Besides whipping your leg muscles into sexy shape, yoga can help smooth spongy thighs too. "Cellulite is a symptom of reduced lymph circulation," says Atma JoAnn Levitt, head of the integrative weight-loss program at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. For those of you who skipped biology class, lymph is the bodily fluid that contains white blood cells. “Yoga [helps] lymph flow more freely through fatty areas, flushing toxins and reducing cellulite,” Levitt says. Inversions, or upside-down poses, like these two are especially good for moving lymph along.
Shoulderstand, modified (ardha salamba sarvangasana)
Lie on your back with your arms by your side. Bend your knees and rock your legs up, bringing your knees to your forehead and placing your hands under your hips to support them. Keeping your elbows on the floor, hold for 8 to 10 breaths. Then slowly release your knees and roll gently back onto the floor. Learn this pose from a teacher before attempting it on your own. Then practice it once every other day.
Plow pose (halasana)
Begin in half shoulderstand (above). Now straighten your legs, extending them back out over your head, and rest your toes on the floor. Straighten your arms on the floor, palms down. Hold for 8 to 10 breaths, before bending your knees back to your forehead and lowering your body down onto the floor.
