10 Common Yoga Postures

There are thousands of yoga postures (asanas) and new ones being created all the time. Below you’ll find foundational postures, most of which you will find in a Sun Salutation, a fundamental sequence of poses found in many yoga classes. I’ve chosen these as an introduction to the types of asanas you’ll find in most yoga classes, and my hope is that by getting familiar with these, you’ll gain confidence for when you step on the mat in your first class.

That said, not every posture is for everybody. The descriptions below provide basic alignment principles and benefits of each posture. Try them on your own, but fine tune them with the support of a trained teacher. If you have injury or other medical conditions, consult a teacher to find out if a posture is contraindicated for you.

Yoga postures can also be modified to fit your needs — with variations to fit your body, with props, in a chair, at a wall, or even in water. The beauty of yoga is that it can be adapted for everyone. If these postures don’t fit your needs or feel right to you, continue exploring others until you find those that do.

1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

Mountain Pose is the human body’s ideal standing alignment. It can help undo the patterns formed in the body from sitting or other repetitive movements or asymmetrical habits. It is grounding, calming, and energizing.

Find Your Mountain Pose:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Place a micro bend in your knees, engaging your quads to draw your knee caps upward.
3. Draw your low belly in and up toward your spine to engage your core and stabilize your pelvis.
4. Lift the center of your chest straight up and broaden across your collarbones.
5. Draw the nape of your neck back and lengthen the top of your head upward.
6. Turn your palms to face forward in anatomical position.

Benefits:

• Improves posture.
• Deepens breath.
• Strengthens feet, ankles, legs, hips, core, back, shoulders, and neck.

2. Forward Fold (Uttanasana)

We tend to “forward fold” a lot in our day: sitting, laying on our side with the knees drawn in, bending down to pick things up. When done incorrectly, a Forward Fold can cause back and hip strain, and even injury. When done properly, forward folding is beneficial to the mind, body, and breath.

Find Your Forward Fold:

1. From Mountain Pose, place your hands on your hips, put a bend in your knees, and hinge from the hips to fold forward. The key is to fold from hips not the waist (i.e., don’t round your back to fold forward). Allow the pelvis to rotate around the femur bones. This may mean you don’t go as far, and that is great as you are finding the posture with anatomical integrity.
2. Your hands can stay on your hips as you fold, or lower to the floor. There are many variations for the arms that you can explore as you take classes.
3. To elongate the hamstrings, engage the quadriceps. To decompress the spine, bend the knees until your upper body can hang down toward the floor, allowing the head to release downward too.

Benefits:

• Decompresses the spine and keeps it flexible.
• Moves blood to heart and brain.
• Lengthens your back body including hamstrings and back muscles.
• Calms the nervous system.

3. Lunge (Anjaneyasana)

Often referred to as a runner’s lunge, this posture will feel great after a run or bike ride. A deep hip opener, the Lunge is a common yoga posture found in many Sun Salutations and yoga flows.

Find Your Lunge:

1. From your Forward Fold, bend your knees until your hands are on the floor.
2. Step your left foot back about 3-4 feet behind you, keeping the feet hip-width apart. Your front knee is stacked over your front ankle.
3. Place your hands on either side of your front foot, you can lift onto fingertips if it is difficult the reach the floor.
4. Lengthen your torso and the top of your head forward to elongate your spine. Gaze at the floor a foot in front of you.
5. Your back knee can be up or down. If it is up, lift your back thigh up to engage your leg, and squeeze your inner thighs together to stabilize your hips.
6. Repeat on the right side.

Benefits:

• Stretches hips and hip flexors.
• Strengthens legs, hips, back, and arms.

4. Plank (Phalakasana)

Plank is an arm balance and great for increasing strength. It’s also part of the Sun Salutation, so you will see it and its relatives, Forearm and Side Plank, in many flow yoga classes.

