Most yoga poses require some level of physical strength to enter into and remain in. Practicing these postures helps build overall body strength, and also helps develop balance and stability.
Widen your stance, then bend forward as you inhale. Keep your hands in front of you, or if comfortable, place them next to you to draw your chest toward your feet.
Downward Facing Dog
The most well-known yoga posture, Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) stretches and strengthens the entire body. It encourages blood flow and helps energize the body. It also treats thyroid imbalances and can be helpful for people with nasal allergies as it opens up the sinuses and allows the body to release mucus.
Three-legged Downward Facing Dog is an effective way to strengthen leg muscles while improving hip flexibility. It’s important to practice the pose with the proper alignment to ensure you get the most benefits from the exercise. It’s also important to engage your core muscles while performing the pose for optimal balance and stability.
Child’s Pose
The gentle stretch of child’s pose (balasana) can help to relieve pressure in the lower back, hips and thighs. It can also stimulate digestion and improve heart health by lowering blood pressure and relaxing the muscles of the upper body.
In addition, this restful posture can encourage mindfulness and help students to calm the mind and focus. It’s a good resting pose after a demanding vinyasa flow, a long hold in a forward bend or an attempt at a challenging inversion. This posture can be more active if the arms are stretched out in front of the body, or more passive if the hands relax on top of the knees.
Cobra
Cobra is a backbend yoga pose that’s most commonly done in conjunction with upward facing dog (urdhva mukha shvanasana) as part of a sun salutation sequence for beginners, but it can also be a stand-alone move. It strengthens the chest and hip flexor muscles, as well as the biceps and triceps, Dr. Harding says.
It’s milder than other backbends, making it ideal for beginners or anyone with back pain who wants a gentle stretch. If it feels too intense, you can try baby or twisted cobra poses to reduce the amount of spinal extension. It’s not recommended for people with neck injuries or those who have unexplained spine pain, Dr. Harding warns.
Tree Pose
This balancing pose strengthens the muscles in the ankles and feet. It also encourages mindfulness by encouraging practitioners to pay attention to their body’s movements and to find a balance between steadiness and ease in the pose.
Practicing Tree Pose cultivates concentration and mindfulness by challenging the practitioner to focus on one point in space for an extended period of time. Instructors typically introduce this standing posture toward the middle or end of a yoga class so that the body has a chance to warm up.
One-Legged Forward Bend
This balancing on one leg yoga pose provides a full-body stretch and a slight spinal twist. Also known as Janu Sirsasana, it helps calm the brain, improve digestion and stimulates the liver and kidneys.
This posture also strengthens the thighs and lower back muscles, including the erector spinae muscle. This is important because too much tightness in these muscles can cause pain in the back and neck. To get the most out of this yoga forward fold, it is important to move into and out of it smoothly. This means not pressing the foot into the inner thigh too forcefully or quickly. This can cause injury to the knee or hip joint.
Mountain Pose
Mountain Pose, or Tadasana, is a foundational standing pose that can improve posture and balance. It may also help reduce the pain associated with conditions like Parkinson’s disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Stand with your big toes touching and heels slightly apart. Press down into your feet, balancing the weight evenly across all corners of each foot. Some yoga teachers recommend squeezing the inner thighs and pushing the heel toward each other to align the hips, knees, and ankles in a straight line from the big toes to the crown of the head.
You can play with the placement of your feet to explore their benefits. For example, try shifting your weight to the outsides and then to the insides of your feet and how this affects your balance and posture.