The Core: Why you should strengthen your core muscles
Action phrases commonly heard in a yoga class:
- Tone the core
- Pull the belly to the spine
- Breath deep into your core
- Twist through your torso
If you practice with me in person or online, you will hear me say at least one of these phrases in majority of my classes! Aside from the visual gratification most love from working the core, there are many amazing effects that it will have on your body and mindset and it is important to take of it both inside and out.
So why is toning the core so important?
1) Increases endurance:
This goes back into the concept of detoxing the body. The core is our center, when it feels sluggish, we feel sluggish. From an internal perspective or digestive systems lives within the core and postures in the yoga practice such as downward dog, triangle pose, and camel are effective in muscle tone while creating length and space, thus improving constipation or bloating leaving you feeling lighter and more energized.
2) Assists with balance and stability:
Bringing more awareness to the region of the core will also strengthen your lower back, hips and pelvic muscles making postures like tree pose and warrior 3 much more accessible! If you play sports, increase core strength will help you with coordination and stability while on the field.
3) Breath connect:
It is very important that you breathe when working the abdominal region. As a matter of fact, lie down and do 10 crunches…how was the breath flowing? To be truthful, you have to connect to the breath in some way when contracting the core, if you are not, I am very curious how you are getting through the routine! While doing your crunches, you may have noticed that typically you exhale on the action...this is good! Try 10 more and see if you can make your exhale longer while deepening you inhale. Observe what you notice here and how the core feels. Most likely you moved through them the second time at a slower pace, taking deeper breaths. Congrats! You created sense of mindfulness by connecting mind to the body and using the breath to bridge the connection!
If you are ever stuck with limited time, need a boost of energy or want to work on balance and achieve a sense of mindfulness – stoke that CORE FIRE! Another great thing about it is, you don’t need a gym or heavy machinery. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and try out videos that all have an element of core engagement and breath connection.
Enjoy!