While they may not seem directly linked, balance and core strength are interconnected. “You have sensors throughout your limbs that interact with position sensors in your ears and others in your eyes, all of which are integrated in an area in the back of your brain called your cerebellum and in motor nerves that send messages to all your skeletal muscles to keep you upright,” Michael Roizen, MD, previously told Well+Good. Your core is largely responsible for stabilizing you while your nerves give the marching orders to your arms and legs.
As such balance work, which so many yoga poses require, builds core strength. So it makes so much sense to do yoga for core stability training. In our latest Good Moves workout, yoga teacher Alicia Ferguson of BK Yoga Club leads you in a 28-minute flow that challenges your fitness on both levels.
You’ll begin in a child’s pose (mmmmm), but things ratchet up from there. You’ll immediately start activating your core by getting into a tabletop position and then lifting your knees off the floor. After they return to earth, you’ll start to challenge your balance by lifting your arms and legs. (Pssst, this is also a core workout!)
Next, you’ll move into standing poses that pull double duty. (Yes, you can work your core while standing up.) Downward dogs and chatarangas get you warm before you engage your whole body in a series of lunges and balancing poses like warrior III and half moon.
The end of the video adds in just a few more core strengthening moves on your mat, like bicycles, before cooling down your system. The workout is challenging, but with all the stretching and breathwork Alicia includes, it feels like a treat.
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