Photography by Emily A Bay | Location Humming Puppy Yoga
Yoga can provide a simple and calming workout or a fiery fat burning practice, and with the variety of different styles of yoga and what you want to achieve, the choices are there for you. But do you know what pose is best for what? Below are my top picks for sculpting the butt area. If you really want to feel the fire, then it’s really about holding these strong postures and flowing from one pose to the next and holding for 5 or so breaths. If you can’t hold any longer in that pose, thats ok, just flow to the next pose. But I encourage you to keep breathing as this is what will get you through! So next time your practicing yoga with your instructor, try to recognise these poses and think about my tips for firming up those buttocks!
The Upward Dog
As you flow into your Up dog from chaturanga, point your toes, lift your quads off the ground and as high as you can, open your heart, arch your back and shine your chest forward by pushing your shoulders back. This movement will naturally see your quads engage to make this move possible. As you push your shoulders back and lift your quads off the ground try to hold here for a few breaths before you push back to down dog.
The Tiger Curl
Not only is this one great for the core, but it’s also great for the butt cheeks too! But only if you raise onto your tippy toes like I am below! So as you move from three legged dog, push yourself onto your tippy toes, bring your knee into your chin and hold for a few breaths. My big tip here is to try to touch your chin with your knee and round out your your back making sure your shoulders are over your hands. Your core, legs and buttocks will switch on here so look out!
The Wheel Pose (Variation pictured for the advanced)
So you may have heard your yoga instructor position you flat on your back with feet hip width distance apart with fingers just touching the heels? This is how you prep for heading into a backbend or wheel pose. So my butt sculpting tip here is: as you push your hips to the sky use your buttocks to push them further. Make sure your squeezing an imaginary ball between your knees whilst your pushing your hips high to the sky. If your in a back band gently clasp your hands under your back on the ground or gently cradle your lower back to support yourself. If you’re in full wheel pose then try to keep your arms strong, centre your left leg on the ground and gently raise your right leg and pull the knee into your stomach and reach that foot out to the sky and hold for 20 seconds. This one burns! but it’s a good burn.
The Scorpion (For advanced practice)
We all aim to get into this pose right? Well you will and with a few tips and your daily practice you will get there. My big tip here for people new to this pose is using a wall to practice as I did for some many months. Make sure your a good distance from the wall so you can flip over into the scorpion. Place your forearms and palms flat on the ground and shoulder width apart. Then flick your legs up onto the wall. Gently arch your back with your feet still on the wall, find your balance with your core and shoulders engaged and gently tip toe your feet down the wall till you have one foot off and your big toe pointing and just touching for balance. Then engage your whole core and your butt and gently bring your toe off the wall. Now focus and balance. You can touch the wall to gain your balance again. But for now, this is perfect. For the advanced yogis, once you’re in this final position point your feet and try to get your toes to touch each other, then if you have the strength try to bring your toes to your head. By you pointing your toes and your toes touching, your butt is super switch on here. Now find your balance, focus, breath and smile 
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