Let's come back to forward plank.
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Knees down, sit back.
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I'm feeling pretty juiced
up in my upper body.
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So we're gonna go ahead and
bring it to our last pose here
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which is a combination of that boat,
and half boat from our first sequence.
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So, we're gonna take
a nice comfortable seat.
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I want you to take a couple of
shoulder rolls down the back.
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I want you to honor your core for doing
all this hard work and all this stability.
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Arms forward, palms up.
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Take a breath.
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So you remember our flow from
the top of this practice,
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we inhale lift and then we exhale
roll down one vertebrate at a time.
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We inhale lift up and we exhale,
roll down and level one.
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Level one, two.
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This is a great place to stay.
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If you're with me,
we're gonna add on a bit.
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We're gonna try to hold here in boat,
strong core, long spine.
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Bend the knees and we're gonna add
extension, and then a bent leg left.
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Three more like that.
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Exhale here, inhale as you lift.
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Exhale and inhale.
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And even though our focus is on the core,
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we are actually getting
full body work head to toe.
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Let's hold it in half boat and here is
that kinda grand finale about core work.
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We're gonna take one leg
up catch behind the thigh.
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Pull the belly in and
try to keep the chest curling up, so
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that your shoulder blades are off the mat,
then we switch legs.
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Catch the opposite leg.
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You wanna reach through each leg,
engage the belly and curl up.
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So level one, two, you get to catch
the leg that's coming in on each exhale.
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Same as we began.
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I want you to think about drawing
that navel right into the spine.
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Level two, as you start to
practice with me more and more,
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you won't need those hands.
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You'll be able to keep your
heart center lifted and
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your legs moving all from
the strength of that core.
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Level three, if you still need a little
more for the last few, let's take a twist
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where we twist toward the lifting leg and
we'll just do a few of these together.
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Make sure you're breathing.
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Let's try two more each side.
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Twist it and the last few breaths
are always the most challenging,
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so require the biggest smile and
come all the way up.
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Just when you think you can't get
a great core workout in ten minutes.
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Yoga is so focused on the core.
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So, I hope you enjoy today's flow.
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Designed to streamline our body,
streamline our focus and get us good and
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centered.
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I look forward to seeing
you back here on the mat.
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[MUSIC]