Practicing yoga poses in a way that makes you feel good is important for your physical health. If a pose feels uncomfortable or painful, don’t push it too hard.
Balancing poses can improve your balance and stability, while stretching tight muscles like the shoulders and back. This helps you develop better posture and increases your awareness of your body’s strengths and weaknesses.
Downward-Facing Dog
Downward-facing dog, also known as Adho Mukha Svanasana, is a foundational yoga posture that strengthens the hands and arms while stretching and improving circulation. It’s also a great way to build core strength and prepare for more sedentary poses like seated postures.
Many beginners to yoga get in trouble with this posture because of a poor understanding of the alignment cue to “tuck the tailbone under.” This causes a backward tilt of the pelvis and flattening of the lumbar curve, which can cause low back pain.
Rather than getting students into a position that creates soft tissue imbalance and injury, instructors should first help students develop the strength and stability of their weakest areas. In doing so, they’ll be able to move safely into challenging yoga postures and gain confidence in their practice.
Child’s Pose
It is easy to assume that any yoga pose should feel intense and challenging, but not every posture needs to burn. Some are meant to be passive and restorative, like Child’s Pose (Balasana).
The passive nature of this pose doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial to your body. It provides a stretch for the back, hips, shoulders and ankles. It also promotes relaxation and encourages the mind-body connection.
You can keep your knees together or spread them wide in child’s pose, and you can either extend your arms by your sides or hold them out in front of you, palms facing each other. Experiment with these variations to find what’s most comfortable for your body and to explore how it changes the challenge and stretch of this pose.
Warrior III
Warrior III, also called Virabhadrasana III, is a balancing pose that requires power and strength. It converts the potential energy of the hips, back body and shoulders from the previous poses into movement by projecting the weight onto the front leg while drawing the torso forward.
It helps build strength in the legs, core and arms and improves balance, focus and concentration. If you have difficulty balancing in this posture, try putting the hands on the ground or resting the standing leg on a wall at an arm’s length distance to help maintain a steady position. Avoid arching the low back or straining in the back, and flex the toes of the lifted leg to engage the quadriceps. The pose can be helpful in combating high blood pressure, and is contraindicated for anyone with back or neck injuries.
Triangle Pose
Known as Triangle Pose or Trikonasana, this pose is both energizing and challenging. It engages the lower and upper body and helps stretch the hamstrings, groin, inner thighs, and shoulder.
The upper body is also lengthened, and the neck can be rotated to gaze forward or toward the floor. Whether looking down or up, keep the neck in line with the spine to prevent rounding and protect the spine.
A common mistake in this pose is taking too wide or too narrow of a stance. The wider stance can strain the hips while the narrower stance can create stress on the knees. The ideal stance will feel stable through the front legs and a good stretch through the back leg and side of the torso.
Triangle Twist
This standing spinal twist is a challenge on its own and helps strengthen the legs, back, and hips. It also prepares the shoulders and torso for more intense poses like Revolved Triangle Pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana).
Unlike Triangle Forward Bend, in this pose one of the feet is not flexed or internally rotated. Instruct your students to firmly press the bottom forearm against the outer leg, to help keep the torso in a deep twist.
The front hand can rest on the floor beside the foot (if the student is flexible enough to reach it), or on a block or the top of the front leg. Aim for the top hand to come close to the feet, or even to the ground if the student is a more advanced yogi.