In the weight room, you know exactly what to do. Put one of the best barbells in your hands or a kettlebell in front of you, and you know precisely which exercises to do to get the most effective gains for your goals. You may not be a beginner in the gym, but that doesn’t mean you know what to do when someone unfurls a yoga mat.
Contrary to what it may seem if you’ve ever seen someone sink into an easy inversion, you don’t have to be an expert to get into yoga. As a beginner on the mat, a ton of benefits are waiting for you: increased strength in difficult isometric holds, improved mobility, and enhanced stability at your end ranges of motion. Here are the 11 best yoga poses for beginners, including how to perform and fit them into your routine.
Key Takeaways:
- One in six adults in the U.S. practice yoga. (1)
- The benefits of yoga include increased strength and flexibility, improved brain function, and improved mental health issues like stress and anxiety.
- Nearly 85% of people reported improved energy levels and increased happiness from practicing yoga. (2)
- 80% of adults turn to yoga as a way to restore their overall health. (1)
Medical Disclaimer: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.
Types of Poses
When you dive into your yoga practice, you’ll likely be moving through multiple kinds of postures and poses. Here are a few of the most common ones:
- Seated yoga poses: A great option for athletes who want or need to stay seated, either in a chair or on a yoga mat (you can also place a towel or block under your glutes for added support). These poses often focus on hamstring and hip mobility, but many practitioners will also guide you through upper-body mobility while seated.
- Standing yoga poses: These poses often flow into each other, especially in vinyasa yoga. When you’re doing hatha yoga, you’ll typically rest in-between standing poses.
- Supine yoga poses: These poses may involve lying down, often at the end of a yoga practice, but sometimes interspersed throughout a more intense flow. These poses aren’t all passive, and many include twists, hip, hamstring flexibility work, and even inversion.
- Backbends: Performed standing or seated, backbends can involve flexion (forward bending) or extension (backward bending). You’ll want to remind yourself to breathe long and deeply during backbends (it might be easy to forget).
- Balancing yoga poses: Balancing poses can be either standing or seated. Sometimes, supine poses can involve balance work, too. This is crucial for developing core strength and coordination.
[Related: Why Yoga Is Necessary For Strength Athletes]
Best Yoga Poses for Beginners
These poses will stretch you from head to toe, hitting all the major muscle groups and allowing you to really hone in on balance, stability, mobility, and isometric strength. Mastering them will make you more comfortable when taking a class, not to mention translate into more confident efforts when you’re under a heavy load in the best squat racks. Here we go:
- Standing Forward Fold
- Plank
- Downward-Facing Dog
- Upward-Facing Dog or Cobra
- Warrior
- Triangle
- Chair
- Tree
- Low Lunge
- Pigeon
- Twist
1. Standing Forward Fold
The first four moves here are integral parts of a sun salutation, one of the core moves you’ll likely be introduced to in yoga classes. When combined, they stretch and strengthen your entire body.
Standing forward folds release your posterior chain, especially your hamstrings. They also ease pressure on your spine, creating space between the vertebrae. This can feel particularly good when you’re recovering from a tough leg workout or intense back exercises.
How to Do It:
- Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, and shoulders back and down.
- Inhale and reach your arms high up overhead.
- Exhale and bench forward, letting your body passively fall into the pose.
- Focus on your hamstrings. The goal is not to feel tugging in your lower back.
- Breathe slowly and deeply throughout the duration of the movement.
Coach’s Tip: Place your hands on yoga blocks to support your back if you have tight hamstrings.
2. Plank
The plank pose — which you’re likely familiar with from your core workouts — resembles the top of a push-up. While it’s one of the best ab exercises to engage your core muscles, it doubles as an essential yoga pose that you’ll need to help you move through various flows.
While it’s not classically considered an upper-body exercise, it will certainly increase strength in your upper body. As your skills develop, you can integrate plank variations such as side planks into your routine.
How to Do It:
- Come into the top of a push-up position by placing your hands on the floor beneath your shoulders with your arms extended. Aim to create a straight line from the top of your head to your heels.
- Tuck your tummy up and in to maintain your stability.
- Squeeze your glutes and quads to help protect your lower back and keep your hips from dropping down. Avoid dumping your weight into your shoulders by actively pushing the ground away with your hands.
- Hold this position and focus on taking slow, long inhales and exhales.
Coach’s Tip: Start slowly — it’s OK to hold the pose for only a few seconds at first. You can also do this pose on your knees or your forearms.
3. Downward-Facing Dog
The downward-facing dog is another move that elongates your posterior chain. It shifts the emphasis from your hamstrings to your thoracic spine — your upper torso — and calves.
