Yoga Poses

Take cues from your practice to help children handle social exclusion with yoga’s inclusive, compassionate, and community-centered spirit.

“Yogic sleep” can be even more effective than regular sleep.

Try this strap trick to increase postural awareness in the upper back and shoulders—and relieve the excess tension that accumulates there.

Here's what to do when you don't know what to do.

Learn how to use a chair and a block in Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose to both ground and expand the posture all at once.

Breasts are intimately connected to a woman’s overall well-being and heart, yet proactive tips for keeping breast tissue healthy are scarce. Fortunately, your yoga practice can help.

When it feels like life is spinning out of control, teacher Sara Clark recommends opening your energy channels to raise your vibration and increase your stress resilience.

Check out Carrie Owerko's author page.

Check out YJ Editor's author page.

Here's how to strengthen and gain mobility in your upper back

Strengthen lower back muscles, tone abdominal muscles, stimulate organs, and improve your posture in Salabhasana.

Modify Shalabhasana as necessary to find safe alignment in your body.

Strengthen your back and core and improve balance with these prep poses for Peacock Pose.

Build endurance as you move step by step into Mayurasana.

Adulting is hard, but so is kid-ing. In fact, kids are more stressed than ever. Meditation can give them perspective on their thoughts and feelings the same way it does for us. Try this practice from yoga teacher and author Susan Verde with your child.

Check out Jennifer D'Angelo Friedman's author page.

Incorporate these poses into your daily routine to strengthen your core muscles and help you maintain a strong and flexible spine.

Supta Padangusthasana safely opens the hamstrings and releases the lower back.

Modify Supta Padangusthasana as necessary to find safe alignment in your body.

Stretch your hamstrings and open your hip flexors with these prep poses for Half Moon (Sugarcane) Bow Pose.

Steady your balance and stay open to possibilities as you move step by step into Half Moon (Sugarcane) Bow Pose.

The trendy go-to remedy for a tight IT band—foam rolling—can actually do more harm than good. Here’s why, plus 3 yoga poses that’ll help you keep this thick fascial tissue healthy.

Whether you're new to restorative yoga or a seasoned pro, little tweaks can help you get more relaxation out of your practice.

Yoga and Pilates teacher Trina Altman shares why she practices and teaches a lot more than basic asana. Here, three big ways she’d love to see asana practice advance in the near future.

Learn how to listen with compassion to your body, breath, feelings, and thoughts. This deep listening helps you cultivate the kind of conscious relaxation that allows you to stay open, present, and curious in situations where you normally wouldn't.

One of the most powerful ways to feel more OK mentally and emotionally is to learn how to relax the body. Here, Jillian Pransky breaks down how to release one of the most chronically tense muscles: the psoas.

Curious how you might benefit from our Restorative Yoga 101 course with Jillian Pransky? Five students of Pransky's students share how her restorative classes transformed them.

Children have a natural proclivity for letting go of distractions and being in the moment. Teaching them how to harness it offers them access to their own resiliency, which they can use throughout their lives.

Well-propped restorative poses can offer us the experience of being cradled and protected while releasing deep-held tension and providing the opportunity for true relaxation. Learn how to set yourself up for your most rejuvenating practice yet.

Flexible and strong, hamstrings are key to a healthy, happy yoga practice. Here's what you need to know in order to lengthen and strengthen these muscles.

Check out YJ Editor's author page.

Check out YJ Editor's author page.

Use this sequence to check in with yourself, quiet fears and negative mental chatter, and ultimately move into a place of deep trust.

This pose lengthens your hip flexors and stabilizes and strengthens your gluteals.

Modify High Lunge as needed to find safe alignment in your body.

Strengthen core muscles, ease lower back pain, and open your shoulders and chest with these prep poses for Dhanurasana.

Strengthen your back and open your shoulders and chest as you move step by step into Dhanurasana.

There’s a myth that a strong muscle is a tight one, and a flexible muscle is weak. It seems counterintuitive, but identifying and strengthening weak areas can actually help tight areas release their grip. Your challenge for this week is to address one or two of your dormant areas with targeted strength work. Share your progress on social media with #YJflexichallenge for a chance to be featured on our @YogaJournal Instagram page!

Need a boost? Expect this sequence from Valerie Sagun (aka Big Gal Yoga) to open your heart, silence negative thoughts, ease stress—and show you everything there is to love about your body.

We can mitigate some of the shifts in the body that occur during pregnancy, simply by standing well. This practice will wake up the muscles that we need to maintain good structural integrity and a healthy pelvic floor even as big changes are occurring within.

