Strength & Flexibility

Hi guys, this is Surya here. Hope you've been following the past few videos because we've been doing a lot of warm-ups and we've been doing a lot of flexibility training. For the next few bits we're going to concentrate on our strength. It is very important that you need arm strength and leg strength in order to do the asanas properly, because eventually we will be sequencing a proper power yoga sequence which requires a lot of strength and stamina. So we're going to work on that. Remember that you need to also do your breathing exercises, and I hope you have a good, healthy, clean lifestyle, and I hope you are now flexible enough to do the following exercises coming up.

We start with the Virabhadrasana, the warrior pose. Keep your legs apart, turn your right feet away, keep your spine straight and look at your right arm, and stay in this position for 20 seconds at least. When you come back to position, take a deep, deep inhale, twist, your left leg bend and stay for at least 20 seconds, and you can exhale. Virabhadrasana 1 is the same thing but you hold a Padmini mudra — keep your legs apart, spine straight, inhale, you twist from your waist towards your right side and bend, and feel the stretch all the way from your palms to your feet. The Virabhadrasana is especially very good for your ankles, your thighs, your shoulder, your arms and your back. This really helps you with your stability and stamina as well. Try to do this at least 10 or 20 times and make sure you breathe deeply.

Alright, now we're going to do the twisted Virabhadrasana. It's the same thing as Virabhadrasana 1, and you twist, rest your elbow on your knee and stay in this position for 20 seconds. This is very good to help you shape your waist. You do this again on the other side — you inhale, you do your Virabhadrasana, and as you come down you exhale, you rest your elbow on your knee and stay, try to hold your breath, and as you come back again you can inhale and move on to the plank.

The plank is very good to tone your stomach muscles, your abs, your arms. It's pretty much a very, very good exercise. It's going to be very difficult for most of you — try to hold it for at least one minute. If you can't, you can always move into the Bhujangasana to relax, and even the Bhujangasana is a stretch. Make sure you feel the stretch all the way from your neck to your lower abdomen. Try to take a deep breath, hold your breath, and again come down to the plank position. This is very good for you to increase your stamina or enhance your stamina — as you can see it's a bit hard for me as well — and again it's very important for you to rest in between your asana. Try to go into the Bhujangasana, the fetal position. Now if this plank is difficult for you, you can always do the easier version of it, which is you put your elbow on the ground and your palms facing the ground and your feet up. Try to do this for at least a minute or at least 20 seconds. I know if you're doing it for the first time it's going to be a bit hard. You can always relax into the easier version of the Bhujangasana as well. And of course you can always move into Balasana to relax.

Now we're going to do the chair pose. This is very good for your posture. Try to squat and stay in this for 20 seconds — it's going to be a bit hard for a beginner. And we move on to the forward bending with the block. You inhale, pull your stomach in, you bend, position yourself well and slowly lift your right arm up. You inhale, hold your breath for 20 seconds, and as you come down you exhale and do the same thing on the other side. You inhale, go up, hold your breath and come back and relax. This is very good for your knee — make sure your knee is locked out. It helps you stretch your legs, your back legs and the inner legs out. It helps your arms and also your spine. Make sure you stretch all your muscles out. If you feel any stress you can always follow the stretch in the second video.

Now we're going to do the boat pose, as you lift your leg up by lying down. This is just preparing your muscles — let your muscles know what you're going to do next, so you don't get a catch. The Navasana is pretty much: you need to raise your leg up, rest on your elbow. You practice this a few times, get used to this position, and slowly try to put your arms out and sort of make a V. Try to stay in this position at least for a minute or at least 20 seconds to begin with.

Moving into the Navasana, you lie down on your back, you hold your feet, make sure you hold your feet very firm, and slowly try to raise yourself up, and as you do that, you inhale, hold your breath. This is very good to tone your abdominal organs and it improves your respiratory system as it opens up your chest, and it's very good for the flexibility of your shoulder and your spine. Try to do this for 20 seconds, at least 4 or 5 times to begin with. Try to do your planks in between as much as possible, because it is very important for you to improve your core strength and your arm strength and your leg strength. It's very useful for the Power Yoga asanas that we're going to be sequencing in the next few videos. Try to relax as much as possible — it's as important as doing your asana. It's 50% workout, 50% relaxation.

Now we go on to our breathing. Make sure that after you finish your workout, you do deep breathing at least 10 times. If you feel that your body has heated up, you could always follow the Seetkari. The Seetkari is: you open your mouth as much as possible, expose your teeth and your gums, you inhale through your mouth and you exhale through the nose. As you inhale through the mouth you feel the cool air going down to your stomach, and as you exhale you can feel the heat leaving your body. Again, you inhale through your mouth and you exhale through your nose. You could do this at least 8 to 10 times.

Alright, we saw our strength enhancing exercises today. It's going to be very hard for most of you and you're going to have a lot of pain. Let me tell you that arms, abdomen, legs, your whole body is going to hurt, but it's a good kind of pain. Just deal with it, because this is going to help you to tune your muscles and your body, and pretty much your mind, to prepare yourself for what we're going to be doing next later. Until then, stay positive, eat healthy.