A Yoga Practice Fit for Summer

With the official start to the summer season just a week away, you might find that yoga during summer is an ideal way to shape up and reduce any stress you may be feeling.

While yoga can be practiced any time without any seasonality, the change in seasons makes some postures more relevant than others. For instance, there are yoga postures to help you cool down after a hike or run, like shoulder stand (padmasana); and some postures, like sun salutations, can replace a full workout when you’re in a time crunch.

Make your yoga practice a dynamic one and change a few things this season.

For starters, take your practice outdoors, fully embracing your connection with the earth, the warm rays of the sun, and the sounds of nature doing her thing. Be sure to use your yoga mat on a stable surface like a porch, and avoid soft surfaces like sand, which can increase the slipping risk of your hands and feet.

Introduce new poses, or increase some you might already use. For a yoga pose that makes your arms tank top-fit and your tummy bikini-ready, practice plank posture. Planks especially benefit your entire body, not just the arms. Try it for one minute, and then as you build strength, increase to two, and so on.

Remember that just working out your abs won’t give you the cut look you’re striving for, but some yoga positions can certainly help reach that goal. One of the many benefits of a yoga practice is that the intense breath work and full-body movements allow you to work many muscles of the stomach in nearly every posture you perform. There are, however, a few benchmark yoga postures for the core. Try boat pose (navasana) for toning the stomach muscles. The key with this posture is to hold it and to keep extending through the crown of your head and the tips of your toes; this action will consequently cause you to engage your core.

Like anything else, it won’t happen overnight, but continuous effort will yield results. And if you’re new to yoga, start by taking one to two yoga classes each week, or doing a couple of 20-minute yoga sessions at home. Gradually work your way up to three to five times per week.

By Heather Ashare, the resident yoga expert for DietsInReview.com.

Read more: Fitness, Health, Yoga, exercise, summer

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sue M.

8:14PM PDT on Apr 21, 2012

thanks

send a green star

Rosa m.

5:44PM PDT on Apr 21, 2012

I love the garden idea! Thanks

Michele W.

5:49AM PST on Jan 29, 2012

Thank you

Carol C.

10:00AM PST on Jan 10, 2012

Thank you.

May H.

12:05PM PST on Nov 17, 2011

KS G.

5:13AM PDT on Sep 1, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Tim C.

3:43PM PDT on Aug 18, 2011

Amber L.

1:22PM PDT on Aug 14, 2011

I would like to start yoga but i need someone to help me i dnt have a clue how to begin

Raneem A.

12:00AM PDT on Aug 6, 2011

thanks i should try this

Amy W.

6:35PM PDT on Jun 27, 2011

I love yoga! Free yoga classes are offered in many areas, including my own. I started going to free Sunday yoga at my local lululemon store and I haven't looked back since.