Yoga Poses for Beginners

If you’re new to yoga, these yoga poses for beginners are a great way to get started. The yoga poses are simple and intended to introduce you to the basics.

A Quick Introduction to Yoga

There are so many benefits of adding simple yoga poses for beginners into your exercise routine. What I love about yoga is that it has helped me to develop a really healthy body. A healthy body is one you feel good walking around in. Your muscles aren’t tight, you aren’t in pain and you feel strong.

If that’s your definition of a healthy body too, then yoga can absolutely help you get it. If you don’t care about how your body feels or what your body can do and you just want to look good well, yoga can even help you with that.

If you want to learn more about what yoga is – check out this article.

Yoga Helped Me Get Out of a Fitness Rut

I’ve been incorporating elements of yoga into my personal workouts and the fitness classes I’ve taught for years now, but it’s really only this past summer that I started to get serious about doing yoga on a regular basis.

The first class I took I left feeling looser, calmer and more focused than I have felt in a long, long time. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not very good at meditating or that sort of thing, so I don’t do the type of yoga where you sit on a sticky mat and say “Ommmmm”. I’m not saying that type of yoga isn’t good…I’m just saying it’s not the type I do.

I now have a variety of fabulous yoga videos (Tara Stiles, Karen Voight, P90X, Baron Babtiste, Bryan Kest, etc.) to help incorporate yoga into my workouts. If you’ve not tried yoga before, here’s are the best yoga poses for beginners.

Yoga for Total Body Fitness

I’m so into yoga these days that it’s basically the only exercise I’m doing at the moment. I do it three days a week as a 30 minute workout plan and sometimes I do it as long as an hour.

I thought I was strong before I started yoga but I’m absolutely stronger now. In fact, I feel better than I have felt in years. I had neglected flexibility exercises for a while now but yoga fuses strength training with flexibility into one workout that really does make you feel amazing. I don’t wake up with pains anymore, my back no longer hurts and I just feel really, really good. I’m even…dare I say it?…a wee bit calmer 😉 But seriously, you will feel calm and centered after doing yoga. I’m not kidding.

And one thing is for sure, I no longer dread my workouts. I actually look forward to them because I feel good while I’m doing them and I feel good when I’m done. On top of that, I can honestly say no other workout leaves me feeling as energetic as yoga makes me feel. And there’s no excuse either because you can do yoga anywhere! If you are looking for ways to workout at home…yoga is it!

So, if you’ve never tried yoga I urge you to give it a go. If you’ve tried it before and you didn’t think it was for you maybe my version will click for you. Just remember, you don’t have to perfect the poses and it’s not about straining or stressing yourself. Just do what feels good, push yourself a little  but not too much and remember to breathe through your nose. Try to focus and “stay in the moment.” And definitely let me know how it goes!

5 Easy Yoga Poses for Beginners

#1: Child’s Pose – check out the yoga instructions here.

#2: Downward Dog Pose

#3: Easy Pose

#4: Cobra Pose

#5: Side Pose