Yoga Poses: The 14 Best Poses To Maximize Your Health Benefits From the Yoga Practice

Muscles worked: Lats, traps, erector spinae, hip flexors, obliques, glutes

Benefits: Child’s pose is a great place to start your yoga practice because it allows you to connect to your breathing and tune in to how you’re feeling and what your body needs. It’s also a great reset or rest position throughout your practice.

How to do it: 

1. Kneel on your yoga mat.
2. Position your knees outward (wider than your hips) and bring your big toes toward each other until they’re touching behind you. 
3. Walk your hands forward toward the top of your mat until your forehead is resting on the floor. 
4. Allow your hips to rest down toward your heels.
5. Hold the pose for time or until you feel ready to flow into your next movement. 

Muscles worked: Erector spinae, shoulders, hip flexors, core

Benefits: Cat-Cow is a great pose for spinal longevity. This gentle movement helps lubricate your individual vertebrae and can build strength and mobility. 

How to do it: 

1. Come to your hands and knees on your mat.
2. Stack your hips directly above your knees and your shoulders directly above your wrists. Allow for a tiny bend in your elbows so they’re not locked out.
3. Drop your belly toward the floor while lifting the crown of your head and your tail bone toward the ceiling (cow). 
4. Drop the crown of your head and tailbone toward the floor while reaching the center of your spine toward the ceiling (cat).
5. Alternate between cat and cow for time. 

Muscles worked: Hip flexors, glutes, upper and lower back, abs, hamstrings

Benefits: Bridge is a backbend that builds strength in your glutes and upper back while stretching the hip flexors. Over time, this pose will also increase flexibility in your back and thoracic mobility.

How to do it: 

1. Lie on your back (supine) with your knees bent and the soles of your feet flat on your mat. 
2. Press into the soles of your feet and begin to lift your hips off the ground.
3. Continue pressing until your hips lift as high as they can without overexerting your muscles.
4. Hold for time, then slowly lower your hips back to the ground. 

Muscles worked: Core, shoulders, hip flexors, hamstrings, calves, ankles

Benefits: Tree pose helps improve your balance and proprioception for better posture and functional fitness. 

How to do it: 

1. Bring your hands to your sternum, palms facing one another and choose a standing leg to balance on. 
2. Lift the opposite foot and draw the sole of the foot to meet the inner calf of your standing leg.
3. Hold this posture for three to five rounds of breath.
4. Repeat on the other side.

Muscles worked: Hip flexors, glutes, lower back

Benefits: The pigeon pose creates a deep hip stretch that’s excellent for helping open tight hip flexors and improving your range of motion. It’s also a great method of easing tension in your lower back, especially if you sit at a desk. 

How to do it: 

1. Fold forward at your hips with your feet a hip-width distance apart.
2. Walk your hands out in front of you about four to five feet, depending on your height.
3. Step your right leg forward and lay your right shin on the mat so your right ankle is behind your left hand and your right knee is behind your right hand. Bend your right knee any amount that feels comfortable.
4. Lower your hips toward the mat with your left leg lengthened behind you. Feel free to use a pillow underneath your hips for additional support. 
5. Hold this posture for three to five rounds of breath.
6. Push yourself back up and repeat on the other side. 

Muscles worked: Arms, traps, quads, wrists, erector spinae, calves, ankles

Benefits: Arguably one of the most popular yoga poses, Downward Facing Dog is what’s known as an inversion—which means your hips are higher than your heart. This particular inversion pose helps strengthen your arms, stretch your hamstrings, and can help alleviate lower back pain.

How to do it: 

1. From standing with your feet hip-width apart, fold forward at your waist so your hands are reaching toward your mat.
2. Bend your knees any amount and walk your hands out in front of you about two-thirds to three-quarters of your body height, or until your upper body and lower body make opposing 45-degree angles to the floor. You should look like a triangle, with your hips being the top of the triangle and where your hands and feet meet the mat as the other two points. 
3. Hold for time. 

Muscles worked: Gluteus maximus, quads, lower back, chest, hamstrings, spinal extensors

Benefits: Cobra pose is excellent for helping build up your lower back strength and flexibility. 

How to do it: 

1. Lie on your mat face down (prone) with your feet hip-width distance apart. 
2. Place your palms on the floor beneath your shoulders, elbows tucked in by your sides.
3. Press into your palms to lift your upper body off your mat until your arms are straight (don’t lock out your elbows!) and your hips remain on the ground.
4. Keep your neck in line with your spine, eyes forward.
5. Hold the pose for time before lowering your upper body back down toward your mat.

