Whether you’re new to yoga or a seasoned practitioner, these basic poses will help you strengthen and stretch your body. They’re also great for building balance.
This standing forward bend strengthens ankles and legs, as well as stretches the torso and shoulders. Beginners can use a block for support to make this pose more accessible.
Cat-Cow
The Cat-Cow stretch is a basic yoga move that often makes its way through a class. It is a gentle warm-up for the spine and helps prepare you for more challenging poses. It also teaches you to sync your breath with movement.
Practicing the cat-cow pose regularly will improve your spine’s flexibility, as well as your neck and shoulder strength. It also reduces pelvic stiffness and stress in the lower back and hips.
From hands-and-knees tabletop, begin with a big inhale into cow pose. On the exhale, sink your belly toward the floor, arch your back and lift your head, directing your gaze where the ceiling meets the wall.
Bridge Pose
Bridge pose strengthens the back, stretches the chest and neck, and helps to open the lungs. It also strengthens the muscles in the hips and abdomen. It helps to relieve lower back pain and sciatica, and improves metabolic/hormone issues for those with PCOS.
If you have a back injury, skip poses that strain the spine, such as bridge, until your injury heals. However, you can do variations of the pose that are less challenging and offer similar benefits.
For example, use a block under your sacrum (flat triangular bone at the base of your spine) to support your back and reduce the pressure on your shoulders.
Downward-Facing Dog
Downward-facing Dog is one of the most familiar poses in yoga. It stretches the back and shoulders and strengthens arm, wrist and leg muscles. It also promotes circulation, giving your body a natural energy boost.
Down Dog is a great transition pose, particularly from a standing series of postures, like the Sun Salutation. It can also be added at the beginning or end of a session to prepare your neck for deeper seated poses.
Beginners may find the arms and shoulder bearing the brunt of the weight challenging, so try a modified version of the pose with a blanket under the wrists to take pressure off the shoulders. The more you practice, the stronger and more stable your Downward Dog will become.
Chaturanga
Chaturanga, or Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana), is a powerful strength-builder for the core and shoulders. This low plank pose is a key part of Vinyasa Flow and Ashtanga yoga styles. This pose strengthens the core, wrists, arms and can help prevent shoulder injuries.
This yoga move is hard for many students and should be practiced carefully to avoid injury. It can be helpful to practice the pose against a wall until the body is strong enough to do it without support. It’s also important to keep the hips in a straight line from the knees to the crown of the head. A sagging hip can cause strain on the back and can lead to shoulder pain.
Lunge
The Lunge yoga pose strengthens and balances the body, as well as stretching the back and hips. It also helps to lengthen the lower back, preventing unwanted pain or tension. The lunge pose also enhances focus and concentration and nurtures one’s determination to achieve goals.
To practice the Lunge Pose, start in Downward-Facing Dog and exhale as you step your right leg forward between your hands, aligning your front knee over your heel. Then, slowly slide your left foot back until you feel a stretch in the front thigh and groin.
The lunge pose builds energy and focuses the mind, making it an ideal transitional pose for flow yoga. This pose targets the quads, hamstrings, glute muscles and core.
Twist
The lumbar spine vertebrae can only move forwards and backwards and side to side but cannot rotate or twist. The thoracic (middle and upper spine) vertebrae can easily twist, though. Yoga twist poses rely on the internal oblique muscles to facilitate rotation.
The twisting action squeezes and massages the organs, making it easier for your body to remove toxins and waste materials. BKS Iyengar explains that these movements also help slow down the deterioration of spinal discs.
Since yoga twists involve rotation of the spine it’s important to practice them with caution if you have backpain or tension. If you have a chronic or recurrent back injury consult with your doctor and/or a qualified yoga teacher to learn what postures are appropriate for you.