Best Yoga Exercises

Yoga is a meditative form of of exercise that involves movements and poses that stretch and actively or isometrically work the muscles of the body. Yoga is a great for flexibility and both muscular and aerobic endurance. The beauty of yoga is that its difficulty can be tailored to the needs of the individual practitioner. Someone who is completely out of shape can benefit from beginning yoga just as much as an expert.

One of the most basic and easiest yoga poses, downward facing dog works and stretches the whole body. The pose can be thought of as a push up posture, with the feet and hands close together and the bottom and lower back high up in the air. To get into the down dog pose, from the hands hand knees, simply plant the hands and push back onto the feet, straightening the legs and lining up the arms with the back.

The warrior pose is another very accessible yet effective yoga pose for working the legs. The warrior pose is basically a lunge, which is held in the lunge position--one leg is back and the other is forward, with the knee bent at a 90 degree angle. The hands can be in various positions in the warrior pose, which are usually called warrior I, II, III and so on. Warrior I is holding the lunge with the arms held straight upward. One way to enter the warrior pose without just stepping into the lunge is by stepping one leg forward from the downward dog pose.

Another pose that is good for beginners is the tree pose. The tree pose is basically just standing on one foot, with the free leg bent inward so that the free foot rests just below or above the knee. People with more experience can rest the foot higher on the inner thigh. Tree pose promotes balance and strengthens the muscles around the ankles, which helps prevent sprains.

Similar to downward facing dog, plank is a position you would be in when doing a normal push up. The hands are planted shoulder width apart and the legs are supported by the toes while the body is straight. Doing a lower plant, where one is supported by forearms instead of the hands, makes for a more intense abdominal workout.

A more advanced pose, wheel is essentially a back bridge, where the feet and hands are planted, and the back is arched, making a half circle shape. The wheel pose stretches the back, legs and arms, and strengthens the arms.