“Walking your dog” by pressing one heel toward the ground, then the other, is a great variation to stretch your calves after a run or a workout involving box jumps, double-unders, or burpees. Strike the standard pose, then alternately bend one knee while pressing the opposite heel toward the ground.
How to Do It:
- Begin on all fours. The angle of your hips to the torso should be slightly wider than 90 degrees.
- On an exhale, tuck your toes beneath you, pressing your hips toward the ceiling, creating a triangle shape with your body.
- Press your palms against the earth and heels toward the ground as you elevate your hips.
- Breathe slowly and deeply.
Coach’s Tip: It does not matter if your heels do not actually touch the ground — in fact, it’s normal. Focus on simply pushing them toward the ground to produce the stretch you’re aiming for.
4. Upward-Facing Dog or Cobra
There are many styles of yoga, and you might perform cobra or upward-facing dog in your flows. The first option may be preferred or even safer if you experience chronic pain in your back or upper body.
The primary difference is that the cobra keeps your knees on the ground and your elbows soft. This decreases the pressure on your lumbar spine, making it the generally better option for those who may have degenerative discs or chronic lower back pain. Consult a qualified medical professional if you’re unsure what the safest, most effective option might be for you.
How to Do It:
- Begin in a plank pose and lower yourself to your belly. You can perform chaturanga (similar to a close-grip push-up variation) by keeping your elbows close to your sides and descending with control.
- Keep your knees and hips grounded. On an inhale, extend your arms up, keeping them slightly bent. Rise only as far as necessary to open the chest and create space in the ribcage without straining your lower back.
- Keep your shoulders down and back, away from your ears. Avoid dumping your weight into your shoulders by actively pressing the ground away with your hands.
- Mindfully concentrate on inhaling and exhaling to avoid holding your breath.
Coach’s Tip: Listen to your body and stop your range of motion before putting strain on your back.
5. Warrior
Like many yoga poses, warrior has several variations. However, all of them send a lot of heat through your legs in a big way. With this move, you’ll develop the stamina and mental capacity to handle high-volume quad workouts and isometric leg exercises like pause squats.
These instructions describe a standard warrior one. Add warrior two and three into the mix as you grow your practice. Whichever version you’re doing, you’ll be holding a lunge for a significant period of time while opening through your chest and hips.
How to Do It:
- Stand with your feet wide, about four feet apart, depending on your height. You need enough space to bend your front knee to 90 degrees without it extending past your ankle. Your front foot faces the front of your yoga mat while your rear one pivots to 45 degrees.
- On an exhale, bend the front knee to as close to 90 degrees as possible while squaring your hips toward the front of the yoga mat and extending your arms toward the sky.
- Inhale deeply into your stomach before letting the air echo over your soft palate, with a relaxed jaw.
Coach’s Tip: Focus on squaring your hips first, even if it means your front leg does not bend to 90 degrees.
6. Triangle
Triangles introduce a gentle torso twist to your routine. They also provide a stretch in the posterior and lateral planes. This is critical for keeping yourself balanced during complex barbell exercises that require a high level of coordination and proprioceptive awareness.
As with most yoga poses, you can perform multiple variations. This is a standard version.
How to Do It:
- Stand with your feet wide, about 3 feet apart, depending on how tall you are. Your forward toes point toward the front of your mat while you pivot your rear foot to 45 degrees.
- Keep your legs straight and knees soft. Inhale as you slowly bend sideways over the extended front leg.
- Exhale as you reach the same hand as the forward leg down your calf.
- Inhale as you extend the other toward the sky, rotating your chest open.
- Square your hips toward the front of the room and breathe deeply.
Coach’s Tip: Use a yoga block to place your hand on instead of resting your hand on your calf for greater stability.
[Related: Yoga for Strength Athletes]
7. Chair
Chair pose is an incredible leg strengthener. And if you notice some resemblance to an overhead squat, you’re not wrong. This is a crucial functional fitness move that both creates stability and improves your thoracic spine mobility, which is key if you want to develop a strong, stable overhead squat or snatch.
This move only looks easy. Hold it, and you’ll feel the burn. Aim to slowly, over time, extend your range of motion to open your chest and be able to reach farther back overhead while maintaining balance, stability, and lower back integrity.
How to Do It:
- Begin in mountain pose with your feet hip-width apart and your back straight.
- Keeping a straight spine, exhale as you bend your legs as you come into a half-squat position, extending your arms toward the sky.
- Hold this position and breathe deeply. Each time you inhale, reach your arms a little higher and further back. Each time you exhale, sink deeper into the pose.