You can count on animals to make yoga fun.

Wild Awakening founder Michael Jaidev DeNicola shares how reconnecting our children with nature could actually save the planet.

Opens your shoulders and chest in Setu Bandha Sarvangasana.

Modify Setu Bandha Sarvangasana if needed to find safe alignment in your body.

Open your shoulders, chest, and upper back, and practice rooting down through your forearms and lifting your shoulders away from the floor with these prep poses for Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana.

Root your forearms, lift your shoulders, curl your chest open, and extend through your spine and legs as you move step by step into Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana.

How to do it, why you should, and the secrets to making inversions less scary, more stable, and a ton of fun

This joint plays an important role in knee and foot health, balance, and more. Here’s what you need to know about your ankles.

Guys, your what-to-wear-to-yoga dilemma ends here. These 6 men’s yoga pants and shorts are so comfortable, you’ll probably be wearing them next time a free hour presents itself, making it super convenient to just drop into a class.

This guided meditation is designed to help you feel that something has your back, so you can open your heart.

As yogis celebrate our diversifying community, those new to the practice often still face ribbing from behind-the-times peers. Here, Broga® Yoga’s Katie Rose shares some of the best reasons the men she knows give for proudly returning to the mat.

Do this short sequence 3–5 times on its own or as part of a longer practice to open your heart chakra and experience compassion.

Brings flexibility to your knees, ankles, and feet in Bharadvaja's Twist II

Modify Bharadvajasana II to find safe alignment in your body.

Open your hips and hamstrings, create flexibility in your spine, and increase circulation to your core with these prep poses for Tolasana.

Strengthen your arms and shoulders, fire up your core, and bring levity to your practice as you move step by step into Tolasana.

So, just how handy is yogic breathing during childbirth? Is 9 months of prenatal yoga actually realistic? And can you meditate your way through contractions?

Strala Yoga founder Tara Stiles shares how her practice contributed to her pregnancy and recovery and the benefits a baby with a yogi mom receives. (Read: Good vibes galore.)

Senior Prana Vinyasa teacher and psychotherapist Coral Brown opens up about her trying pregnancy, nonexistent prenatal asana practice, and the wonder of bringing another being into the world.

Aruba-based yoga teacher Rachel Brathen, aka Yoga Girl, gets real about her pregnancy, letting go of her control-freak tendencies, and how pranayama isn’t actually an effective substitute for pain medication during labor.

Senior Yoga Medicine teacher Rachel Land breaks down the anatomy of fascia and four effective ways to keep it fit through yoga practice.

“The first time I heard those words, my response was, ‘You’re f--king crazy.’ I’m a dude. I’m a combat veteran. I don’t have yoga pants. I don’t need yoga in my life.”

This contemplative meditation can be practiced regularly or whenever you feel overwhelmed, unstable, or emotionally shut down.

Move into backbends more safely, knowing you can consciously engage the muscles needed to protect the lumbar spine.

Want to unleash the true potential of your middle? 
Turns out crunches—yes, the exercise you’ve avoided for years in favor of holding Plank—are key to a stronger core and more stable yoga practice. Discover how they can serve you in every pose.

Practice these four poses to heal an injury or strengthen your shoulders to prevent one.

Senior Yoga Medicine teacher Rachel Land says don’t worry if you’ve never considered the health of your fascia before. As a yogi, you may already be taking good care of it anyway. Here, she outlines what it takes.

Use this mudra anytime you need to detach from daily life, anchor yourself, and plug in to your untamable feminine power.

Come into Kali Mudra, named after the fierce goddess Durga.

This mudra represents unshakeable self-confidence, inner strength, and faith in something greater.

Binds are a wonderful way to open the shoulders, create a safe, stable haven in a pose, and build prana in the body. Within these 5 binds, you’ll find some of the most elegant, graceful shapes that ask you to rise to the occasion.

The intensity of Virasana can feel as daunting as the hero’s journey in your favorite adventure story. Choose the variation on the pose, ranging from gentle to fiery, to fit the narrative of your personal story on the mat today.

Connect to higher consciousness and reach your full potential with this heart- and mind-opening asana and pranayama practice.

Get the most out of 
yoga nidra with this 
exclusive preparatory practice from 
Sri Dharma Mittra.

You're going to like how this feels.

Soar like a bird as you move step by step with Tias Little 
into Parsva Bakasana.

Warm up your legs and spine in these prep poses from Tias Little for Parsva Bakasana.

Tias Little offers 3 ways to modify Jathara Parivartanasana if needed 
to find safe alignment in your body.