Yoga for Beginners

Yoga Medicine founder Tiffany Cruikshank offers her favorite bedtime ritual to settle the nervous system in preparation for deep sleep.

Practicing yoga and meditation in water brings us back to basics.

Build strength through the belly, side waist, glutes and back with core strengtheners for those of us who don't have all day to hit the gym.

Whether or not you ever find yourself in the full expression of Monkey Pose, you can still enjoy the journey with these very effective preps from Two Fit Moms.

Stimulate chi and restore vitality with a practice focusing on Kidney and Urinary Bladder meridian pair, primary organs that move water through the body.

By integrating simple, two-minute embodiment tools several times daily, you’ll see profound changes in your health and wellbeing.

While yoga can often be a quick fix, these postures will help to methodically alleviate the root cause of back pain.

Start to ease lower back discomfort and counteract the effects of too much sitting by swapping some of your standard Surya Namaskars for this core-focused variation.

We spend hours in front of our computers and phones, and the repetitive movement patterns can cause neck and shoulder strain. This sequence will help.

Sara Gottfried, MD, author of The Hormone Reset Diet, explains yoga's effects on our stress response.

Relieve hard-to-release back tension by unlocking your QL muscles.

Chronic stress 
and anxiety 
signal the brain to wreak havoc on your body. The secret to hitting reset? Yoga.

In this excerpt from The Art of Attention, Elena Brower embodies MC Yogi's wise words on the practice of forgiveness in a tender asana sequence.

The yoga splits, or Hanumanasana, are a lifelong journey for many yogis. Fortunately there’s more than one way to skin a Monkey. These four variations of the pose each offer their own value and benefits.

Twists, like the new year, can often invoke that same urgent sense of wanting more. SmartFLOW teacher trainer Tiffany Russo wants you to slow it down.

More than a transition, when practiced mindfully this pose prepares the body for Warrior III, Standing Splits, and Handstand. Get more out of it every time.

Challenge pose master Kathryn Budig offers some sage advice for beginning yogis craving more advanced asana.

If you mindlessly breeze through Up Dog countless times per class, protect yourself from injury by taking some time to practice this advanced approach to the basic backbend.

A playful practice 
can bring you 
more joy on and 
off the mat.

Check out some of the fun items we discovered while making this issue that are now our everyday go-tos.

There’s no time like right now, the start 
of a new year, to harness your energy and find 
joy in a fresh perspective.

No matter where you are in your yoga practice, drink in the delight of having a “beginner’s mind” and let it inspire this practice.

See if you can’t makeover your entire flow by focusing on a few foundational poses. This week, try an advanced approach to Uttanasana.

This Kundalini Yoga sequence supports ideal digestion by increasing energy at the navel point and keeping the digestive organs strong and flexible.

For the times you need a physical prep for your gratitude practice, Kathryn Budig offers a meditative flow sure to make your heart feel full.

A practice that combines energizing and calming principles (brahmana and langhana) has a balancing, or samana, effect to quiet that monkey mind.

Sitting for meditation at the end of a hectic day can feel difficult. This sequence can help you shift gears and transition smoothly into calm.

Keeping your eyes open if your body is listless, your mind dull, or your heart heavy can be a challenge. This 5-pose flow will help awaken your energy for meditation.

Author Susan Verde’s new book sends kids the message that imagination makes anything possible—and the yoga mat is a perfect place to explore it.

Photographer Robert Sturman shares 21 moving images and quotes from yogis around the world.

At any age, balance, agility, speed, coordination, and power are vital for daily living and optimal for athletic performance. This sequence works it all.

Are you Type A? Is work more central to your day than breath? This 14-minute practice eases stress by boosting endorphins and dopamine—right at your desk.

Rina Jakubowicz wants you to let the season inspire your practice and make a commitment to let something go. Get centered with her sequence

Looking for the courage to open your heart? Power everything you do with love using these mudras from Dana Trixie Flynn.

Our writer spent a day with Annie Carpenter at YJ LIVE! and came away with a newfound respect for her feet. Use this sequence as your owner’s manual.

This is a practice for mothers, focused on building your core—physical and 
emotional—to sustain you through the overwhelming love and challenges of motherhood.

This sequence is designed for mothers. The seated poses will fire up your core and help balance out a stressful day of parenting.

Designed especially for mothers, this core work with leg lifts and lunges is for those moments when children push you to your very edge.

This practice focuses on building core—a strong physical core and 
a strong emotional core to sustain you through the love and challenges of motherhood.

With plenty of hip and abdominal work, this sequence is meant to stoke the digestive fire during an Ayurvedic cleanse.

