Get Fit: Engage Your Core With These Tips

Our bodies are like trees, with our core muscles being our trunk. While your core is often associated with abs, there is more to it. It is a network of muscles, including your spine, your hips, your pelvis and your internal organs. One way to work your core is through the yoga pose called cat/cow. Start on all fours, with your shoulders in line with your wrists, fingers spread out, hips in line with your knees and a neutral spine. As you inhale, drop your stomach to be like a cow with your head toward the sky. Then, as you exhale, your head comes down and your spine, hips and shoulders round — like a scared cat. “You just do a couple of rounds like that,” says Elcin Riza, co-owner and instructor of River Yoga. “It opens everything up and you just start to feel so good.”