Yoga has hundreds of poses. Some styles of yoga use certain poses unique to type, although most styles have the same basic poses. Yoga poses are generally categorized into certain groups, and often overlap. They can be categorized as sitting, kneeling, standing, supine and prone postures. These are the starting positions for other categories like forward bends, back bends, twists, hip openers, inversions, standing poses, core poses and arm balances. Take a yoga class or consult a certified yoga instructor to learn the various postures.
Sitting
Many sitting poses are used for meditation and to restore flexibility to the pelvis, hips and lower back. Sitting poses like easy pose and lotus pose are used for meditation. From there, you can go into forward bends in poses like head-to-knee pose, and twists like half lord of the fishes pose. Poses like staff pose involve stretching your legs in front of you and keeping your back straight to lengthen and flex your back and legs. Other seated poses, like cow-faced pose, help you open your hips and shoulders. From the seated position, you can also work your core muscles through poses like boat pose.
Kneeling
Kneeling poses open the hips and knees. Some kneeling poses are restorative and some help you meditate. Kneeling poses can strain the knees, so you might need props like rolled-up towels and yoga blocks to support your knees. When kneeling, you can keep your back 90 degrees from your thighs, or you can lie back in poses like reclining hero pose, or bend forward in poses like child's pose. You can also bend to the side in poses like gate-latch pose.
Standing
Begin standing poses by standing up straight, focusing on your posture and dividing your weight evenly on your feet. These are often considered the foundational poses of yoga. The most basic standing posture is called mountain pose, where you stand up straight with your feet together and your arms down, palms facing your thighs, and stretch your body to stand as strong and tall as you can. From here you can go into forward bends like standing forward bend, balance poses like tree pose, and back bends like king of the dancers pose.
Supine
Supine poses are done lying on your back, and many of these poses are restorative. Corpse pose is the most restorative pose, as you simply lie on your back and release tension from all areas of your body, including your mind. From the basic supine position, you can release back tension in apana pose, or go into inversions like inverted pose and supported shoulder stand. You can also do twists like belly twist, and supine back bends like fish pose.
Prone
The opposite of supine, prone poses involve lying face down. From this position, you generally go into back bends like cobra pose and bow pose. After performing these back bends, perform a counter movement by doing a child's pose or forward bends.
References
- "The Complete Yoga Book"; James Hewitt; 1977
- "Yoga Anatomy"; Leslie Kaminoff; 2007
- Yoga Journal: Poses
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