Yoga has become a worldwide famous practice today. The best part about yoga is that it can be performed anywhere, anytime, and does not need the help of any special equipment.
However, just like any other exercise or chore, practising yoga also requires some practice in the beginning. You need to start with first things first. With the passage of time, your strength and stamina will increase, and then you will be able to move on to the more complex poses.
Are you also a beginner in Yoga? Whether you are trying to perform yoga for your regular health, or wish to gain expertise, we bring to you in this article, somebeginner yoga poses that are great for beginners to learn.
Types of Poses
There are five major types of poses performed in Yoga. They are namely
- Standing poses- These are the warming-up poses in yoga. They help your body stretch and warm-up and should be done at the beginning of your yoga session. The standing poses seem and are easy to do, but require strength and help in building up flexibility and core strength.
- Balancing Poses- These poses are the ones that require a lot of balancing practice. They also build up the core strength of an individual which helps them in performing the advanced poses. They also put a great positive effect on the mental strength of an individual.
- Backbends- These poses are great for improving flexibility and maintaining spinal health and the health of your bones and nerves. However, they require a lot of practice and consistency.
- Seated Poses- These poses are done to affect the lower part of the body and for stretching the hips and hamstrings. They require the body to be warm after to be performed well and thus, are conducted at the end of the yoga session.
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Resting Poses- These resting poses help you relax your body in between the yoga session, or at the end, whenever you need a break. They are thebest yoga poses for beginners.
Poses for Beginners
Mentioned below are 20 beginner yoga poses to give you a kickstart at yoga.
1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
This is a standing beginner yoga pose that requires the alignment of the body. In this pose, you need to draw a straight line from head to toe, making sure your shoulders and pelvis are aligned. This warms up your body and stretches all parts.
2. Easy Pose (Sukhasana)
This pose is the best for beginners, although people of all levels of expertise perform it. It is the best pose to relieve stress from your body and is performed by the practitioners of meditation. All you need to do is sit cross-legged on a yoga mat.
Put your hands on your knees, ensuring that your palms face upside down. Make sure your spine and your back are straight. Now close your eyes, and feel as you inhale and exhale air to clear your mind of any stress or negative thoughts.
3. Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Shavasana)
In this easy beginner yoga pose, make sure your feet are completely touched to the floor except for the heels. Bend down and take your hands to the floor in a way that the palms of your hands rest completely on the floor. You should keep your weight on your legs and take your hips towards the sky while bending your knees a little.
4. Child’s Pose (Balasana)
This pose is great for relaxing your nervous system and is beneficial for people with knee problems. Tuck your toes under your legs and kneel down. Lower your butt and stretch your upper body and your hands in the forward position and rest your stomach on your thighs comfortably. Make sure your forehead touches the mat to perform this beginner yoga pose perfectly.
5. Corpse Pose (Shavasana)
This is a meditative pose, beneficial for the body and the mind as it helps in relieving stress. This yoga pose for beginners is quite simple. All you need to do is lie down on your back and allow your feet to fall on the sides. With your arms alongside your torso and palms facing the sky, relax your entire body for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Shavasana)
This beginner yoga poses for abs is great for stretching and also helps you burn fat on your upper body including the shoulders, stomach and breast region. Lay down on your mat and place your hands with your fingers open.
With your toes stretched to the back, lift your body with the weight of your upper body on the hands in such a way that only your hands and the tip of your feet touch the floor. Put your back in an arch position.
7. Cat Cow Pose (Marjaryasana to Bitilasana)
This pose helps you warm up and stretch your back, strengthens your core and prepares you for difficult poses such as a downward-facing dog. To do this pose, touch your hands, knees and toes twisted outwards, on the floor.
Form a dog position, inhale air, and form a curve on your back with your chin touching your chest as you exhale. In the next step, inhale more air, and lift your head up with your eyes on the ceiling as you exhale the air. This pose should be done with a lot of care and under expert supervision.
8. Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)
This beginner yoga pose helps you strengthen your legs while opening up your hips and chest. Your arms and legs are also stretched, and your concentration and balance levels are increased.
To do this pose, raise your hands over your head and join your palms. Put one leg in front of you, with your knee bent and your foot forming a 90-degree angle. The other foot should be stretched backwards.
9. Warrior II (Virbhadrasana II)
This pose is similar to Warrior I pose in terms of the positioning of the lower body. It is an amazing beginner yoga pose for flexibility.To do this, form the position of your legs similar to that in Warrior I and raise your arms to the level of your shoulder.
Put one arm in the front and the other at the back and make sure they are parallel to the floor. Keep your chin up and look straight in front of you.
10. Triangle (Trikonasana)
This pose is highly helpful in burning the fat of the whole body with stretching. To do this pose, open your legs. Bend over to your left side, and with your left hand, touch your left foot.
