Many people
think yoga is just stretching. However, yoga is a great way to build
tremendous strength. In yoga you always work with the weight of your
own body, not a 5, 10, or 50 pound dumbbell! With long-term practice,
the weight and strength of your body will come into balance. Tolasana
is very effective at building upper body and core (abdominal) strength.
Give it a try!
Tolasana
(Scale Pose)
Tolasana
is challenging to do at first but if you stick with it you’ll
see rapid improvement. Try to do Tolasana three times a week. Here’s
how:
Benefits
Strengthens the wrists, arms, and abdomen.
Contraindications
Avoid this pose with any shoulder or wrist injuries.
Step by
Step
1. Place
the palms on the floor or on yoga blocks or phone books beside the hips.
2. Exhale,
push the hands against the floor, contract the abdominal muscles, and
lift your legs and buttocks away from the floor. At first you may feel
like you aren’t doing much with your abs. With practice you’ll
feel your abs engage as you lift your knees higher. Building core strength
takes patience. Stick with it!
3. Hold
suspended for ten seconds. Then lower your legs and buttocks on an exhalation,
change the cross of the legs, and repeat for the same length of time.
Repeat on each side three times.
Modifications
& Props
With the hands on the floor, it's often difficult to lift the legs away
from the floor. Use blocks or phone books under your hands to increase
the length of the arms and assist the lift of the legs.
Initially
you may not be able to lift your feet off the floor. That’s okay!
At first try lifting just your butt off the floor. As you build strength,
lift your butt and one foot off the floor. Eventually you’ll lift
both feet off the floor!
Photo provided by Drew Overholser
Yoga
at Roxborough with Drew Overholser
Intermediate
Yoga – Tuesday mornings, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
Beginner
Yoga – Tuesday mornings, 10:45 to noon.
Feel free
to contact me by email (drew@rcyoga.com) if you have questions about
yoga. My yoga studio is in south Lakewood. Our website is rcyoga.com.
303-987-1004
drew@rcyoga.com