Find Your Plank:

1. From your Lunge, step your front foot back so you are at the top of a push up, knees up or down.
2. Your shoulders should be slightly behind your wrists, with a small bend in your elbows. Press your hands into the floor.
3. Look about a foot in front of you so your head isn’t hanging down.
4. The body is in one straight line, so if your hips are lifted (like in Downdog) or sagging, engage your core to bring them to center.
5. Find your Mountain Pose alignment: feet hip-width, and if knees are lifted, press through your heels like you are standing on your feet; quads engaged; low belly drawing in and up; broaden the collarbones and reach the crown of your head away from your shoulders.

Benefits:

• Strengthens arms, shoulders, core, legs, ankles, and feet.

5. Cobra (Bhujangasana)

A gentle backbend or spinal extension, Cobra Pose can be great for back health, reversing the effects of sitting too much, and energizing the mind and body.

Find Your Cobra:

1. From Plank, lower to your belly.
2. Uncurl your toes, pressing the tops of the feet into the floor.
3. Place your hands under your shoulders, elbows bent and drawing toward your ribs.
4. Use the strength of your back to lift your head and shoulders up, lengthening your chest forward.
5. Gaze just out in front of you, not tilting the head too far back but rather letting it be a natural extension of the spine.

Benefits:

• Stretches shoulders, chest, and abdominal muscles.
• Strengthens your arms, shoulders, and back.
• Increases mobility in lower back.

6. Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

The most well-known yoga posture, Downward Facing Dog, is probably also one of the hardest and most awkward yoga poses to learn. It also greatly benefits your body when done correctly. Follow the alignment cues below, but also consult a yoga teacher or therapist to ensure you have the right alignment for your body.

Find Your Downward Facing Dog:

1. Begin in table position (on hands and knees). The hands should be shoulder-width or wider apart. The knees and feet should be hip-width apart.
2. Spread your fingers wide and push the hands firmly into the ground. The index fingers should point straight ahead at 12 o’clock. Connect the full hand with the floor.
3. Curl your toes under, lifting your hips up and back, moving toward straight legs — but you can keep a bend in the knees, especially if you have tight hamstrings.
4. Firm your thighs back, draw your inner thighs back to find an internal rotation in the upper legs, and release your heels down toward the ground; they don’t have to touch.
5. Place a small bend in your elbows straight back toward your thighs. Then draw the elbows toward your midline, engaging your shoulders and upper back.
6. Allow the neck to be long, gazing just in front of the feet.

Benefits:

• Strengthens the hands, wrists, arms, back, core, and legs. It pretty much works the entire body.
• Lengthens and stretches the legs, spine, and arms. This helps to relieve pain throughout the body.
• Reverses the action of gravity on your body (since it is an inversion), which gets the blood and lymph flowing in opposite directions and takes pressure off the heart, which works so hard all day to pump blood to the brain.
• Relieves fatigue and rejuvenates the body and mind.

Allow yourself time to find downward facing dog in your body. It never comes easily but once you’ve found it, you will know. And it will feel great.

7. Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana 1)

Solid. Proud. Grounded. These are the words that come to mind when I think of Warrior 1, a foundational yoga pose. It provides the foot, leg, and hip position for many other poses (e.g., Pyramid Pose, Humble Warrior Pose), and is weaved into Sun Salutations during many flow yoga classes.

Find Your Warrior 1:

1. From standing, step your left foot 3 to 4 feet back. The feet should be hip width apart.
2. Angle the back foot so that the toes are facing the top left corner of your yoga mat or a ~45 degree angle. The front foot’s toes are pointing straight ahead.
3. The hips are closed, so think about drawing the left hip forward and the right hip back. You are working toward having the hips square to the front of the mat but your body may not allow for this position, which is just fine!
4. Bend the front knee so it stacks directly over the ankle, the shin perpendicular to the floor. You can work toward bringing the front thigh parallel to the floor.
5. Raise the arms up, just in front of the ears, with the palms facing each other. Pinkie side of the arms and elbows drawing toward each other.
6. Gaze straight ahead.
7. Repeat on right side.

Everyone will feel this pose in different places. Generally, Warrior 1 stretches the ankle, calves, and thighs as well as the chest and shoulders. This pose also strengthens the legs, hips, arms, and the entire core body.

