Yoga with Weights

Practicing yoga with weights makes for a mighty workout and a great way to strengthen the upper body. To combine weights and yoga, you will need a couple of dumbbell weights. You don’t want your weights to be too heavy because you will be holding them for an extended period of times. A set of 5-pound weights is more than enough.

Instructions On How To Use Yoga Weights

Once you have your weights, place at the side of your yoga mat. Hop on your mat and do a few basic yoga stretches to wake up and heat the body. Begin breathing deep and slow, relaxing face, and gaze.

Balancing Table Pose With Weights

For the first pose, come to tabletop pose, on all fours. Roll the arms forward and back to warm up the shoulders and activate your arms full range of motion.
From tabletop pose, reach for your dumbbell with the right hand.
Extend your left leg up and back. Roll the left thigh downwards and make sure your hips are lined up. Point the toes down.
Reach your right arm straight out, holding the weight, in front of you to counter the extended leg in back.
Inhale and extend the limbs away from the body.
As you exhale, pull elbow and the knee in together and pull the dumbbell in close towards you.
Repeat on the same side three more times. So inhale and lift, exhale round and contract.
Then, place the weights down on the floor.
Reach your right arm around to the back of the mat. Catch hold of your foot (if you want to loop a yoga strap to assist in reaching the foot you can). Press the foot into the palm of your hands. It helps stretch the spine and the quadriceps muscles.
Release the leg down. Curve your upper back in cat pose. Then return to a neutral tabletop pose.
Repeat the sequence with the weights on the opposite side in which the left arm extends with the weight and the right leg extends straight back.

Chair Pose With Weights

Fold-down into standing forward bending pose.
Bring your feet inwards, so that your big toes touch each other, and the heels about an inch apart.
Grab ahold of your weights. Bend the knees, drop the hips, and reach your arms overhead. Biceps along with the ears. Bend your knees as much as you can.
Inhale to lift and stretch slightly up.
Exhale, bend the elbows. Squeeze your shoulder blades behind you.
Inhale, re-extend the arms up. Exhale to bend.
Repeat the arms rise motion three more times.
Then, fold forward and carefully drop the weights down. Relax your neck.
Lift your back halfway up (flat back position).
Exhale, fingertips to the floor and stretch into a low lunge with the knee on the floor, arms raised overhead. Repeat on the other side.