Practice Yoga

Learn what muscles are activated when you jump back to Chaturanga or Plank Pose, and how to do it safely.

If you're still trying to get to a creative place in your practice, or if you've fallen into a rut since that initial spark of inspiration, here are 3 ways to be more innovative in your practice. Plus, read on for 3 ways to be more innovative in your life beyond the mat.

If you use props innovatively, you can give yourself the same kind of adjustment at home that you’d get in class.

Get inspired.

Yoga is thousands of years old, but it's also constantly new and changing, as creative teachers discover genius ways to enhance or modify traditional poses. We asked 9 of our #YJInfluencers to share their favorite "new" or innovative pose, why they love it, and explain how to get into what may be a somewhat unfamiliar shape.

Props aren’t just for beginners; they can be used to develop and even deepen dimensions of asana practice. The humble yoga block, for example, gives us countless ways to vary our practice—highlighting sensations that help us experience a pose in a new way. Here are 10 to try.

Spring is a time of regeneration, growth, and expansion. However, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), spring can also be a time when feelings of irritability, frustration, or anger sink in. This free-flow sequence can help.

This empowering sequence from #YJInfluencer Denelle Numis will help you overcome fear and take on your next big challenge.

If you practice Kundalini Yoga, you know you have 10 bodies, not one. Here's the lowdown on all 10 bodies, plus a sequence to awaken them.

Even a few minutes of fascial-release work can have a profound effect on your practice and well-being. Yoga teacher and model Ariele Foster walks you through this simple lower-body routine to target common trouble spots and feel instant release.

Learning to love our bodies through all of its stages is at the heart of this sequence. Let yoga teacher and model Erica Mather walk you through this self-love practice, and find out how to work through your body's limitations—whatever they may be.

Yoga teacher and YJ cover model Sara Clark shares her journey toward courageousness, plus an asana practice and mantra to help you feel confident in your own skin.

Prenatal yoga teacher Allie Geer demonstrates a self-myofascial release practice to relieve tension and pain during pregnancy and enhance mobility.

When overcome by feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy in response to hard-to-swallow current events, yoga teacher (and mom) Nancie Carollo turns to the potent practice of surrender.

This gentle way of accessing the six bandhas (energetic locks) during your practice will help you experience more freedom in your body and bliss in your life.

Alan Finger reflects on his journey from young yogi to creator of ISHTA Yoga.

Find freedom by settling into a meditative state with this gentle asana practice.

“Practice and all is coming?” Maybe not Chaturanga, actually, says Yoga Deconstructed® creator Trina Altman. Here she explains how she finally built enough strength to do the pose both safely and pain-free.

Strengthen your shoulders and back as you move step by step into Visvamitrasana.

YJ Influencer Laura Burkhart offers the story of her own chronic pain and hip injury as a caution to yogis and encourages you to get honest about your own practice.

In this excerpt from his new book Yoga Therapy: Foundations, Methods, and Practices for Common Ailments, Mark Stephens offers methods for warming up and massaging the wrists to reduce pain in yoga practice.

Take a closer look at seven subtle-body healing modalities, and how to find one that will help you boost the benefits of your yoga practice.

Practice Sian Gordon's grounding Katonah Yoga sequence to find the stability you need to clearly see where you want to go and the best way to get there.

Need a New Year’s resolution—or a fresh intention any day of the year? YJ Influencer and psychologist Lauren Taus suggests looking to your practice to identify personalized goals that are also applicable to the rest of life.

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This strong, balanced sequence is designed to ground you even as life's craziness swirls around you.

It’s all about progression with Natasha Rizopoulos’s signature method of designing a satisfying practice.

Release tension with this restorative sequence from Rodney Yee for encouraging the flow of breath and prana.

Learn how master teacher Rodney Yee discovered the power of pranayama to quiet the mind and why it's a focus of every asana class he teaches.

Want to ensure a healthy, pain-free yoga practice for years (and years) to come? Part two of our three-part plan for ultimate bone health is all about how to supplement your practice with cardio and strength training.

Long day? Feeling sluggish? Try these poses from YJ Influencer Meredith Cameron to create space in your upper body to soften, flush, and balance your organ system.

Maintain good form and presence of mind through your hardest training runs.

You can rock Plank pose, but did you know that your diaphragm might be your secret weapon when it comes to strengthening your core?

Using a chair as a launch pad to toggle between Kurmasana and Tittibhasana is a great way to build mobility and challenge your balance. Ready to give it a try?

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

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.

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.

Navigate transitions with more calm, confidence, and joy by tapping the powers of your chakras.

Practice this sequence, designed to relieve chronic pain and increase flexibility.

Variations on classic poses helps create new pathways within your nervous system and open you up to possibility.

When it’s simply not enough to dedicate a yoga practice or #prayfor____, this sequence is designed to ground and focus you, open your heart, and prime your body to be of functional service to those in need. From there, yogis, ask yourself how you can take your practice off the mat.

Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher Carrie Owerko offers an alternative approach to One-Legged Crane Pose II. Go ahead, take flight.

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

Infuse your yoga practice with energy, stability, and balance by combining asana with high-intensity interval training.

Can't make up your mind? Take it to the mat to create space in the mind and body, and open your heart to infinite possibility

A sequence to help you ride the wave of life, knowing that you have everything you need within you to move through changes and challenges with grace.

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.

Monday, August 21, 2017 marks the day the first total solar eclipse will grace North America in more than 25 years and a powerful day for yoga.

Your practice is inevitably going to change as you age, but whatever you do, don't give up, say the authors of Fearless after Fifty: How to Thrive with Grace, Grit and Yoga.

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.

You’ve seen prenatal, postnatal, and mommy-and-me yoga, but Stroga? New moms may never look at a stroller the same way again.

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

According to yoga tradition, there are five currents of vital force (prana) that run through us and govern our bodies and minds: the prana vayus. When we understand them and how they can work in harmony with each other, we're able to experience life with more clarity and authenticity. YJ Influencer Lauren Eckstrom explains how to use your yoga practice to embody the vayus, both on and off your mat.

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.

Once you flow into the healing, spiritual side of this common practice, you won’t go back to basic Namaskars.

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.

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

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.

You deserve to reap the profound rewards of the humble (yet powerful) Namaskar.

Purna Yoga co-founder Aadil Palkhivala shares a practice to help you align your body and mind.

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

This sequence is one I turn to when I want to manifest the warrior that is omnipresent in me; my hope is that it will help you connect to your inner warrior, too.

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.

Learning to hold both peace and possibility in our hearts can help us balance the art of actively creating with letting go and trusting the process.

Prepare for a life-changing Sun Salutation practice with Shiva Rea’s Prana Flow pranams.

People with bigger bodies are discovering comfort and empowerment in yoga studios around the globe. Use these tips to help support yourself, or your students, on the mat.

Indie-folk trio Magic Giant talks to us about the making of their upcoming album, their devotion to yoga, and how their music reflects their practice. Plus, practice to their playlist curated exclusively for YogaJournal.com readers.

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.

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.

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.