Five Essential Yoga Poses For Beginners

When you first start attending yoga classes it can be intimidating, especially if everyone around you is much more experienced.

While many of the poses seem complex and require a lot of strength and expertise, there are a few that are fairly easy to master and are also crucial for beginners to get to grips with early on if they are planning on progressing further with yoga.

Read on to find out about the five essential yoga poses for beginners.

Mountain pose

This pose acts as a base for all of the standing poses that are associated with yoga, so it’s important that you learn about it early on.

To perform this pose, start standing with your feet together.

Next, press down through your toes as you spread them open.

Engage your quadriceps to lift your kneecaps and lift up through the inner thighs.

Draw your abdominals in and up as you lift your chest and press the tops of the shoulders down.

Downward dog

Even if you’ve never tried yoga before, it’s likely that you’ve heard of the downward facing dog.

This pose is incorporated in most yoga classes because it helps to strengthen and stretch the entire body.

To master this pose, start on all fours and tuck under your toes, lifting your hips up off the floor as you draw them up at the back towards your heels.

Next, press through your palms and rotate the inner elbows towards each other.

Hold for 5-8 breaths before dropping back to hands and knees to rest.

Plank

The plank position is another useful one as it will help you to balance on your hands and support your entire body.

Simple to execute, start on all fours and then tuck under your toes and lift your legs off the mat.

Slide your heels back enough until you feel you are one straight line from your head to your feet.

Tree

This one is ideal for beginners and it helps to gain both focus and clarity while also ensuring that you are focusing on breathing, an extremely important part of any yoga class.

Start with your feet together and place your right foot on your inner left upper thigh.

You can then press your hands in front of yourself in prayer.

It’s also a good idea to focus on something in front of you to maintain your balance.

Child’s pose

This position is excellent for stretching out and is fairly easy to master.

Start on all fours then bring your knees and feet together as you sit your butt back to your heels and stretch your arms forward.

Lower your head as you let your entire body release all the tension it is feeling.