12-Minute Power Yoga to Strengthen Your Core in All the Ways You Need

This 12-minute morning power yoga for core strength delivers full-body strengthening and stretching with an emphasis on strengthening your abs, back, and obliques. The short morning yoga routine takes you through a mix of poses that challenge your core strength in different ways, including letting you play with different Plank Pose variations.

12-Minute Morning Power Yoga for Core Strength

This practice requires no props although you’re always welcome to include them.

Reclined QL Stretch

Start lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet near the edges of the mat. Then drop both knees and thighs over to the left as if you’re pausing while taking windshield wipers. Stay here or intensify the stretch by crossing your left ankle over your right knee and allowing your knee to release toward the mat.

You can also reach your right arm alongside your head as a way to also stretch through the obliques. Rest your left hand on your belly and feel the rise and fall of your breath. This is probably your first intentional connection with your breath today. Stay connected to the rhythm as you linger here.

Uncross your ankles, float your knees back to center, and keep your feet wide apart as you take the stretch on your other side with both knees and thighs dropping over to the right.

Reclined Bicycle

Lift your shins and feet off the mat and bend your knees so your shins are parallel to the mat. Push your lower back into the mat. (If that made your knees shift forward toward your chest, realign your knees over your hips.) You should feel your lower abdominals turn on just from doing this.

Interlace your fingers behind the back of your head. This is a slow, controlled bicycle motion. As you inhale, curl forward and lift your head and shoulders off the mat as you pull your lower belly in. As you exhale, twist to the right and extend your left leg straight. Try not to move your right knee at all. Inhale and come back to center as you lift higher. Exhale as you twist to the left and straighten your right leg. Inhale and come back to center and continue a few times.

Downward-Facing Dog

Find your way into your first Downward-Facing Dog of the day. Maybe you draw your knees in toward your belly, cross the ankles, and rock forward onto hands and knees. So your hands are shoulder-distance apart, feet are hip-distance apart, then tuck your toes and stretch your hips up and back. If your hamstrings and low back are quite tight, you might want to take a very generous bend in your knees.

Downward-Facing Dog to Plank

Think of curling and lifting your tailbone toward the sky. Really draw your lower abdominals in to engage the core before you inhale and ripple forward like a wave, lifting your heels and coming all the way forward into Plank Pose. Push into your fingertips. Exhale and shift your hips up and back into your Down Dog. Do that same thing 3 more times, inhaling all the way forward into your Pose Pose and exhaling as you lift up and back. Repeat that 2 more times.

Plank Toe Taps

Hold your plank. You’re going to lift the right foot up off the mat and then tap your toes down to the mat and back up again 5 times. So 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Stay in Plank as you repeat with the left foot.

Three-Legged Dog

Lift back into your Downward-Facing Dog and reach your right leg toward the sky, bend your knee, open your hip, and give yourself a big stretch here.

Low Lunge

Step your right foot forward toward the top of the mat. You’re not swinging the leg forward with momentum but rather moving with control. Lower your back knee to the mat and push your right foot and left knee into the mat as you lift yourself upright in Low Lunge. Keep your gaze facing forward and lift and lengthen out of the lower back. Stay here or press your hands together at your chest and reach them upward in a slight backbend. Circle your hands back down to the mat.

Half Splits Twist

Straighten your right leg, sliding your heel forward if you need, in Half Splits. Flex your right foot to draw the top of your foot toward you. Keep your hips over your left knee. Keep your left hand or fingertips on the mat and reach your right arm toward the sky. Try to pull the lower belly in. Find a big stretch in here.

Half Splits

Bring your right hand back to the mat and fold your chest forward a little in Half Splits.

Plank Pose

Bend into your front knee and step back to Plank.

Cobra or Upward-Facing Dog

Slowly lower yourself all the way to the mat and come into Cobra Pose by pressing your hands into the mat to lift your chest (pictured above) or lower only halfway into Chaturanga and then lift yourself into Upward-Facing Dog.

Downward-Facing Dog

Lift your hips into Down Dog and repeat Three-Legged Dog, Low Lunge, Half Splits Twist, Plank, and Cobra or Up Dog on the left side. When you come back to Down Dog, stretch it out here.

Side Plank Variation

Bring your knees to the mat in Tabletop and set yourself up for a Side Plank variation by extending your right leg straight and keeping your left knee on the mat. Roll onto the inner edge of your right foot and stretch your right arm up toward the sky.

Lift your right leg so you have your foot at about the same height as your hip. Squeeze your glutes, draw your lower belly toward your spine, and try to look at something that isn’t moving to help with balance.

Stay here and tap your toes to the mat like you did in Plank for a 5 count.

Or you can instead lift your left knee off the mat in Side Plank. Lift your hips. Breathe here. And then circle your right arm down and come back to Tabletop. Repeat on the other side.

Child’s Pose

Sink your hips back with your big toes together and your knees apart and lean your chest forward in Child’s Pose. Slow down your breath to slow down your heart rate. Ask yourself again what your one-word intention is today.

Seated Stillness

Walk your hands in, lift your chest, and take a seat in any way that is comfortable for your hips and lower back. As you draw your practice to a close, really anchor in your one word intention for the day.

Thank you so much for doing this short power yoga flow with me. I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully you’ll make practicing a short morning yoga routine a habit.