With the feet planted firmly on the ground and the arms reaching strongly overhead, how can you not feel like a proud warrior in this pose?

8. Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana 2)

A grounding, energizing, hip opening pose, the base position of Warrior 2 (feet, legs, and hips) provides a foundation for many other asanas (e.g., Reverse Warrior and Extended Side Angle).

Find Your Warrior 2:

1. Start with the feet about 3 to 4 feet apart, feet parallel.
2. Turn the right hip, thigh, and foot out so the foot is pointing to the top of your mat.
3. The left foot is parallel to the back of the mat or angled to point 45 degrees  forward.
4. The front foot’s heel should be lined up with the back foot’s heel or the center of the back foot.
5. Bend the right knee until it is stacked on top of the right ankle. Track the knee toward the second toe. See how the hips feel here. To deepen the stretch, toe-heel your back foot further back. You are working toward having the front thigh parallel to the floor.
6. Engage the back leg as much as the front leg. To do this, root down through the back edge of the back foot.
7. With the shoulders stacked over the hips, raise the arms so they form a “T” position with the torso and arms parallel to the floor.
8. Engage your low core by drawing your navel in and up toward your spine.
9. Gaze over the front fingers.
10. Repeat on left side.

Benefits:

• Strengthens the legs, core, and arms.
• Stretches the hips and legs.
• Improves balance.
• Provides physical and mental grounding.

9. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Yoga is about finding the balance between engagement and ease, both on and off the mat. Child’s Pose is a respite for many, a posture that brings deep relaxation. It is a great posture to take if you need a pause in your day or in a yoga class.

Find Your Child’s Pose:

1. From hands and knees, bring your knees wide apart and big toes to touch.
2. Sink your hips back toward your heels, they may not touch. If you are tighter in the hips and legs, this posture may be more challenging for you. Try using a blanket between your thighs and lower legs.
3. Release your head down toward the floor or your forehead onto a bolster or other support.
4. Keep your arms outstretched but walk your hands back until your shoulders are relaxed.

Benefits:

• Stretches your hips, thighs, ankles, and back.
• Relaxes the brain.

10. Corpse Pose (Shavasana)

Some yogis think Corpse Pose is the most difficult of all the yoga postures. At the end of most yoga classes, you are led into a supine position and asked to hold it for 2-10 minutes of relaxation. Being still like this can create a great mental and emotional challenge, especially if you aren’t used to the stillness.

It is in this stillness, however, that we cultivate one-pointed concentration that allows us to drop into a meditative state where we are neither asleep nor awake.

This posture gives your body, mind, and soul time to integrate and absorb all of the benefits of your yoga practice. And to find deep relaxation and restoration.

Find Your Corpse Pose:

1. On your back, straighten your legs onto the floor, feet about hip-width apart but relaxed.
2. Bring your arms 6-12 inches away from your body on the floor palms face up.
3. Make any adjustments needed to be comfortable. If having your legs straight brings discomfort into your low back, place a support under your knees. You can also place a short blanket under your head or over your body to calm the nerves and keep the body warm as you rest.

Benefits:

• Calms your mind and relaxes your body.

I remember the first time my husband went to a yoga class. He wouldn’t go with me because he felt embarrassed, and drilled me with dozens of questions about what to expect. He was nervous, which I’ve seen countless times as new yogis come to the studio.

But yoga doesn’t have to be intimidating. Once you get to the studio, the non-competitive atmosphere is welcoming, and each pose and sequence can be adapted to your body and your needs.

My goal with sharing these poses today is to give you a small introduction into the types of movements you’ll likely experience in a yoga class, in hopes that you can ditch those nervous feelings experience the many benefits of yoga in your own life.

Whether you take your first class or set up space in your house to build your own practice around, you’ll soon experience the restorative and transformational effects of this ancient practice.

Find Your Yoga

About the Author: Katie Hay is a practicing Yoga Therapist and Teacher in Black Mountain, NC. She is a certified Yoga Therapist by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher. She has been practicing yoga since she was a teen.