Standing yoga poses help elongate your spine and strengthen your core muscles. These poses are particularly beneficial if you suffer from lower back pain or hip pain. Standing poses range from beginner to advanced and some can even be combined for a cardiovascular workout. Talk to your doctor before performing advanced or inverted poses if you suffer from a chronic spinal condition or have recently suffered an injury.
Basic Standing Poses
The most basic standing yoga pose is the mountain pose, which is the starting point for most other standing poses. The pose focuses on stability and stillness. Stand straight up with your head, shoulders and spine in alignment, and your arms at your sides. Balance your weight evenly between both feet, focusing the majority of your weight on your heels. The tree pose encourages proper posture and helps improve balance. From the mountain pose, lift one foot and place the sole against the inner thigh of your other leg. Press your palms together in front of your chest and slowly raise your arms above your head.
Lowering your foot back to the ground to come out of the tree pose and slowly bending your knees as if you were sitting down while keeping your spine straight and your arms extended above your head with your palms together puts you in the chair pose, which helps strengthen your core and leg muscles. The warrior I and warrior II poses stretch your legs and help stabilize your spine. Warrior I involves lunging forward with your front knee bent at a 90-degree angle while keeping your other knee only slightly bent behind you and leaning back while raising your arms above your head with your palms together. From this pose, you can move into warrior II, in which you straighten your torso and extend your arms perpendicular to the floor in line with your legs.
Side-leaning
Standing poses that have you lean to the side help strengthen and stretch your obliques and other lower-body muscles. To perform the triangle pose, move into a lunge with your back foot turned out to the side. Straighten your front leg and turn your torso to face your upper body to the side. Lean down toward your front leg, reaching for your toes with the arm on the same side while extending your other arm straight up into the air to form a triangle shape with your body. The half moon pose involves bending to the side on one leg, placing one arm on the floor while extending the other straight up and lifting your other leg to line up with your spine. This pose helps strengthen your leg muscles and ankles.
Bending Forward
Many standing poses involve bending or leaning forward at the waist to elongate the spine and stretch the thigh and calf muscles. The standing half forward bend is an excellent stretching pose for beginners because it involves leaning only halfway over while keeping your legs straight. Dropping your arms down and reaching for your toes intensifies the stretch and helps improve flexibility. The warrior III pose involves leaning forward while standing on one leg with the other leg stretched out behind you and your arms outstretched in line with your head. This pose creates a straight line from your hands to the toes of your extended leg and places your body perpendicular to the floor.
The wide-legged forward bend pose provides another beneficial stretch for beginner and intermediate yogis. The pose involves leaning forward at your waist to place your palms on the floor with your hands close together while spreading your straight legs apart three to four feet. Downward-facing dog is one of the most popular poses that begins in a standing position before bending forward. With your feet about shoulder-width apart, lean forward and place your palms on the floor with your arms extended in front of your head to make an inverted V shape with your body.
Considerations
Holding most standing poses for 30 to 60 seconds helps you get the most out of the stretch. It's important to remember to breathe while practicing yoga, as you may find yourself instinctively holding your breath, particularly in inverted poses that compress your abdomen. Entering poses slowly gives your muscles time to adjust to prevent spasm and injury. Modify poses that cause pain or discomfort. For example, bending your legs slightly while performing poses that involve bending forward can help reduce strain on tight leg muscles.
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