Take the other hand and stretch it towards the roof. Make sure that your face and neck are also positioned towards the roof. Hold for some time, and then switch on to the right side.
11. Plank Pose (Kumbhakasana)
This beginners’ yoga pose looks easy, but is quite difficult and requires a lot of core strength. In the beginning, some people are able to perform it for not more than 20 seconds at a time! To do this pose, lie down on the floor with your stomach and face side down.
Now lay your hands on the floor with your palms facing don, and lift your body with only your palms and your toes touching the ground. Keep your butts not too high but in an aligned position. Stay in this position for as long as possible. With time and practice, your strength will increase which will allow you to stay in this position for comparatively long periods.
12. Tree Pose (Vrikshasana)
This pose is an amazing pose for a healthy mind and body. It is used by experts to perform meditation. It requires a lot of balancing practice though. To perform this pose, stand on one leg, and place the other leg on the thigh of the leg you are standing on.
Now fold your hands to do a namaste pose. Keep your spine straight and hold this position for as long as possible. You can even close your eyes for concentration.
13. Baby Pigeon Pose (Kapotasan)
This pose is beneficial for your lower body and helps you open up your hips. To perform this pose, take your right knee and move it forward, with your leg folded below. Take your left leg and stretch it backwards, only your toe touching the ground.
Now with your hands touching the floor on the sides of your right knee, stretch your upper body with your face and eyes looking straight. Hold this pose for some time, and then try with the left leg.
14. Legs Up The Waal Pose (Viparita Karani)
This yoga pose for beginners is considered to be very helpful in facilitating the blood flow in the body. It is an easy pose, meant to relax and revitalise the body. To do this pose, lie down on the floor on your back, near a wall.
Taking the support of a wall, lift your legs up in a way that your legs from your buttock to your heels touch the wall. Keep your hands aligned to your torso. If you are not so comfortable, you can also keep a cushion below your torso.
15. Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parvakonasana)
This is another easy standing pose that helps you stretch your body and increase your strength and focus. All you need to do is stand with your legs apart. Now take your right hand and bend it down to touch the right foot.
While doing this, stretch your left arm towards the sky. Also, bend your right knee while keeping your left leg straight and your chest towards the ground. Now try this with the other side of the arm.
16. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
To do this beginner's yoga pose, take a deep breath. Stand straight and slowly take your hands to reach your foot. Bend over, widen your legs and bend your knees a little if you feel comfortable. Leave your head hanging.
17. Garland Pose (Malasana)
This beginner's yoga pose is similar to squatting. It provides the pelvis region with a great stretch and helps in opening your hips.To do this pose, widen your legs a little, field your hands to do a namaste and sit down in the squat pose.
You can try to do as many malasadas as you can as a beginner, and with time and practice, you will be able to do more.
18. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)
The cobra pose is a type of backbend pose which is great for the neck and the spine. To do this pose, all you need to do is lie down on your stomach. Now keep your hands in alignment with your breast region, and then slowly lift the upper part of your body, while your stomach still touching the ground.
Ensure that your legs are straight with your toes curled outwards. Hold this for some breaths, then relieve your body, and then do it again.
19. Staff Pose (Dandasana)
This beginner yoga pose is also known as a seated version of the mountain pose. To perform this pose, you should sit down with your legs straight, not too far away from each other.
Keep your spine straight, your head lifted and your arms beside your torso with the palms touching the ground. Perform this pose for as long as possible while taking deep breaths. This increases your core strength and helps you cure pains or strains in your neck and spine.
20. Cobbler’s Pose (Badha Konasana)
This pose is great for your inner thighs, as it helps in stretching them along with burning extra fat. You just have to sit with your back straight, with your legs folded in a way that your ankles touch your inner thighs.
Now hold your foot with your hands, and for better results, move your knees up and down. This yoga pose for beginners is also known as the butterfly pose. If you do not feel comfortable at first, you can try keeping a cushion or a blanket below your hips.
Benefits of Yoga
Yoga comes with a plethora of benefits that no one is unaware of today. Inculcating the practice of Yoga in your everyday life can help you relieve your mind and soul from everyday stress and anxiety.
Your strength, balance and flexibility are improved while problems in your body such as strains and pains are gotten rid of.
Yoga facilitates the flow of blood and improves the health of the heart. If you love yourself and want to focus on self-care, you should start doing yoga on a regular basis.
Apart from this, yoga has been scientifically proven to provide relief in severe health issues such as arthritis, chronic pains in the head, neck, back, and other problems related to women's health. It also adds up to your energy, and doing yoga in the morning can make your day more productive and full of energy.
Have you started practising yoga? If not, what are you waiting for? Start practising yoga today with the beginner yoga poses, and get to witness better health, better mood and happier, healthier life!
