Arm strenghtening yoga poses

REVERSE PLANK

​Start in staff pose, sitting on your buttocks, with your legs extended forward and parallel to one another. Keep your back straight and place your hands behind your back, on either side of your body, fingers facing towards your body.

1. Inhale and open your chest, bringing your sternum forward and shoulder blades together
2. Exhale and lift your hips up, coming into table top pose.
3. Inhale and extend one leg forward and then the other.
4. Exhale and lift your pelvic area higher, engaging the core.
5. Inhale and bring your tip toes toward the floor
6. Exhale and lift your hips and pelvic area higher, letting your head gently drop back or keep facing forward looking at your belly button.

Hold for a few breaths; To come out of this pose, gently bring your weight onto your hands and bring your legs and buttocks to the mat.
 
Physical benefits:
Strengthens the arms
Tones the abdomen
Stretches and strengthens the legs
Tones the buttocks
 
Mental benefits:
Relaxes the mind
Brings balance in the body and mind
Relieves feelings of stress, anxiety and negative emotions
 
Contraindications: (consult this pose with your general medical practitioner if you have the following)
Lower back injury
Weak wrists
Injury to the shoulders
Low and high blood pressure 

BALANCING POSES

1. Start in downward dog. From forward bend, inhale and bring your right leg back into a lunge and then your left leg back into a lunge
2. Exhale and bring the legs parallel together with the soles of the feet onto the mat
3. Inhale and lift the buttocks up
4. Exhale and engage abdominal muscles
5. Inhale and lift right leg up
6. Exhale and lift your left arm up and bring your left hand to your left hip, with the arm outstretched, looking forward.
7. To release this pose, inhale and bring your left hand to the mat and exhale, bringing your right leg down with the sole of your right foot to the mat.  Repeat the same movement on the other leg

 
 
Physical benefits:
Helps with gaining building overall balance for the physical body
Increases flexibility in the spine
Strengthens the arms and legs
Tones the abdomen
 
Mental benefits:
Energises the mind
Confidence booster
Helps with trust our own self
 
Contraindications: (consult this pose with your general medical practitioner if you have the following)
Weak wrists
Low and high blood pressure

Another option

​Keep both feet on the mat
Inhale and bring the right hand around the left ankle and exhale twist the spine and look up above the left underarm. 

Physical and mental benefits as above, with additional twist of the spine increasing flexibility of the spine
Contraindications: as above pose