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Shoulder Stand
How to Strike It: Keeping the elbows shoulder-width apart, bend the elbows and place your hands on your back for support, if they're not there already. Lift legs one at a time. Press the hips forward and bring the feet back, keeping the legs straight. Work your hands as high up to your shoulders as you can. After five to ten breaths, slowly lower your knees down by your ears.
Butt Benefits: Like with the mountain pose, you've got to squeeze your butt in order to get your body in the right alignment for this pose. Since everything has to be tight in order to hold the position, adding it into your routine will strengthen not only your glutes but your core and thighs as well. If you need to modify the pose, Ingber says, "You can simply extend the legs up and allow them to rest on a wall, with your butt in the corner where the floor meets the wall."
So your bod is pretty fit -- but your butt? It's flat, flabby or generally un-fabulous. Luckily, yoga can help you nip your butt issues in the bud. Exercise and wellness guru Mandy Ingber shares fitness and mindfulness tips with the soft-bodied, stressed-out masses in her new book, "Yogalosophy: 28 Days to the Ultimate Mind-Body Makeover." Since nothing says mind-body balance like a well-toned tush (um, right?), Ingber shows us five yoga poses for getting a firmer butt. Your path to a pert posterior starts here.
