Developing the Core with Power Yoga

There are many power yoga DVD's and classes that teach students how to develop their bodies using simply their body weight and different poses which are held for a certain length of time. These poses help to develop the core of the student in power yoga so that the foundation of the body is strong. Power yoga develops these core muscles especially because they are used in almost every pose that is held in the practice of power yoga. Whether the pose is sitting, standing or balancing, the stomach muscles are engaged and growing stronger by the minute.

Developing the core with power yoga helps individuals who enter the class with back problems. Developing the stomach muscles helps the body to support the torso through the use of the stomach muscles rather than using the back muscles so much. It allows the students to maintain better posture, whether sitting or standing, so that the back is kept in better alignment throughout the day. In addition to the core's development in power yoga, the flexibility that is gained in conjunction with the core development allows individuals with back problems to have looser muscles in the back and hamstrings, which also helps to alleviate pain.

In addition to these looser muscles and developing the core in power yoga, there are other health benefits as well. The individual is taught how to relax all other muscles in the body other than the ones that are being used to hold a particular pose. In this way, the individual can apply these skills in other areas of his life so that the neck muscles are not tensed while typing or in the middle of an important meeting. The students are also taught to breathe properly so that the people can breathe deeply even in the midst of strenuous exercise. These breaths are controlled and are taken in and out through the nose. The breaths are drawn from the diaphragm so that they are slow and full, supplying much needed oxygen to the entire body. These breathing methods are important life skills as well since they can be applied to any high stress situation to help calm the person down.

There are other skills that are helpful in real life, such as the poses that allow individuals to completely relax the body and maintain that relaxed state in body and mind. These relaxation and breathing methods can be applied at any time during the day when there are stressful situations and the person needs to calm down.