Yoga is an ancient exercise and lifestyle practice that improves physical flexibility and strength as well as spiritual energy. In yoga, the abdomen serves as the center for many of the exercises. While people often concentrate on the alignment of the spine and the placement of their limbs, the abdominals form the fulcrum of all of this movement, notes yoga instructor Judith Hanson Lasater in her book “Yoga Abs: Moving from Your Core.”
Significance
Dozens of interpretations of yoga exist, and each discipline refers to exercises for the abdomen in a slightly different manner. In ancient yoga text teachings, the navel is considered the center of the third chakra, or energy zone, that represents power and fire, notes Lasater. The belly is also recognized as a place where you store feelings and emotion. The abdomen is instrumental in performing balancing moves, back bends, twists and standing postures.
Considerations
Yoga ab training strives to create springy, healthy and flexible abdominal muscles, rather than the Western fitness ideal of a defined six pack. When the abdominals are sucked in too tightly, it does not allow for adequate flow of the breath. The intention of yoga ab training is to create abdominals that are strong enough to support vital organ functioning and stabilize the skeleton, notes yoga instructor Jean Couch in an article on the Yoga Journal website.
Philosophy
Yoga seeks to create balance throughout the body, so targeting just the abdominals is almost contrary to yoga practice. All poses work in synergy to address multiple parts of the body. When one certain muscle or set of muscles is overly developed and rock hard, this is considered an imbalance and may disrupt the flow of energy and the breath. A regular yoga practice moves you through different planes of motion and angles, activating the abdominals in multiple functional ways. In this manner, a person addresses the abs throughout a yoga session--and may not need to perform explicit abdominal exercises.
Types of Exercises
While a balanced practice is best, some specific yoga poses, or asanas, do concentrate on the abdominal muscles. Navasana, or boat pose, is a classic abdominal strengthener that requires you to balance in a v-sit. Twists, performed from a lunge, chair or seated position, address the abdomen and purport to help with digestion by flushing out the internal organs. Abdominal engagement is essential in arm balances like Bakasana, or crow pose, in which you crouch over your arms and balance the weight of your shins on your upper arms.
Precautions
Some yoga practices emphasize the belly lock, known as uddiyana bandha, in which you exhale and raise the diaphragm while drawing the belly button tightly into the spine to create a hollow center. This lock aims to heighten your energy flow. This exercise is for advanced practitioners and should only be done under the guidance of an advanced instructor.
A sedentary lifestyle results in weak abdominals and overly tight back muscles. This combination can cause problems when participating in a yoga class. Instead of using your abdominals to perform poses like a standing leg lift, you may end up pulling on your lower back to hold the leg up. This may cause injury.
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