Easiest Beginner Yoga Positions

This is a contribution post by Sophia Young

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Yoga can come across as quite an intimidating practice, especially for beginners. It doesn’t help that social media has made it look like Yoga is only for the most flexible and most athletic of people. 

In reality, Yoga is more than just balancing upside down on your arms and bending your body like a pretzel. It’s about getting to know your body and connecting with it on a deeper level. 

Yoga is a lifelong pursuit, so you don’t have to rush yourself to learn all of the poses in a short period. You can start small by practicing the most basic and easiest beginner yoga positions. 

Types of Yoga Poses

If you’ve ever taken a Yoga class in your life, you know that there are several Yoga pose types in the practice. Get familiar with these Yoga pose types below:

Standing Poses

These poses are performed in order for a practitioner to build heat in the body. Depending on the Yoga practice, there are different ways to perform standing poses. A couple of examples of standing poses are Tadasana (Mountain Pose) and Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I).

Balancing Poses

Balancing poses are performed in order to strengthen the core and to improve balance — two elements that are important in every Yoga practice. Most advanced Yoga poses are balancing poses. 

Backbends

Just as its name suggests, these poses are designed to help spinal health and improve longevity. Beginners normally start with gentle flexions and extension of the spine before moving into deeper bends. Some examples of backbends are Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)

Seated Poses

These poses are designed to stretch the lower extremities, such as the legs, hips, and hamstrings. Seated poses are usually performed towards the end of a yoga class to cool down and relax the muscles.

Resting Poses

Resting poses are made to offer practitioners respite during particularly challenging positions. It’s important that you know what resting or supine poses you can do during specific poses so you can take a break when you need to. The most common examples are Savasana (Corpse Pose) and Balasana (Child’s Pose).

Easiest Beginner Yoga Positions

Below, we’ve made a list of beginner Yoga workout/s that even seniors can handle. While these poses can certainly be performed by students of varying levels and expertise, we highly recommend that you check with your physician before you start any new workout regimen, especially if you have any existing health conditions or complications. 

Now, let’s talk about the easiest beginner Yoga positions: 

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Standing Pose

Tadasana might not seem like much — after all, it’s simply just standing with both your feet firmly planted on the ground. But you’d be surprised to know that this pose is the most basic way for a person to master balance and control. 

By feeling where your weight is heaviest, you can carefully position your body in a way that distributes your weight equally all throughout. This pose not only improves balance but it also stretches and elongates the spine. 

Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)

Standing Pose

Warrior I helps to strengthen the legs and upper arm muscles. They also work to improve balance, core stability and stretch the muscles found around the hips. If you’re someone who sits in front of the desk all day, this is a great antidote for your discomfort. 

Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

Backbend

Cobra pose is often done in vinyasa flow classes and is an important part of the sequence. While this pose is meant to give the lower back a good bend and stretch, it’s also a great exercise to open the chest and strengthen the arms. 

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)

Backbend

If you’re looking for a gentle way to start exploring your spine’s flexibility, the Bridge Pose is a good place to start. This type of movement helps improve the mobility in your spine, it can also help tone your upper leg muscles because of the movement it involves. If you can’t do a regular bridge pose, a Yoga instructor may recommend you to use a Yoga block to make the stretch easier to perform. 

Savasana (Corpse Pose)

Resting Pose

Most Yoga sessions end with the Savasana or Corpse Pose. It’s a great way to relax the body and release the muscles after a good workout. It’s a meditative pose where you try to calm the mind as you bring your body to stillness. 

Balasana (Child’s Pose)

Resting Pose

This is an important pose to take note of. It is the position you assume whenever you need to take a break in between Yoga poses. It’s no secret that Yoga can be an intense form of exercise. Some beginners who have never experienced it before can easily become fatigued or dizzy. 

Coming into Child’s Pose can help you get respite front the exercise sequence. It also gives your lower back, hips, thighs, and ankles. 

If you want to add your arms into the mix of muscles you can stretch during a Balasana, you can do an extended Child’s Pose. 

Now you’re all set to begin your yoga regime! If you enjoyed this post and have something more to say on the topic, you know we love to hear from you. Write to us and get featured on #BeStorified.

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Sophia Young recently quit a non-writing job to finally be able to tell stories and paint the world through her words. She loves talking about fashion and weddings and travel, but she can also easily kick ass with a thousand-word article about the latest marketing and business trends, finance-related topics, and can probably even whip up a nice heart-warming article about family life. She can totally go from fashion guru to your friendly neighborhood cat lady with mean budgeting skills and home tips real quick. Connect with her on Twitter.

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