Many of the students I have previously worked with have hypotonia (a state of low muscle tone) which means the muscles may seem loose or floppy. When relaxed, those with hypotonia can easily move their limbs and are very flexible. While it does seem like an advantage to be more flexible during yoga class, there can also be problems that are associated with low muscle tone. Poor coordination and muscle weakness can stem from having hypotonia.

Yoga is an excellent way to improve overall muscle tone. Working into poses over time helps strengthen and tone the muscles of the body. Remember in yoga your body serves as your weights that you would use in weight and strength training. Being able to support your own body weight in any number of yoga poses helps to decrease hypotonia and increase strength and body awareness.

In our classes we have been focusing on plank pose. This is a great introduction to the world of “supporting your own body weight” without being too hard on the body. We started out holding the pose for just a few seconds and have been increasing the length of time we hold the pose, making sure we don’t hold our breath. The warrior poses (especially warrior 1 and warrior 2) are perfect for increasing muscle tone in the legs and arms as well.

Our superhero pose is one of our best core strengthening poses that we do in Yogalore. It’s one of the poses where I always hear a lot of moaning and groaning while kids are on the yoga mats. It’s difficult, for sure, but building strength in your core is the first step in improving muscle tone elsewhere in the body.

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