Yoga poses

Browse our extensive yoga pose library, with a vast collection of everything from basic to advanced poses, seated and standing poses, twists, challenge poses, and bandha techniques. Explore yoga poses by type, from arm balances to backbends, inversions, twists and more. Plus, find sequences and step-by-step yoga poses instructions for each to enhance your practice. Find yoga poses for specific parts of your body, from your lower back to your hamstrings and more.

Plus, sequences and step-by-step pose instructions to enhance your practice. Explore yoga poses to alleviate what ails you—from anxiety to headaches, insomnia and more. Plus, find sequences and step-by-step pose instruction to enhance your practice. If you are brand new to yoga, there are certain postures that are essential for you to learn so you can feel comfortable in a class or practicing on your own at home. If you do each one of these for 5-10 breaths, it also creates a great beginner’s yoga program for you to do every day. Here are my picks for the 10 most important yoga poses for beginners. Note: You don’t have to be able to do all these poses exactly as pictured — ALWAYS listen to your body and modify if needed.

Before you read on, we’ve created a free 28-day online yoga program with online classes specifically for beginners like you. It’s like a personal yoga class with your private yoga teacher. Mountain pose may seem like “simply standing,” but there is a ton going on. How to do it: Start standing with your feet together. Press down through all ten toes as you spread them open. Engage your quadriceps to lift your kneecaps and lift up through the inner thighs. Draw your abdominals in and up as you lift your chest and press the tops of the shoulders down.

Imagine a string drawing the crown of the head up to the ceiling and breathe deeply in to the torso. This online yoga program is your personal home practice. The online classes target your body and mind and cover all the basic styles of yoga. It’s like a yoga studio in your own home. You’ll do your first sun salutations on your yoga mat and practice yoga at home like a real yogi. Downward Facing Dog Downward Dog is used in most yoga practices and yoga classes and it stretches and strengthens the entire body. How to do it: Come on to all fours with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips.

Tuck under your toes and lift your hips up off the floor as you draw them up at back towards your heels. Keep your knees slightly bent if your hamstrings are tight, otherwise try and straighten out your legs while keeping your hips back. Walk your hands forward to give yourself more length if you need to. Press firmly through your palms and rotate the inner elbows towards each other.

Hollow out the abdominals and keep engaging your legs to keep the torso moving back towards the thighs. Hold for 5-8 breaths before dropping back to hands and knees to rest. Plank Plank teaches us how to balance on our hands while using the entire body to support us. It is a great way to strengthen the abdominals, and learn to use the breath to help us stay in a challenging pose. How to do it: From all fours, tuck under your toes and lift your legs up off the mat.

Slide your heels back enough until you feel you are one straight line of energy from your head to your feet. Engage the lower abdominals, draw the shoulders down and away from the ears, pull your ribs together and breathe deeply for 8-10 breaths. Triangle Triangle is a wonderful standing posture to stretch the sides of the waist, open up the lungs, strengthen the legs and tone the entire body. How to do it: Start standing with your feet one leg’s-length apart. Open and stretch your arms to the sides at shoulder height. Turn your right foot out 90 degrees and your left toes in about 45 degrees. Engage your quadriceps and abdominals as you hinge to the side over your right leg.

Turn your gaze up to the top hand and hold for 5-8 breaths. Lift up to stand and repeat on the opposite side. Tip: I like to imagine I’m stuck between two narrow walls when I’m in triangle pose. Tree Tree is an awesome standing balance for beginners to work on to gain focus and clarity, and learn to breathe while standing and keeping the body balanced on one foot.

How to do it: Start with your feet together and place your right foot on your inner left upper thigh. Press your hands in prayer and find a spot in front of you that you can hold in a steady gaze. Hold and breathe for 8-10 breaths then switch sides. Make sure you don’t lean in to the standing leg and keep your abdominals engaged and shoulders relaxed.