Lower Abdominal Yoga Exercises

You should include lower abdominal exercises in your Yoga program since they are vital to spinal stability and prevention of injuries (particularly to the lower back region). Essentially, we all have two lower abdominal muscles, our Transverse Abdominus and the lower portion of our Rectus Abdominus. It is important that we maximize the exercise of these two major muscle groups and minimize involvement of other muscles. For those looking for a comprehensive Yoga program, we recommend you observe the following tips.

Lower abdominal exercises are apparently tough to do since they call for a lot of muscle control and concentration when compared to other exercises. The result is that lot of folks tend to avoid these by using other muscle groups, like their lower back muscles and hip flexors. Moreover, people often try to do lower abdominal exercises which are too strenuous for their ability levels. As a result, they cannot use the right muscles during their exercises. While many have learnt that sit-ups are the best way to get a good abdominal workout, what they don’t know is that they can also develop rock-hard abs without doing even one single sit-up. Here are some Lower Abdominal Exercises and Yoga Poses that are bound to help.

The Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) Single and Double Leg Raises and all forward bending poses in these positions:

Standing Position
1.  Trikonasana – Triangle Pose
2.  Parivritta Trikonasana – Inverted Triangle Pose
3.  Uttanasana – Hand to Foot Pose

Sitting Position
1.  Janu Sirshasana – Head to One Knee Pose
2.  Paschimottanasana - Head to Knees Pose
3.  Marichyasana – Sage Marichi Twist Pose
4.  Ardha Matsyendrasana – Half Lord of the Fish Pose

Supine Position
1.  Purvottanasana – Inclined Plane
2.  Naukasana – Boat Pose
3.  Pavanmuktasana – Wind Relieving Pose
4.  Chakrasana – Wheel Pose
5.  Sethu Bandhasana – Bridge Pose

Inverted Position
1.    Viparita Karani – Inverted Leg Stretch Pose
2.    Sarvangasana – Shoulder Stand
3.    Halasana – Plough Pose

Prone Position
1.  Bhujangasana – Cobra Pose
2.  Dhanurasana – Bow Pose
3.  Salabhasana – Locust Pose

Balancing Position
1.  Garudasana – Eagle Pose
2.  Mayurasana – Peacock Pose
3.  Kakasana – Crow Pose

Phalankasana (Plank Pose) is also excellent if you wish to work your lower and upper abdominals and overall core stability at the same time. Also, from time to time, during Yoga sessions, try pulling in your belly button as much as possible just using your lower abdominal muscles. But you should relax the rest of your body completely. It is best to hold the contraction till you begin to feel your other muscles contract more or till you can’t feel anything anymore.

Doing some pelvic rotations will help you flatten your back completely. But see that you use your abdominal muscles for this motion. Your legs should remain relaxed as you do these and see that you do not use them for the pelvic rotation.