Recent studies show that regular walking decreases a woman’s risks of colon cancer. Better yet, it improves blood pressure (as does yoga). High blood pressure is a direct factor in heart disease, the number one killer of women. Plus, walking burns fat to increase weight loss-- and helps you target a healthier BMI. Combine yoga with walking and you’ve got a super power of a pair.

“Yoga and walking feed each other,” says Sherry Brourman, PT, ERYT, author of Walk Yourself Well. “The mechanics of yoga are such that it allows us to reframe our natural moving habits, including walking.” The two share five elements in common: overall strength, balance, core strength, flexibility, and breathing. Each set of the poses below will improve your walking, no fancy machines required.

Overall strength
It might seem obvious that we’re talking about muscles here, but the focus is actually all about the joints. With each move you make, you need to ensure that you’re giving each joint symmetrical force and not sinking into the joint. “By remodeling how you move, you can unravel a habit that was really breaking your joint down,” says Brourman. For example, if you keep locking your knee and dropping into your hip in Tree, that collapse of weight will eventually inflame your knee and hip joints.

Plank
“The opposing forces of the legs reaching back and arms reaching down and forward create strength,” says Brourman. At the same time, you need to have strong wrists, elbows, shoulders, and neck muscles to hold steady. To ensure that your belly is tucked in and level with the rest of your body, peek under your arms. If you hips are hiked up, making a pyramid,, lower down so you’re flat like a board. Even if you take the pose on your knees, you should be straight from your knees to your shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds.

Squat (Malasana)
With this deep squatting pose, strong knees and ankles let you keep your chest lifted and open so you’re not dropping in your shoulders. Ab and hip strength keep you upright and supported. Hold for 30 seconds, 3 to 4 times. Exhaling, stand up between each one.

Balance
“With every step we take, there’s a split second where we’re balanced on one foot because the other is busy swinging through. It’s like going from Tadasana to Tree but with forward movement,” says Brourman. With that balancing Tree also comes the tendency to drop into your hips because of weak hip flexors or inner thighs, which can eventually lead to inflamed joints. Instead, you want to be muscle dependent, not joint dependent, with each step.

One-Footed Tadasana
Think of this series like walking in slow-mo but not going anywhere. Instead, by lingering in one position at a time, you’ll feel yourself lifting out of your joints, which will translate to your walking. Can’t feel if you’re dropping into your hip? Stand on your right leg with your left slightly lifted straight up to the side. Sit down on your right hip so your right hip juts out to the right. Imagine there’s a tiny chair that will only hold your right side. Then stand up straight. Feel that lift? That’s where you want to be when you’re walking. Do 2 to 3 times on each side for 15 to 30 seconds per side.

Eagle
While you’re trying to stay upright in Eagle, gravity is pulling you down and forward making your body fight to balance. When you walk, right before your front heel strikes the ground, you’re front leg is moving forward and down as the crown of your head is lifting up. At that second you’re either dropping into your joints (bad) or letting your muscles work (good). Eagle pose strengthens your oblique muscles, keeping you upright and lifted out of your joints. Hold for 30 seconds on each side.



Core strength
“Core strength is the capacity to hold steady when gravity wants you to let your joints do all the work--which eventually will stretch them out. Instead, you need to combine strong muscles with steady joints,” says Brourman. Therefore, your torso, knees, elbows, wrists, and every other body part contribute to stabilizing your spine, not just your abs. When you walk, you are moving your body away from your legs and need to hold your body up so you don’t wear down your joints.

Warrior I
“Warrior I combines hip internal rotation and strength with abdominal strength. When you see someone with really strong legs and their belly sticking out, this indicates weakness in the obliques and transverse abdominals,” says Brourman. To engage your abs, she suggests focusing on your feet. Make sure each of the four corners (the inside and outside corners of the ball of the foot and both edges of the heel-- not the toes) are firmly planted on the ground. Focus on broadening your foot, not scrunching it up, and you’ll feel a slight lift in your feet, helping you pull your abs in. Hold for one minute on each side.

Triangle
Like when you walk, in Triangle you have to hold your body up as you move your torso away from your legs. “You need to keep your hips level in order to lift out of your bottom ribs and engage your obliques,” says Brourman. “Your obliques are important because, when you walk, your body turns as you face each step you take. Strong obliques keep you from overarching your back into a backbend.” (Backbends are good in yoga not in walking). Weak obliques throw your body of out good walking alignment, weakening your joints. Do each side 3 times, going into the pose on the exhale, coming up on the inhale.

Flexibility
“Each joint acts as a message center, sending notes to all the areas above and below it. There are no possible secrets,” says Brourman. If you try to come into Pigeon with a tight hip, you’ll overstretch your knee. If your knee is tight, your ankle knows. To improve your flexibility, take into account each element. It’s not just about touching your toes, it’s about healthy joints everywhere.

Seated half twist
“Since you’re sitting, no one’s pushing you into the pose. It’s about slowly getting into your hip, knee, ankle, and spine flexibility,” says Brourman. For your top leg to completely cross and your top hip to come down to the floor, your bottom hip and IT band have to be loose. To bend your bottom knee under and turn it out, your hips and knees need flexibility. “With each step when you walk, the pelvis moves all of these ways, but more subtly. Your pelvis must move rotationally [right with the right step] in order to be balanced,” she says. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat to the other side.

Camel
“Camel improves knee, hip, spine, shoulder, and wrist flexibility. In order to backbend, your hip flexors need to be open. When you walk, as you’re about to take your back toes off the ground, your front hip flexors need to be loose,” says Brourman. With your shoulders and wrists, Camel opens them by externally rotating the shoulder joints and bringing the wrists to 90 degrees of extension, both of which can be tough to do. Hold for 30 seconds.


Breathing
When your yoga instructor advises you to breathe, not only is she trying to help you maximize the pose benefits and make it through the last few moments, she’s also helping you to stabilize your spine. By breathing into the sides of your body (so it feels like your ribs are touching the inside of your upper arms), you activate your transverse abdominals. “It’s like doing a little sit up 5,000 times a day,” says Brourman. “Chest breathing and belly breathing aren’t core strong.” Use this Bellow’s Breath to get a surprising ab workout.
 
Bellow’s Breath:
Sit in front of a mirror with one hand on your collarbone and the other on your belly. Focus on not letting your chest rise when you inhale, and don’t let your belly pop out as you practice this breath. Inhale through your nose, but imagine you’re inhaling through a tiny pinhole in the back of your throat. “Normally when we inhale, we take in a lot at the beginning but this regulates it so you take longer, slower breaths,” says Brourman. Exhale through your nose as slowly and steadily as your inhale. Pause before each inhale and exhale to make it easier to control the breath. Practice for 5 minutes.