Coach’s Tip: Use a timer to make it a game, seeing how long you can hold the pose. You’ll improve over time.
8. Tree
Tree pose stretches your hips along the lateral plane. It also improves your balance. This will be key when you’re working with unilateral lower-body exercises that require a great amount of balance and stamina from each limb.
You’ll find that balance comes easier on some days rather than others. Instead of getting frustrated, consider it a chance to mindfully check in and notice you’re a bit off. Mentally explore which factors may impact your equilibrium and address them, just like you do in the weight room.
How to Do It:
- Begin standing in mountain pose.
- On an inhale, raise one leg, placing it against the inside of the upper thigh of the opposite leg. Rotate the knee to the side.
- You also have the option to place your foot against the inside of the calf if your hips lack the necessary mobility to reach your thigh just yet.
- Take long, slow breaths throughout the movement. Make sure to keep your timing even on both sides.
Coach’s Tip: Use a wall, prop, or even the side of a power rack to assist with balance or protect you if you have an elevated fall risk.
9. Low Lunge
Tree pose stretches your quads, which are the fronts of your thigh. It also opens your hips. Though it doesn’t look like a squat, this kind of mobility is critical for developing strength and confidence in all kinds of squat variations.
If you tend to experience knee pain, you may struggle to perform this move on hard surfaces. A towel or rolled mat provides the necessary cushioning.
How to Do It:
- Begin on all fours. Take a deep inhale. On an exhale, step one foot forward into a lunge position where your front knee aligns with the forward ankle.
- Inhale. Keep your hands on the ground near your forward foot as you lean into the stretch for the quads and hips.
- On another exhale, extend your hands toward the ceiling once you find the pose.
Coach’s Tip: Keep your hands down if extending them puts too much pressure on your hips or poses a significant problem for your balance.
10. Pigeon
This pose works deep into your hips, one of your most complex joints. It can also temporarily ease lower back pain that may stem from long periods of sitting. Developing this kind of unilateral mobility in your hips is crucial for performing heavy squats to depth. You’ll also find yourself better able to get into position with your deadlift and thrusters
Contrary to what it might seem like when you’re watching your favorite yoga instructor on YouTube, it doesn’t matter if your lower leg parallels the mat or your foot stays closer to your hip. What matters is feeling the stretch on the outside of the front hip and across your lower back.
How to Do It:
- Begin in downward-facing dog.
- On an exhale, step one leg forward, bringing the right ankle as close to the left wrist as possible.
- On an inhale, lower yourself down as you let the forward thigh fall open to the side.
- If it’s accessible to you, exhale to walk your hands or forearms in front of you to deepen the stretch.
- Inhale to lengthen your spine. Once lengthened, you can keep it upright or fold it forward over your front leg for a deeper stretch.
- Continue taking slow, deep breaths throughout the pose. Make sure to keep it even on both sides.
Coach’s Tip: Feel free to adjust the forward leg’s position once you attain the pose.
[Related: Yoga for Bodybuilding]
11. Twists
There are infinite varieties of spinal twists in yoga. This is a simple supine version you can do in bed at day’s end to release your lower back and ease you into sleep. You can also use it as part of your cool-down to help soothe both your heart rate and muscles, especially after glute workouts that will have your backside needing a stretch.
[Related: Muscle Atrophy]
You can also do seated or standing twists. That makes this move accessible to people who spend a lot of time sitting and are seeking options for at-work stretches to help them move more during the day.
How to Do It:
- Begin lying flat on your back.
- Inhale and extend one leg upward, bending the knee at a 45-degree angle.
- As you exhale, cross the bent leg over your body as you extend the opposite arm in the other direction.
- Take slow, deep breaths throughout the pose.
Coach’s Tip: Place a pillow under the bent knee if the twist otherwise puts too much pressure on your spine.
Beginner Yoga Warm-Up
While you don’t need to do a dynamic warm-up before practicing yoga alone, it can make a fabulous introduction to other activities like strength training. For example, flowing through a few sun salutations increases blood flow to all the major muscles of your body while also warming up your connective tissues.
This can help make you mentally ready to work, as well as help make you more resilient against injury by preventing you from jumping into your workout cold.
Here are a few ways you can get your session going. Cycle through each movement for five to 10 breaths, depending on your comfort and experience level.
- Cat-Cow
- Standing Forward Fold
- Plank
- Downward-Facing Dog
- Upward-Facing Dog or Cobra
If your session will involve a lot of twisting, try adding a few breaths each of the following to the warm-up sequence above:
- Warrior
- Triangle
- Twists
[Related: Yoga Poses for Powerlifters]
Benefits of Practicing Yoga
There’s a reason that yoga has been around for so many years and remains extremely popular today. Here are just some of the reasons that yoga has found its way into so many Western athletes’ fitness routines.
