Yoga is an inclusive practice, ideal for individuals of all skill levels. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t require advanced skills; it thrives on dedication and regularity. With the right information, yoga will become a life-changing workout.
If you’re starting, here’s a guide to 12 basic yoga poses you can add to your daily routine.
1. Mountain Yoga Pose (Tadasana)
The Mountain Yoga Pose, known as Tadasana, is much more than it appears. As the cornerstone of all standing yoga postures, it demands full-body engagement and proper alignment throughout the body.
How to Perform the Pose
To perform the pose, first establish your foundation by standing with feet together, weight evenly distributed. This balance is crucial. Then, lift your toes, fan them out, and press them firmly into the mat to activate your leg muscles for stabilization. Shift focus to your thighs by squeezing to engage them further.
Gently push your hips forward in line with your spine for proper alignment, and engage your core and lower back to ensure your spine positions above your tailbone for enhanced posture. Lift and roll back your shoulders to stretch your torso and align your neck and head, promoting balance.
Hold this pose for 5 to 8 steady, deep breaths, concentrating fully to enhance focus and steadiness in the posture.
2. Chair Yoga Pose (Utkatasana)
The Chair Pose, known as Utkatasana, simulates sitting in a chair while building strength, especially in the thighs and glutes.
How to Perform the Pose
To come into the position, first inhale and raise your arms overhead with palms together or facing each other to create an upward stretch through the body. As you exhale, bend your knees deeply to lower your body, drawing the thighs as close to parallel to the floor as possible.
This bending motion specifically targets the thighs to build strength. Keep the inner thighs parallel as you press the tops of the thigh bones down towards your heels to fully engage your lower body muscles. Also, focus on straightening the spine by tightening the shoulder blades backwards and lengthening the lower back to prevent strain.
Hold this energizing posture for 30 seconds to a minute, focusing on proper alignment. The longer you can maintain the pose, the more you build endurance and strength throughout the body.
3. Tree Yoga Pose (Vrikshasana)
The Tree Pose, known as Vrikshasana, is a quintessential yoga balancing posture that evokes the image of a firmly rooted tree through focus and centred stillness.
How to Perform the Pose
Start by coming into Mountain Pose to establish your base. Shift your weight onto one leg as you press the foot of the other against your standing inner thigh for added support.
Find your balance here, focusing on a fixed point to maintain stability. Then, sweep your arms overhead, which assists overall poise while creating a full-body stretch. Concentrate deeply on your breathing quality, holding for several breaths to allow the innate calming and balancing effects of the posture to blossom.
After adequately repeating on one side, switch sides to build symmetrical strength and flexibility.
The Tree Pose demands great presence of mind to steadily root down through one leg at a time, enhancing poise from the ground up.
4. Plank Yoga Pose (Phalakasana)
Plank Pose, known as Phalakasana, is a full-body strengthening posture that powerfully engages multiple muscle groups while testing stamina.
How to Perform the Pose
Come to an extended push-up position, ensuring your wrists stack directly below your shoulders with fingers spread wide for optimal support.
Extend back through your heels, aligning your whole body in one straight line from head to heels – this full-body activation is key. Lift your thighs actively to prevent sagging, which supports proper core engagement. Gaze forward between your stable foundation of hands as you focus on maintaining this challenging position for 3 to 5 minutes.
Aim to hold plank pose steadily, allowing no swaying or dipping, as you build incredible functional core strength and total-body conditioning over time. Test your limits and redefine them!
5. Cobra Yoga Pose (Bhujangasana)
The Cobra Pose, known as Bhujangasana in Sanskrit, is a gentle and therapeutic backbend that specifically targets the flexibility of the spine.
How to Perform the Pose
Start by lying on your stomach, feet hip-width apart for support, with your palms resting beneath your shoulders.
On an inhalation, initiate the backbend by slowly peeling your torso away from the floor – lead with your heart centre as you lift through the top of your sternum, rolling your shoulders to extend your spine upwards.
Move carefully to avoid overarching, keeping the back of your neck long by focusing the lift in your ribcage rather than crunching your neck. Hold this rejuvenating backbend for a few seconds with smooth breaths, then exhale to release back down, muscle by muscle gently.
When practised with care and integrity of alignment, Cobra Pose unravels tension across the chest, shoulders and abdomen, leaving one feeling energized and spacious.
6. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
The ubiquitous Downward-Facing Dog Pose, described in Sanskrit as Adho Mukha Svanasana, is a full body stretch that strengthens multiple muscle groups.
How to Perform the Pose
Come to hands and knees with fingers spread wide and palms planted slightly ahead of your shoulders. On an exhalation, lift your hips and back while straightening through your legs without locking your knees.
Internally rotate your thighs outward as you stretch back through your heels, drawing your tailbone skyward for a deep opening through the whole backside of your body. Stay rooted in this pose for 8 to 10 steady breaths, shifting your weight further back while focusing deeply on maintaining the lengths and alignments of your spine and legs.
With its energizing qualities and myriad benefits of increased circulation and endorphin release, it is clear why practitioners often flow continuously through this ubiquitous pose to create space, flexibility and lightness throughout their bodies.