Fight frenzied Fall energy with this grounding sequence designed for the outdoors. Go ahead, get your feet dirty and feel the earth between your toes.

Let’s set the record straight about what really goes on at yoga festivals and events. No, you don’t have to speak Sanskrit fluently.

Kick off fall by resetting your intentions. Then link them with these three strong poses to seal in your new aims for the season.

Here’s a deep dive into the deep pose from Nikki Costello, that you can and should return to long after the 21-Day Yoga Challenge is over.

Congratulations on completing our 21-Day Yoga Challenge! We we hope you’ve fallen in love with yoga that you want to adopt a daily practice habit.

As simple as Mountain Pose seems, it is immediately grounding—and portable! Keep this pose in your pocket to pull out and practice anywhere this fall.

If you’re tossing and turning in bed at night, or have trouble calming your mind before going into meditation, spend a few minutes doing Nadi Shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing.

Feeling stressed or anxious at work but don’t have time to slip away for a calming lunchtime yoga break? We've got you covered.

On rainy days like the one we had today here in NYC, it's easy to succumb to feeling sluggish and blah. Here is a short, energizing flow designed to invigorate the body and calm and focus the mind. You’ll feel simultaneously alert, relaxed, and ready to make the best of your rainy day!

We hear this question a lot: Is yoga enough to get stronger in inversions and arm balances, or should I start lifting weights too? We have the answer.

Take 10 minutes today to relax into this restorative posture, Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose).

Try this sun salutation version from Kundalini teacher Joan Shivarpita Harrigan to feel reinvigorated and newly inspired on your mat!

Sniff sniff ... the last weekend of summer is almost here. Tackle back-to-school stress with Two Fit Moms' amped-up Sun Salutation, which will give you the energy you need to get the kids out the door on time.

In the next 3 poses, let's breathe, connect, and link body to mind to let go of expectations, the real killer of the moment.

If you feel discomfort, such as sudden and sharp pain that may indicate a serious injury, gently get out 
of the pose and tell your teacher.

Find inspiration in this affirmation to keep you on track with our 21-day yoga challenge.

In an increasingly fast-paced world that demands more of our attention and time, everyone is looking for a way to increase their energy. This Kundalini practice

Think of Kundalini Yoga as a technology you can use to activate your innate vitality and health through movement, mudra (ritual gesture), and mantra (sacred sound).

This Kundalini practice, passed down by Yogi Bhajan, the master of Kundalini Yoga, is designed to do increase your energy and metabolism.

People ages 21 to 41 who ate 5 to 10 grams of whole, dried shiitake mushrooms every day for four weeks experienced increased activity in their germ and disease-fighting cells.

Try these three books for a careful study 
of the history of modern yoga and its relationship 
to the South Asian traditions of yoga.

Inversions are a rite of a passage, testing your mental and physical boundaries. Learn how to conquer your fear.

This sequence efficiently activates the endocrine system, boosting your metabolism and creating new levels of youthfulness to balance your body and mind.

Modify Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana) if needed 
to find safe alignment for your body.

Stretch your outer hips and hamstrings, lengthens your spine and encourage quietude and self-reflection in Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana).

Practice these four poses pre-hike to improve strength and stability for a safer journey and post-hike to ease any tight spots.

Yoga can’t reverse bunions that have already formed—only surgery can—but practicing certain poses can slow their advancement.

It depends on why you’re feeling dizzy. For instance, if the dizziness is due to dehydration, it can be alleviated or avoided.

To keep your body twisting and turning with ease, try this Simple Reclining Twist from teacher Barbara Benagh.

Keep your energy steady and strong for today’s yoga practice by eating small portions—often.

Try to cultivate self-compassion by including this reflection in your meditation or yoga practice.

Coordinate movement with your breath to really bring your poses to life. Learn how to pair breathing with different types of poses.

After a long day parked at your desk, are your hips telling you tales of tight, achy woe? Open your hips and boost flexibility with these poses.

Teachers often advise students to start their practice by setting an intention. Here's how to find the right intention to carry you through your practice.

Eddie Modestini, a longtime student of K. Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S. Iyengar, who will lead Yoga Journal’s upcoming online course, Vinyasa 101: The Fundamentals of Flow, reveals how often you should roll out your mat if you want to become a "serious" yogi.

Learn vegans and vegetarians can reap similar nutritional benefits for bones, teeth, tissues, and organs as fans of bone broth enjoy.

Big night out? Nerves are normal. Fortunately, yoga can help you to relax and put your best self forward.

These three mudras will bring you back home to your source, connect you with your heart, and plug you back into your deeper power.