Yoga Refresh Day 1: Strengthen Your Body Yoga Workout

Hi Everyone! Today I am kicking off a community-driven workout: let's all do my Yoga Refresh Challenge together!!!  This seven-day plan includes a different yoga workout each day, plus quick and healthy recipes to keep your diet refreshed, and inspirations from me each day to help you stay motivated and on track! If you are a DeniseAustin.com member, you have access right now through your dashboard, and if you aren't yet a member, you can start your free trial for access to this Yoga Refresh Challenge and everything else my membership offers!

Today I offer a sneak peek at the yoga workouts in my Yoga Refresh Challenge, with my Strengthen Your Body Yoga Workout! It's a wonderful way to start the day, getting your mind and body energized and ready for what the day brings you. It's just under 10 minutes long, so try to fit it into your morning routine this week and see how you feel!

This Strengthening Yoga Workout covers a variety of poses, including:

Warrior Pose. If you want to promote flexibility in your legs, this pose is for you. It also strengthens your arms, shoulders and back muscles.

Reverse Warrior Pose. Help improve the flexibility of your spine, ankles and chest, while increasing blood circulation within the body. It also engages and strengthens your legs!

Plank. A plank engages some of the most important parts of the body, especially your core!  It will help make your abdominal muscles stronger, and can help reduce back pain and promote flexibility.

And more strengthening poses! Every day in my Yoga Refresh Challenge you will get a yoga workout like this... each day brings a new focus, all designed to help make your body stronger, leaner and healthier. So give it a try, and become a DeniseAustin.com member to experience all the new yoga workouts in my Yoga Refresh Challenge!  Check it out now! You are worth it!

Let's get fitter together - inside and out,

Denise

 

Yoga workout Video Transcript:

Welcome to your Yoga Refresh series. Today, it's all about strengthening poses, so we lengthen and strengthen our muscles. Let's begin with a deep cleansing breath, bring the oxygen in to every cell of your body, and let it out. Again deep breath, inhale through the nose, that's it, and exhale out the nose. Beautiful. And let's stretch to the side, elongate the spine, warming up your back. Stretching your body, getting it ready for a beautiful yoga series. Hold, and to the other side. That's it, and stretch.

Now let's begin to the side in Mountain pose. Strong back, squeeze your buttocks and inner thighs together, lengthen your spine, make yourself taller, and let's begin. Inhale all the way up, and exhale out. Remember your breath work, exhale. And now lift up, and exhale, lift down. Now reach one leg behind, and hold to plank pose. Now, it's all about strengthening your core muscles, strengthening your arms, strong bodies, strong minds, because you are worth it! Hold that plank pose, tighten up through the belly, tuck the tummy up in in, naval in, and now slowly bring your elbows down, Slowly, slowly, go all the way down to Cobra. Now lift your chest high, stretch it up, inhale, and exhale, curl your toes under to Downward-Facing Dog. Hold that strong pose, lengthen and strengthen your legs. That's it, press through your arms, hold your arms in. Press your fingers wide. And lift your tailbone High. Beautiful.

Now slowly lift your right leg all the way up to Three-Legged Dog, that's it hold it up, now bring your knee to your chest, and now pull in, and hold, hold. Hold it, these are strength moves, to strengthen our muscles, now bring your leg all the way back up. And release, switch legs. Lift up the other leg, hold it up there, lengthen and stretch through the body. And bring your knee towards your chest, and lean forward, hold your belly in, and lift it all the way back up. All the way up, beautiful.

Bring your leg all the way through and let's stand up to yoga pose. The Warrior, that's it. This is where you're going to get strong muscles. Refresh, reconnect, energize your muscles, now open up your hips, you're heel in line with your inner thigh. That's it, and stretch it out. Hold the stretch, you are strong, your muscles are lean, lengthening, giving energy through the body. And slowly Reverse Warrior, getting deeper into the legs, use the strength of your thighs, and lift up, hold it. Beautiful, strong pose, now Side Angle. Inhale and exhale, taking a deep breath, cleanse your body. That's it, hold, feel the strength of your legs, and now if you can, give it a try slowly hold your arm out, challenge yourself! This takes full strength of your abdominals, and release. Beautiful!

And all you have to do is turn your toes to the other side. Let's strengthen those thighs. Pull your abs up in in, it's a lift here, and then it's the strength of your legs. Push that back leg, nice and strong and straight. That's it, now hold the pose. Warrior is a wonderful way to strengthen your muscles. 640 muscles, keep them strong, keep them lean. That's it, muscles work miracles on our metabolism, keeping us young. Yoga feels so good. Okay! Let's go to a Reverse Warrior. Now deeper into that Warrior with your thighs. Now stretch up, inhale, practice your yoga everyday with me. And exhale out to the side to Side Angle Pose. Reach out, use the strength of your thigh muscles, your buttocks, your core, hold, that's it. Focus on the move, just relax your body. Really try to reconnect with your breath. That's it, stretch and tone. Firming those muscles. Okay slowly come all the way up, and release.

Bring your legs all the way together, jump together, and relax. And inhale all the way up, and exhale into Chair Pose. Hold it down there, your hips, your back, you're strong and lean. That's it, do the best you can. That's great and come all the way up. One more time, go down using your thigh muscles. That's it, and little pulses now, little pulses. Wonderful, take it down, sit back! That's it, strong bodies, great, and release.

Let's begin in a quick series here all your strength, bring your arms up. And exhale down. Inhale up, and exhale down. Inhale, reach and hold the Plank. And let's do a Side Plank, hold it. That's it, hold the Side Plank. For those of you just starting out, relax your leg here, and reach up. You're still getting the strength for your legs and for your total body. Otherwise give it a try. You can even stack your feet and take it to the next level. Hold, your strong arms, your core muscles. Level 3 is going all the way up with your leg! Give it a try, challenge your muscles! And release. Beautiful.

Now let's go to the other side, lift all the way up. Start here if you're ready, you could take it to the side, driving your legs, that's great. Hold a stretch, lift up, hold it up there. Strong bodies, that's it. Or you could try stacking your feet. That's the next level. Now level 3 - lift it up, hold it up there tighten those abs, core is strong. And release. Now let's come all the way down. Breathe in, and out, exhale. Lift to Bridge. Keeping our hips healthy. Hold the bridge pose, inhale and exhale. Lift up, now bring your hands underneath, bring your shoulder blades closer together, and lift up, use your thigh muscles, use your buttock muscles, opening up through the chest. That's it. Can you clasp your hands underneath? Give it a try. Now slowly one vertebrae at a time, bring it all the way up. Come all the way up into Boat Pose. This will help strengthen your abdominals. Hold, breathe, that's it, inhale, exhale. Give it all you've got, hold it there, use your abdominal muscles. Strong bodies, wonderful yoga workout. And relax.

Let's move forward and, taking a nice deep breath, inhale, and exhale with a twist. Inhale up, and exhale, twist. That's it, stretch up, beautiful, and relax. Take one deep cleansing breath together, inhale up, and let's stretch to the side. And to the other side, just relax now, the hard part's over. You've done your Yoga Refresh, this is the strengthening workout, exhale, and release. Namaste.