7. Garland Yoga Pose (Malasana) -No video for this
GGarland Pose, described in Sanskrit as Malasana, is an intensely opening squat that targets hip flexibility and lower body strength.
How to Perform the Pose
Stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart; toes angled outwards to prepare for the deep descent. Bend into your knees, dropping your hips low to sink into a squatting position – decrease the depth to your comfort level, wherever you can still maintain length in the spine.
Bring your prayer hands into the centre of the pose, joining palms together near your heart, which assists with balance and steady breathing. Focus on stacking your torso directly above your hips as you relax your shoulder blades against your back ribs.
Hold this intensely grounding posture for five slow, complete breaths. Garland Pose progressively stretches external hip rotators and adductors, building more mobility to comfortably rest deeper into the profound yet strengthening shape over time.
8. Child’s Yoga Pose (Balasana)
Child’s Pose, described by the Sanskrit name Balasana, is a quintessential restorative posture that gently stretches the full length of the body while promoting deep relaxation.
How to Perform the Pose
Start kneeling, bringing your big toes to touch as you separate your knees hip-width apart.
As you exhale, lower your torso to rest on your inner thighs, reaching your arms extended forward alongside your head. Allow your forehead to release down towards the floor, using your breath to let go of any lingering muscular tension. Soften through your upper body as you sink your hips back over your heels, effortlessly opening the side of your body in this recovery shape.
Stay rooted in the Child’s Pose for as long as desired, turning inward to restore the equilibrium of body and mind. This nurturing posture reconnects us to an intuitive sense of ease, making it an ideal counterpose to unwind between more active asanas.
9. Extended Triangle Yoga Pose (Trikonasana)
The Extended Triangle Pose, described in Sanskrit as Trikonasana, is a standing asana that strengthens and stretches multiple muscle groups while requiring balance, flexibility and mental focus.
How to Perform the Pose
Begin in Mountain Pose, then take a wide stance, separating your feet 3-4 feet apart as you inhale and extend your arms straight to your sides, parallel to the floor.
Exhale as you hinge forward at your hip crease, reaching one hand towards the floor while the other arm reaches upwards towards the sky. Lengthen through both sides of your waistline to create one long energy line. Turn your head to gaze upwards if it feels comfortable and accessible.
Maintaining the integrity of alignment, hold this shape steadily for five full breath cycles. The introspective qualities of Trikonasana teach us integration and surrender. Allow your breath to deepen while awakening your body and mind.
10. Crescent Lunge (Anjaneyasana)
Crescent Lunge Pose, described in Sanskrit as Anjaneyasana, is a powerful and expansive posture that deeply targets the entire lower body in a lunging position while stretching the torso and testing balance.
How to Perform the Pose
Begin in a low lunge, resting one knee on the mat with your front leg bent at a 90-degree angle, tracking your kneecap over your front ankle.
On an inhalation, sweep your arms forward and upward towards the sky, straightening them fully overhead, which lifts your heart and ribcage. Lift and straighten your back leg as you actively push through the back heel to deepen the stretch down the front of your body. Breathe steadily as you hold this energizing shape for 30 seconds to a minute.
Anjaneyasana builds incredible strength and stamina while augmenting flexibility and range of motion throughout the legs and hips.
11. Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana)
The Four-Limbed Staff Pose, described in Sanskrit as Chaturanga Dandasana, is an intense strength-building posture that demands precise alignment and control throughout the movement.
How to Perform the Pose
Start in a strong push-up position, hands stacked directly beneath your shoulders with fingers spread wide for stability. Engage your abdominal wall fully towards your spine to secure your centre.
On an inhale, shift forward slightly to elevate the top of your chest. Then, control your exhalation by maintaining this alignment as you steadily lower down until your elbows hover at a 90-degree angle. Do not sink to the floor. Rather, focus on harnessing the strength of your arms, back and core to suspend your weight in this intense hold.
The effort of Chaturanga Dandasana bolsters physical vitality while cultivating concentration and mental clarity. With its emphasis on precise technique and control, this posture exemplifies the emphasis yoga places on mindfulness over momentum.
12. Seated Half Spinal Twist (Ardha Matsyendrasana)
The Seated Half Spinal yoga pose is known as Ardha Matsyendrasana in Sanskrit. It is a revitalizing posture that stretches the spine’s length while stimulating the abdominal organs.
How to Perform the Pose
Begin by sitting with both legs extended forwards. Bend one knee, crossing that foot to rest outside your opposite thigh in a crossed-leg seated position.
Initiate the twist by leveraging the bent knee to rotate your torso towards that side. Then, let the opposite elbow press against the outer thigh to deepen the rotational stretch. With each complete exhalation, see if you can generate more length throughout the spine to distribute the twisting motion evenly across all the vertebrae.
Make sure to perform this shape equally on both sides of the body for symmetrical flexibility. Ardha Matsyendrasana brings circulation into the deep back muscles surrounding the spine. It also promotes healthy digestion through gentle stimulation of the abdominal region.
The Bottom Line
Yoga is an effective tool for enhancing physical and mental well-being. For beginners, mastering these 12 basic poses and incorporating them into daily practice can set the foundation for a rewarding yoga journey.
