The International Sivananda organization says that yoga has more than 8 million yoga poses in traditional scripture. Yoga instructors may teach 10 to 20 yoga poses in a single class. Some poses, such as downward facing dog and forward bend, are found in almost every yoga class, while other poses may be taught on a more infrequent basis. Whether you think of yoga as having 10 or 8 million poses, almost all of them have key principles, which you can apply to each.
Step 1
Find your foundation. If you are in a standing pose, then your foundation is your feet. In arm balance poses it is your hands, and in seated ones it is your sit bones. In every yoga pose, become aware of rooting down into your foundation. Spread your fingers or toes out wide if applicable.
Step 2
Use your core. Core muscles may describe your abdominals and back muscles, but they can also refer to your pelvic floor muscles or bandhas. Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha contract your pelvic floor and lower abdominal muscles, respectively. Gently contracting these areas helps you maintain posture, efficient breathing and strength for your poses.
Step 3
Keep your shoulders down. This applies directly to standing poses such as the warriors, mountain, triangle and more, but is often useful in non-upright poses, such as plank or cat and cow, as well. Keeping your shoulders down or neutral takes unnecessary pressure off them, and puts more effort into the muscles that should be working.
Step 4
Maintain a long spine. A long spine is particularly useful during standing balance poses, seated forward bend variations and yoga twists. Keep your chin parallel to the floor, when applicable, and the crown of the head reaching upward, relative to your position.
Step 5
Rediscover your breath. As you focus on getting into more complex poses, you may find that you hold your breath. Learning to keep your breath even and deep is as much a part of yoga as the poses themselves. Do not be surprised if you have to remind yourself repeatedly to breathe. Try a few Vinyasa style classes to help you get used to yogic breathing. Vinyasas are yoga pose sequences that incorporate breath cues, so that each time you change into a new pose you are inhaling or exhaling as instructed.
Step 6
Stay present. Even as you focus on your physical cues, alignment principles and breathing, your mind may still wander off to your common thoughts and worries or projections about the future. Just as you reel you breath in over and over, do the same with your mind, returning to the act of focusing on the present moment.
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