Standing Poses

Wide-legged standing poses—think Triangle and the Warrior poses—are the foundation to a balanced yoga practice. They cultivate strength, stability, balance, flexibility and expansion, all at once....

Trees are our partners in keeping this living, breathing planet alive. We inhale the oxygen that trees exhale, and they inhale the carbon dioxide we exhale....

Our limbs include not only our arms and legs, but also the tailbone and the head. Way back at a time few of us remember, all...

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras state that asana (the physical postures of yoga) should be “steady and comfortable,” “firm and soft” or “steady and easy,” depending on the...

Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) is a pose that teaches us how to ground and expand simultaneously. In Trikonasana, we root deep into the earth and align ourselves...

Whether yoga practice can actually “detox” our bodies is controversial. Hot Yoga systems claim that sweating is a powerful way to detox. Physiologists dispute this, saying...

In Indian mythology, the shape-shifting god Shiva famously assumes the form of a dancer at times. Being a god, however, Shiva is not just any dancer....

Hasta Padangusthasana (Extended Big Toe Pose) is one of a category of poses my students have named “flying poses.” Flying poses are poses that express expansion....

My first exposure to yoga asanas was in a commercial when I was probably in junior high. In the commercial, a slim young woman in a...

Asana, the physical practice of yoga, is the third of the eight limbs of yoga in Patanjali’s yoga sutras. Of the 196 sutras, the first of three...

If I had to pick the most complicated asana that’s regularly practiced, Parvrtta Trikonasana would be among the top few. Parvrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle) is a...

When your first leave the comfort of your bed each morning, what’s the first thing you want to do? Like other animals—think about your cat or dog—our instinct is...

Utkatasana is popularly known as “Chair Pose.” But I can’t imagine that ancient yogis—who had never seen, let alone sat in a chair—would have invented a...

If I had to pick yoga’s most complicated yoga asana—among the more commonly practiced poses—Parvrtta Parsvakonasana (Rotated Side-Angle Pose) would get my vote. Parvrtta Parsvakonasana is...

“What is it about these trees that inspires us so? Our calendars and our tape measures become instruments of humility when we measure our lives against...

Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) is one of yoga’s most emblematic poses. We practice it in almost every style of yoga—as part of the Sun Salutation, as...

In spring and summer, my students make a whole lot of requests for low back and mid-back relieving poses. When I ask them why they’re needing...

If you practice yoga, you’ve probably heard the entreaty, “Listen to your body.” It’s good, sound advice. When you embark on any physical practice, it’s important...