Mental Health Benefits
The cognitive benefits of yoga can be profound. Research suggests that the combination of movement while focusing on your breath can improve your mood, boost concentration, decrease stress, anxiety, and depression, and provide greater mental clarity and calm. (2)(3)
And it’s not just some people that benefit from the practice. Of over 4,000 people surveyed across the United States who practice at yoga studios:
- 68.5% reported improved sleep
- 84.5% have seen improved energy levels
- 86.5% say yoga improves their happiness levels. (2)
[Related: Deep Stretching & Emotional Release]
Physical Health Benefits
Yoga can also help you manage injuries, and improve your core strength, overall body strength, and flexibility and mobility. That makes this gentle but powerful practice pack a big punch.
Tight muscles can tear with sudden movement. The more flexible you are, the more resilient you may become against injury. Practicing yoga with medical clearance after an injury may be very helpful for rehabilitation and easing yourself back into safe, effective movement practices. (4)
People with various types of chronic pain may also benefit from a regular yoga practice. (4) Yoga may help people who experience:
- Arthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Migraines
- Lower back pain
[Related: Mobility vs. Flexibility]
How to Get the Most Out of Your Yoga Practice
Consistency is a cornerstone yoga routine — so pick a time that works for you. If you always find yourself rushing from the office to the gym to get in a fast and heavy workout, devote 10 minutes in the morning upon awakening or in the evening before bed. Although warm muscles stretch more easily, you get the same benefits regardless of when you practice.
[Related: The 8 Best Yoga Poses for Olympic Weightlifters]
When maintaining consistency, you might find that your timing is not consistent even if your practice is. Some days, you might squeeze in a quick yoga flow at lunch, while other days, you unroll your mat during the kids’ nap. Whatever situation you find yourself in, remind yourself that there is almost always time for a few minutes to stretch and breathe deeply at some point in your day.
Designing Your Flow
You can perform poses individually or combine them into a flow. Think of a flow as a giant set composed of yoga poses — you’ll go from one move directly into the next, into the next, and on and on. To perform a flow, you’ll build your stamina, improve your breathing, and drastically dial in your focus.
As with weightlifting barbell complexes, you’ll want to start with more complex movements and eventually settle down into more passive poses. These aren’t necessarily “easier,” but in this case, they’re more focused on stretching rather than strengthening (which you’ll do earlier in the flow).
Here are the components you’ll want to include in your flow:
- Sequence: These are the poses that will make up your practice, from warm-up to cool-down.
- Warm-Up: These can simply be gentle movements like cat-cows and wrist and neck rotations, or they can be the same movements you’ll use in the main sequence, just at a lower intensity and with a smaller range of motion.
- Vignettes: Usually, you’ll string together a few poses (2-4) that you’ll flow through several times in a row. Think of these, perhaps, as a mini-sequence that you can repeat that make up bigger sections of your session.
- Vinyasa: This can get confusing, because vinyasa yoga is a type of yoga practice. You may also hear teachers in the West telling their students they can “take a vinyasa,” which in that case typically refers to chaturanga flowing into upward-facing down and then into downward-facing dog.
- Peak Pose: In a well-structured yoga class, there’s a pose that the whole rest of the session will be leading up to and preparing you for: the peak pose. Sometimes, that’s as complicated as an inversion; other times, it’s sometimes less intense. Think of the pose you’d like to learn and structure your session around preparing your body to attempt it.
- Cool-Down: You’ll need your body to return to its resting state after a yoga session. You’ll use your cool down to re-regulate your system.
Yoga Pose Selection
Whether you’re doing one-off poses or putting them together into a flow, choose movements that easily meld into each other, just like you do when programming a workout complex.
- Begin with sun salutations: Sun salutations combine the standing forward fold, plank, downward-facing dog, and upward-facing dog, performed sequentially.
- Include the other standing poses: You can do these sequentially or mix them up into various routines.
- End with passive poses: Passive poses, like pigeon and supine twists, can help calm the central nervous system, provide a focused mindset, and give an excellent stretch.
You can change the entire mood and focus of your practice by adjusting your pacing. For example, performing several sun salutation sequences as you increase speed each time primes your body for further action. Conversely, slowing down and mindfully exploring each pose makes the same series of poses an appropriate cooldown or relaxation session.
Your breath and body operate as one in yoga workouts. When building momentum and warming up, use powerful breaths with a closed mouth to generate heat in your body. Shift focus and technique during deep cooldown stretches, elongating each exhale slightly longer than your inhales.
