Zen Fitness with Mandy: 5 Yoga Moves to Get Red Carpet Ready

The fitness expert offers easy advice during awards season

Have you ever wondered how celebs manage to look so fit during awards season, given that it's so close to the holiday?

The pressure to be Best Dressed may mean choosing which body part to reveal.

This kind of focus can make fast results a lot more manageable. In honor of awards season, here are my top tips to tone each body part:

Sexy Legs: Miranda Kerr was not afraid to show a little leg this week at the Golden Globes. For sleek, sexy legs, basic toners, like lunges and squats are incredibly effective, and are enhanced when you incorporate these toning moves with yoga poses to lengthen and define the muscles. Check out my go-to Yogalosophy move (from my yoga-hybrid routine): Temple Pose with Plié Squats. Try three sets of ten reps. Alternate holding the pose, then 10 toning repetitions and 10 tiny pulses.

Sensual Shoulders: are feminine and subtle, and the highlight of awards season. Sexy shoulders seen on Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Zooey Deschanel can be enhanced with some simple yoga poses. Although light weights with high repetitions may define the muscles, the yoga pose I love for a sexy back and shoulders is Dolphin pose. Not only can you enjoy the benefits of toned shoulders, but you also reap the rewards of reversing the blood flow. Bonus: Yogic traditions claim that reversing the blood flow is a natural way to reverse the aging process. Try this posture, and hold it for up to two minutes. For an extra challenge, alternate raising one leg and holding it up for five breaths. 

Mid-section: It would be daring to reveal the mid-section in the winter, but there is nothing like a Forearm Plank to tone and trim the abdominal muscles. Forearm Plank requires core strength and engagement of your stabilizing muscles. Holding this position for up to 60 seconds can be as effective as sit-ups. More and more celebrities are turning to balancing moves for their workouts. Destabilizing the body causes more than one muscle group to engage all at once, for a more efficient workout. 

Backside: Yoga butt has almost become a cliché. A perky tush is a must-have for a striking silhouette. (I have two words for you: Jennifer Lopez.) Chair Pose is a simple posture that can be done with feet hip width apart or together. As you sink your hips back, imagine that you are hovering and sitting in an imaginary chair.

Posture: When all else fails, posture is the key to a graceful, comfortable appearance. A standing balance pose like Dancer's Pose or Tree, is perfected by finding extension. Imagine lengthening and extending through the crown of the head and pressing down into the ground with your straight energized leg for tree. Or, as with Dancer's Pose, leaning forward as you press your foot back will create a dynamic stretch that will train you to have better posture. 

Choose one move to focus on, and before you know it, you'll be a winner!