Yoga workouts can improve balance, strength and flexibility. Faster-paced yoga styles that raise the heart rate can also count as low-intensity cardio exercise.
The CDC recommends adults get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio and two days of muscle-strengthening activity each week. Mixing up your routine helps you avoid a fitness plateau and keeps your exercise exciting.
Tree Pose
Tree Pose (Vrksasana) is a standing yoga posture that strengthens and challenges balance, stability and focus in one fluid movement. This balancing posture requires core muscles to engage, strengthening the legs and the trunk of the body while focusing the mind on steady, deep breathing.
While practicing Vrksasana, aim to keep the lifted foot pressed against the inner side of your knee. Never place the foot above or below the knee as this can destabilize the joint and pose.
Traditionally, instructors cue Tree Pose in the middle of a yoga class, after warming up the hips with poses such as Warrior 1 and Down Dog Split. This helps students to settle into the posture and develop a deeper understanding of their strengths and limitations.
Down Dog Split
Adho mukha svanasana, or down dog, is one of the most recognized yoga postures. It stretches and strengthens the feet, legs, hips, back, shoulders and arms. It also relieves lower back pain when practiced with good form.
If you have tight hamstrings, you may struggle to lift your heels toward the mat and round your spine. If so, rest in puppy pose or child’s pose to help you release your hamstrings before attempting down dog again.
If you struggle to externally rotate your upper arms in down dog, try moving them apart and pointing the elbow eyes toward opposite corners of the mat. This will broaden the collarbones and lengthen your spine.
Extended Side Angle
After building endurance with the earlier postures, it’s time to work on your balance skills and strengthen the side body. This pose, Utthita Parsvakonasana, or Extended Side Angle, teaches the yogic concept of sthira, or steadiness, and sukha, or lightness.
Stand with your feet about a leg’s length apart. Place the left foot forward and align the heel, shin, knee and thigh with each other, and then turn the back foot in about 30 degrees.
Bringing your right hand to rest on the outside of the right leg helps you keep your balance while working into this challenging pose. This pose strengthens the hips, quads and shoulders, stretches the sides of the legs and chest and improves lung capacity. It can also help reduce stress and fatigue.
Warrior 1
Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana 1) is a strength-building pose that also challenges balance and focus. It helps to build core, leg and arm strength, as well as encourages a healthy spine.
It feels energizing after a long day at work, opens the chest to improve breathing and lengthens a rounded spine that often develops from sitting at a desk all day, but it is equally useful as a foundational pose for transitioning into other postures, particularly in a vinyasa yoga flow. See How to Practice Warrior 1, Part of the Sun Salutation B Series on Online Studio for an easy-to-follow guide.
Many people confuse this pose with a high lunge, but the back foot is in a different position in Warrior 1. This makes the pose less challenging for those with lower-back pain and helps to strengthen the inner thighs more deeply.
Warrior 2
Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana 2) is a strong standing posture that strengthens the legs and builds stability in the body. It also opens the hips and chest. The back leg’s toes point toward the long edge of the mat while the front foot points forward. The body weight is distributed evenly over both feet, which prevents excessive pressure on the knees and ankles.
For beginners, this pose can feel intimidating because of the amount of strength required to maintain proper form. To help with this, Kirra recommends starting with a short flow like her 20-Minute Focus Flow and then gradually adding more length to the sequence as you get stronger in the pose. The key is to always listen to your body and never push through pain.