Yoga Practice Tips
For many strength athletes, it’s a good idea to take a class or two to get comfortable with these yoga poses for beginners. Arrive early to speak with the instructor before class begins, letting them know any health conditions, injury history, or any preferences you have. You can also opt to practice at home, either with your own flow or using the guidance of a class on YouTube or one of the best workout apps.
How to Prepare for Your First Class
Do some research about the studio and/or instructor you’re taking a class with, if possible. Community spaces like the Y may be more comfortable for you than boutique yoga studios that may not prioritize inclusivity for a diversity of bodies and experiences. Do a basic check of the instructor or gym’s Instagram or website to see what their values seem to be, as that can greatly contribute to the tone of the class. You also might gain insight into the type of yoga they tend to practice.
How many times a week should you start doing yoga? It depends on your experience level, fitness level, and desire. If once a week feels good for you, then fantastic. If there’s a class you love or an app you’re enjoying that you want to try three days a week, great. Just make sure your body has enough fuel and rest to recover from the new ways it’s learning to move.
Develop Body Awareness
Yoga isn’t meant to hurt you, though you might be uncomfortable during several poses. You’ll gradually learn the difference between what discomfort you can push through to become more resilient and which types of discomfort you should rest from. At first, opt to rest if you become nervous or feel too much trembling. Then, you can gradually build up your tolerance and hold poses for longer breaths.
Once more with feeling: yoga isn’t meant to hurt. If a stretch or pose causes any jolting or sharp pain or aches at all, always stop. You can use a smaller range of motion or even stop the pose completely and enter child’s pose or an equivalent for the duration of the pose.
What to Wear
Alas — loose clothing isn’t always best here. That doesn’t mean you need to wear very tight clothing, but particularly baggy items can get in your face, block your nose during forward folds, entangle you during practice, and even lead to injury.
Of course, many people are not comfortable wearing tight clothing, so find whatever balance works for you. Sweatpants work just as well as yoga pants, and as long as you’re able to maneuver safely through different poses in the clothes you’re wearing, you should be good to go.
Check-In With Your IRL Instructor
After clearing this kind of activity with a medical professional, let your IRL yoga instructor know if you are practicing with a heart condition or any injuries. A qualified instructor will be able to offer you customizations to help ensure that your practice fits your body and your needs. Speak up before class to ensure the best experience for you.
If you’re attending a class in person, due to everything from trauma history to personal preference, many students do not want to be cued into their poses by touch. Although many instructors are actively aware of this and do not physically adjust students into postures, some do. Clearly inform an instructor if you do not want to be touched before class begins.
[Related: Best Exercise Mats]
Class Etiquette
Yoga classes serve as a refuge for many people who find them sources of physical strength, community, and serenity. But, as with many experiences in fitness, gatekeeping in the Western yoga world can be intense. Pressure to look a certain way (for example, thin, feminine, and white) and the demands to be able to achieve certain poses can be intense. Do your research before attending a class if you can to help yourself find as safe and affirming a space for yourself as can be.
Once you get to class, friendliness is generally encouraged, but many people may be pretty quiet, and that’s OK. Consider making space for others by shifting your yoga mat to make room. When you set up your mat, you can choose to set up toward the front or the back. Just make sure you’re a full (long) arm’s length away from the mats near you so you and your neighbors will have ample room to practice different poses.
During a class, it’s OK to look up at your instructor to help yourself follow the practice, but it’s generally discouraged to look around at your fellow classmates. Just like you probably don’t want anyone staring at you, your classmates want to practice in peace, without judgment. Let them.
More Ways to Grow Your Yoga Practice
Now that you’re getting familiar with the best yoga poses for beginners, try increasing the length of your poses by just one breath each. Once you’re able to do that, work on adding to the range of motion of your poses. Get longer on your inhales and sink deeper into the poses on your exhales. Focus on moving with your breath and you’ll be able to advance your practice with each pose.
References
- Elgaddal, N., Weeks, Julie. Yoga Among Adults Age 18 and Older: United States, 2022. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
- Ross, A., Friedmann, E., Bevans, M., & Thomas, S. (2013). National survey of yoga practitioners: mental and physical health benefits. Complementary therapies in medicine, 21(4), 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2013.04.001
- Hagen I, Skjelstad S, Nayar US. Promoting mental health and wellbeing in schools: the impact of yoga on young people’s relaxation and stress levels. Front Psychol. 2023 May 17;14:1083028.
- “Yoga for Pain Relief.” (2015) Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School.
