10 Beginner Yoga Poses From A Celeb Instructor For A Quick Burn
Start the year off with an energizing flow.
There’s a new yoga instructor in town — or at least on the Alo Moves platform. Annie Moves, who has taught some well-known celebrities, is the latest yoga instructor to join the Alo Moves family. For her first-ever yoga series on the platform, the celebrity yoga teacher — whose real name is Anabella Landa — is leading an easy class with beginner yoga poses that you may want to incorporate into your own at-home routine.
Let’s face it, exercising at home can be a real struggle. You need the motivation to actually workout instead of just watching another episode of the show you’re currently streaming on Netflix. Luckily, Alo Moves is one of the online platforms that are making it a little easier for you to carve out some time in your schedule to move your body. The home workout service allows you to stream content like yoga exercises and meditation videos from some of the best instructors whenever you’d like.
To get a taste of what’s to come from Annie’s online beginner yoga class, Alo invited me to their headquarters in Beverly Hills for a fun flow. With the new year around the corner, you may have some wellness and workout goals you’re working towards in 2023. If you’re needing some motivation to kick off your own fitness routine, here are some of the yoga exercises for beginners that we did in Annie’s class. These 10 easy yoga poses will not only offer you a quick burn and some instant energy, but you can also say you were taught by a celebrity yoga instructor.
01Happy Baby Flow
You’ll want to begin by laying flat on your mat in shavasana. Try to be present in the moment, focusing on your breaths. From there, you’ll get into the “happy baby” pose with your legs up and bent with your arms holding onto your feet. You can roll around to make sure your back is comfortable, and after a few breaths, lift your legs straight into the air.
While your legs are up there, flex and point your toes to get your feet moving and ankles warmed up. After about eight breaths, you’ll rock forward and back. This yoga exercise will really stretch out your spine, and eventually, you’ll want to finish sitting upright.
02Seated Side Bend
While seated, cross your legs and find a comfortable position. Once you’re there, start stretching from side to side. This is a seated side bend. You can even further the stretch by bringing your elbows down to the mat. After stretching on both sides, move your torso around in a circle. This is called a seated hip circle, and it really does stretch out your hips if you’re someone who sits all day at work and feels stiff.
03Cat-Cow Pose To Dancing Lion
From your seated position, move to a tabletop pose with your arms shoulder width apart and your legs hip width apart on the mat. From here, you’ll perform a cat-cow pose, stretching out your spine. Once you’ve done this for about eight counts, you’ll want to do a balancing table pose. This is where you lift the opposite arm and leg up. It really is a balancing act at first, but works on your core.
Bring your arm and leg down after about eight counts. In the same tabletop position, perform a dancing lion pose where you move your entire body in a full circle. After about eight counts, switch to the opposite side for the balancing table pose.
04Child’s Pose To Cobra
After your cat-cow to dancing lion, sit back in a cozy child’s pose. Once you’ve taken a moment, lift up and into a cobra pose. This should feel seamless, so really try to flow from one pose to the other and back for about eight counts.
05Malasana Squat
This pose may be a little difficult since you’ll want to put your hands on the ground to support yourself. However, you want to try to find your center in a deep squat with your arms in front of you. Annie mentioned this pose really helps to release any emotional tension you have in your hips.
06Downward Dog — Knee To Elbow
Even beginners are familiar with downward dog, which is where you have your legs and arms on the mat in what looks like an upside down V. After holding this pose for a bit, you’ll bring one of your knees to your corresponding elbow and repeat on the other side.
07High Lunge
After your downward dog exercise, bring one of your legs forward and reach up into a high lunge pose. Hold this for a bit with your arms in the air. After about eight counts, slowly bring your knee down to the mat. You’ll want to try to do this while still keeping your chest straight and arms up. Once your knee is on the ground, twist so you’re facing the leg that is up. Hold this for about eight counts and return to downward dog to repeat on the opposite side.
08Runner’s Lunge To Pigeon Pose
The next sequence you may want to try starts with a runner’s lunge. However, you want to bring the leg in the front to the outside of your arms. This may feel weird at first, but you’ll really feel a stretch as well. Once you’ve held that, place the opposite shoulder down on your mat and twist.
After you’ve held that pose for a few breaths, return to the runner’s lunge and place your front leg down and move into pigeon pose. In this position, you can bend forward for a deeper stretch or stay up with your chest high. Either way, hold for about eight counts and repeat from the beginning on the opposite side.
09Seated Eagle
You’ll really feel the burn at this point, so return to a seated position with one leg crossed over the other. From this pose, twist your torso and place the opposite arm over the leg that is on top. Hold this for about eight counts and return to center. Then, cross your arms like your legs but the opposite arm to leg is on top and bend over. This is a seated eagled pose.
Before repeating on the opposite side, bring your legs forward and stretch over. Be sure to keep your feet flexed for an even bigger burn.
10Shavasana
Annie finished the class returning to a shavasana pose. Lay flat on your mat and really try to relax both your body and mind. If you can, turn down the lights and play some soothing music. In the class, Annie also went around and placed a towel on our foreheads that had some essential oils as well. This really helped us cool off and relax after working out.
