These 6 Foundational Yoga Poses Build Your Practice From the Ground Up

“Foundational yoga poses are easy but highly effective,” says Paige Willis, RYT-200, licensed yoga teacher and founding father of Undone, a pop-up yoga expertise.

“They permit seasoned and new practitioners to befriend their our bodies and the way they’re displaying up that day. Coming again to foundational poses usually is the upkeep work that reminds us how far we’ve come and grounds us in the place we wish to go.”

For April 2024, we’ve requested Willis to host our Motion of the Month Membership, specializing in yoga. For Week 1, she’s chosen the 6 foundational yoga poses beneath—together with mountain pose, ahead fold, downward dealing with canine, and warrior I. These are the constructing blocks of your yoga observe, setting the stage for all the opposite poses you will do in a while.

Comply with alongside together with her as she guides you thru this method to create a sustainable observe that promotes bodily and psychological well-being, permitting you to progress safely and enjoyably whereas reaping the long-term advantages of yoga.

Be a part of the Motion

For those who’re following together with our Motion of the Month Membership, you’ll do one pose every day, Monday by means of Saturday. Then on Sunday, you’ll do the complete 5-minute routine.

Do every of those 6 foundational yoga poses for 50 seconds (25 seconds on all sides, the place obligatory) earlier than shifting on to the subsequent one, for a complete of 5 minutes. For those who’re feeling particularly tight or when you have extra time, be happy to do every transfer for so long as feels good.

1. Mountain Pose to Prolonged Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

Although this pose seems like “simply standing,” it may be one of many hardest poses to grasp for those who’re really specializing in every a part of your physique, ft to move. However getting it proper helps floor and lengthen your physique, fostering a way of steadiness and stability and selling consciousness of your breath and physique.

1. Stand tall together with your ft hip-width aside, arms relaxed by your sides, and palms dealing with ahead.
2. Interact your quadriceps (entrance of thighs), elevate your kneecaps, and tuck your tailbone just below to have interaction your core.
3. Roll your shoulders again and down, opening your chest.
4. Lengthen your backbone by reaching the crown of your head towards the ceiling with out straining.
5. Take just a few deep breaths right here, grounding down by means of all 10 toes and the heels of your ft.
6. As you inhale, elevate your arms out to the edges and up overhead, reaching towards the sky.
7. Maintain your palms dealing with one another or press them collectively overhead, relying in your mobility.
8. Maintain your gaze ahead or elevate it gently towards your fingers if it does not pressure your neck.

2. Ahead Fold to Midway Elevate (Uttanasana to Ardha Uttanasana)

This pair of poses gently stretches your hamstrings (helpful for many who spend time sitting down) and helps steadiness and decompress your backbone, which can assist enhance your posture over time.

1. Start standing in mountain pose (see above).
2. Exhale as you hinge ahead at your hips, bending out of your waist and folding your torso over your thighs.
3. Let your head grasp heavy and chill out your neck, permitting your arms to dangle towards the ground.
4. If doable, convey your palms or fingertips to the ground beside your ft. In case your flexibility is proscribed, you possibly can bend your knees barely to make this extra accessible. Really feel the stretch alongside the again of your legs and backbone as you give up into the pose.
5. On an inhale, press your palms or fingertips into the ground or your shins or thighs (relying in your flexibility) and elevate your torso midway up.
6. Lengthen your backbone ahead, reaching your crown away out of your tailbone and making a straight line out of your head to your tailbone. Maintain your backbone lengthy and flat, partaking your core to assist your decrease again.
7. Maintain your gaze barely ahead to keep up a impartial neck.

3. Excessive Plank to Low Plank (Chaturanga)

These two plank variations assist construct power in your core, arms, chest, again, and shoulders, whereas selling wrist power and mobility.

1. Start on the prime of a push-up place together with your fingers beneath your shoulders, and your physique in a straight line out of your head to your heels.
2. Interact your core to maintain your hips consistent with the remainder of your physique. Maintain your gaze barely ahead to keep up a impartial neck.
3. On an exhale, decrease your physique towards the bottom by bending your elbows immediately again alongside your ribcage.
4. To launch, you possibly can both decrease all the way in which right down to the bottom, transition into upward dealing with canine (see beneath) or press again as much as excessive plank.

4. Upward Dealing with Canine (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)

A deep backbend and heart-opening pose, upward dealing with canine helps enhance blood circulation, stretches the entrance of your physique, and strengthens the again of your physique. Opening your chest additionally helps counteract the results of sitting for lengthy durations of time.

1. Lie in your stomach together with your palms planted firmly on the bottom beneath your shoulders. Roll your shoulders again and down, opening your chest.
2. Press firmly into the tops of your ft and interact your leg muscle mass to elevate your knees off the bottom. Concurrently straighten your arms, lifting your chest and torso off the bottom.
3. Roll onto the tops of your ft, urgent down by means of your toes to elevate the entrance of your physique larger.
4. Prolong by means of your arms, lifting your chest up and ahead, whereas concurrently drawing your shoulder blades down and again.

5. Downward Dealing with Canine (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

This pose is a mild inversion, the place your head is beneath your coronary heart, which helps calm your nervous system. It additionally helps stretch and decompress your backbone, which can assist relieve gentle again ache.

1. Start in your fingers and knees in a tabletop place, together with your wrists beneath your shoulders and your knees beneath your hips.
2. On an exhale, tuck your toes beneath and elevate your hips up towards the ceiling, straightening your legs and arms.
3. Press down by means of your palms and fingertips as you elevate your hips excessive.
4. Interact your quadriceps (entrance of the thigh) to elevate your kneecaps and lengthen by means of your legs.
5. Enable your heels to sink towards the ground, however don’t be concerned if they do not contact—deal with creating size in your backbone and legs.
6. Maintain a slight bend in your knees for those who really feel any pressure in your hamstrings or decrease again.

6. Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana 1)

The final of our six foundational yoga poses, warrior I strengthens the muscle mass in your legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves), whereas stretching your hips flexors. It additionally promotes an general sense of steadiness and stability as you floor by means of the 4 corners of every foot and elevate your torso up and out of your hips.

1. Start in downward dealing with canine. From right here, step your proper foot ahead between your fingers, putting it close to the fitting thumb.
2. Floor down by means of the outer fringe of your left foot, conserving it at a few 45-degree angle.
3. On an inhale, stand up, lifting your torso and arms overhead.
4. Bend your proper knee, stacking it over your proper ankle. Purpose for a 90-degree angle together with your entrance leg.
5. Maintain your left leg straight and robust, urgent into the outer fringe of your foot to stabilize your stance.
6. Sq. your hips towards the entrance of the mat, drawing the left hip ahead and the fitting hip again.