Muscles worked: Quads, calves, glutes, thighs, ankles

Benefits: Known as “Tadasana” in Sanskrit, Mountain Pose is the shorthand in yoga for “standing up straight with correct alignment.” It’s a great place to start waking up your mind-body connection, and you can do this pose anywhere.

How to do it: 

1. Stand facing forward with your feet flat on the mat, hip-width distance apart, and your weight evenly distributed across your feet. 
2. Press into your feet with straight legs, making sure not to lock out your knees.
3. Point your tailbone down toward the ground avoiding an anterior (front) or posterior (back) tilting motion with your pelvis.
4. Draw your shoulders down and back, your palms may face slightly forward.
5. Draw the crown of your head up toward the ceiling. 
6. Hold the pose for time.

Muscles worked: Quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, core, back, shoulders

Benefits: Chair pose is known for firing up the quadriceps, which means it’s great for building strength in your thighs. Chair pose over time will also increase mobility in your ankles and build better awareness for alignment in your legs and spine. 

How to do it: 

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.  
2. Bend your knees as deeply as you can while keeping your torso lifted and your feet flat on the ground. 
3. Point your tailbone toward the ground avoiding an anterior (front) or posterior (back) tilting motion with your pelvis.
4. Draw your low ribs in toward each other—this will engage your core muscles and help keep your torso lifted. 
5. Lift your arm straight up, your upper arms should be in line with your ears. 
6. Hold for time. 

Muscles worked: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors

Benefits: Warrior I is a variation on a lunge that stretches one leg while engaging another. It’s a great pose to work on balancing different elements at once, as proper execution depends on alignment and core engagement while maintaining a sense of ease in the upper body. Warrior poses like Warrior I and Warrior II are used in many Sun Salutations (or a sequence of yoga poses), so if you find yourself in a yoga class, you’ll be glad you know this one. 

How to do it: 

1. Take a long step forward with your right foot. Bend your right knee and point your right toes forward.
2. Spin your left foot out slightly—your foot should be at about a forty-five degree angle to the centerline of your mat. 
3. Press into the outer edge of your left foot.
4. Lengthen through your side body as you reach your arms up toward the ceiling, palms facing each other. 
5. Return to the starting position and repeat the exercise on the opposite side. 

Muscles worked: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors

Benefits: Warrior II is often practiced after Warrior I because the shapes can “flow” nicely from one to the next. Warrior II uses many of the same muscles as Warrior I, but introduces a hip stretch and an open upper body. 

How to do it: 

1. From Warrior I, swing your back foot open so the outer edge of your foot is parallel to the back of your mat and your toes are pointing toward the left.
2. Open up your torso—from your hips to your shoulders—toward the left side of your space while reaching your right arm forward and your left arm back. 
3. Look over your front fingertips and hold the stretch. 
4. Repeat the exercise on the other side. 

Muscles worked: Thighs, hamstrings, groin, hip flexors, lower back

Benefits: Happy Baby is an excellent release for your lower back, especially toward the end of a long yoga flow, and helps to stretch your hamstrings and hips.

How to do it: 

1. Lie on your back.
2. Draw your knees in toward your chest. 
3. Grab on to the outsides of your feet with your hands.
4. Find stillness or gently rock back and forth, massaging your low back with your mat. 

Muscles worked: Glutes, lower back, chest, obliques

Benefits: Supine Spinal Twist allows you to use gravity to help stretch and release your lower back muscles. 

How to do it: 

1. Lie on your back.
2. Draw your right knee in toward your chest. 
3. Cross your right knee over to the left side of your body, allowing your torso to twist.
4. Bring your arms to a “T”: left and right arm open and flat against your mat. 
5. Lift your right leg back to center and repeat the exercise on the opposite side.

Muscles worked: Nearly all muscle groups! 

Benefits: Savasana is a meditative posture traditionally taken at the end of a yoga practice as an opportunity for your mind to observe your body while your body is completely at rest. This is a great place to incorporate pillows, bolsters, or other supports to help your body relax as much as possible. You can practice this posture for as long as you’d like, but I highly recommend aiming for at least five minutes. 

How to do it: 

1. Lie on your back on top of your mat.
2. Place your arms long by your sides, palms facing up. 
3. Place your feet about hips width distance apart and relax your legs.