Mat Matters, Episode 36: Amping Up Your Plank

My biggest yoga class pet peeve is when a teacher mentions your "beach body" or "bikini body" in relation to a core-strengthening pose. Ugh. I hate it. 

As someone who has struggled with body image issues most of my life, the last thing I want to think about while practicing yoga (aka my safe space) is wearing a swimsuit. I want to think about loving my body, not beating it up so that it looks good sans clothing. I want to do core work because it's amazing for my overall health, my posture, supporting my spine, and allowing me to move through life and my practice in a strong, safe way, not because it flattens my stomach. 

Is a flatter stomach a nice byproduct of yoga? Sure, if that happens for you. But if it doesn't, that's fine too. The superficial core muscles (6-pack muscles) aren't as important for your total body function and posture as the deep core muscles are, so honestly, as a teacher, that's not what I like to focus on.

I want to urge other teachers to take this "getting ready for summer!" lingo out of your teaching vocab. It does nothing but depress [some of] us; If I wanted my butt kicked in order to get ready for the summer, I would go to a boot camp, CrossFit, or barre class (which I definitely enjoy and should probably do ASAP!). 

But, I digress. Today, we're talking about ways to take your plank pose up a notch. Plank is powerful pose and I would argue that if you're looking to strengthen your core--really strengthen it, not just look good in a bikini--then plank should be your new BFF. Or friend with benefits (hehe!). 

So, although I've talked about plank quite a bit in past episodes (and particularly in my Four Poses for Strengthening the Core video), today I wanted to show you some fun ways to "pimp your plank," if you will. And trust me--if you can't tell by my panting [after demonstrating] in the video, these little variations are TOUGH.

Enjoy! You can watch here or on my YouTube channel.