If you are just getting to know the art of yoga exercises then this yoga workout for beginners is exactly what you need!
We all know that yoga is healthy but what else can it be beneficial for to be more specific?
Here’s is just a small list of the goals that you might have:
- Yoga for weight loss – yes, of course, you can lose weight with yoga… and you can start losing it right away! Once you master the poses for beginners you can check our 20 yoga workout for weight loss…
- Yoga for flexibility – Who knew? Isn’t yoga all about stretching though? We have a 15 minutes yoga workout for flexibility as well!
- Yoga for strength
- Yoga for overall quality of life
These are only a few out of hundreds of reasons why you should be practicing yoga.
Want to start? Then this is the perfect place for you!
Yoga Workout for Beginners
1. Upward Salute
To start out the yoga workout for beginners let’s start with something easy and essential at the same time…
We are going to start with one of the most the simple and basic poses of yoga – the upward salute. Even though there are a lot of different variations even for this one single pose, we will stick with the most basic one.
Stand on the mat and get yourself into a relaxed position.
From standing straight (with your back straightened as much as you can as a beginner) start raising your hands up towards the ceiling from the sides.
Once you reach the highest point inhale and start lengthening up all the way from the heels to your fingertips. Keep your arms in line with your ears. Exhale…
Start inhaling again before stretching to the sky.
You can do a little backbend from the upper spine, just to get the maximal stretch.
Do this for 4-5 times before slowly bringing your hands down or into the starting position. Repeat for 2-3 times.
Don’t push yourself to any kind of limits and make sure you are comfortable with these movements.
2. Mountain Pose
For this exercise called a mountain pose you will do kind of the same motion as in the first exercise, with a bit of difference. Instead of going up, your hands will go to the sides.
Once again, there are a lot of variations even for this small but powerful exercise, but we will stick with the only one of them for this workout
Without changing the initial form of the previous exercise, keep standing straight, hold your feet together, relax your shoulders.
try to feel the weight of your body being equally distributed to both sides. Hold this position for a few seconds before starting your next move.
Start to move your arms 2x shoulders-apart and palms of your hands open and “pointing” in front. You can also point them towards you. Stay in this position
You might feel like this position is boring, but it does wonders to your body and is an essential part of any set of yoga exercises.
3. Seated Forward Bend
Sit on the floor or on your mat, with your legs straight in front of you.
Hold the position with a straight back and without losing a form start leaning forward while holding your toes with your hands.
Fold forward and try to move your chest closer to your thighs and touch your legs with your forehead…
Inhale before you lean forward and exhale during the process.
Stay in this position for a couple of seconds and get back to the starting position. Repeat this movement a couple of times before moving on with our set of yoga workout for beginners…
4. Reclining Hero Pose
To start getting into this pose, sit on the mat. Move your leg’s a bit apart so that you are able to sit in-between your heals (if it is too hard for you, you can sit on a small block),
Slowly start to lean back with your body with a straight back, put your elbows on the ground to help you with balance.
Touch your fingers to the toes; try to roll all the way down to the back. Stay in this position for a while.
To get out of it, slowly lean forward and pull yourself up with your elbows.
Stay in this position for as much time as it is comfortable and don’t forget to breathe correctly.
5. Plank Pose
Plank pose is nothing new, has been known around for ages now.
And it is a must-include to any set of exercises of yoga, especially for beginners.
To start, lean on your hands, round the shoulders and keep your back as well as legs straight.
Only parts of your body touching the ground should be the hand palms and fingertips of your feet.
Make sure that your body is in a completely straighten form.
Even though it doesn’t sound hard, trust me in about 30 seconds you will feel what this position is all about.
Try repeating this position for around 3 to 4 times.
6. Upward (Reverse) Plank Pose
Let’s continue our set with another plank pose…
Much like a basic plank pose, upward planks are also about holding a position without a lot of movement.
Start by sitting down, with your legs straight in front of you and leaning on your hands underneath your shoulders.
Lift your body up from the center and move your abdominal area as high as you possibly can.
As a result, your pelvis should be in a straight line with the rest of your body.
Try to stay in this position for as long as a couple of minutes.
7. Side Plank Variation
Yes, another plank variation. We are using these because after a workout you need to do a couple of core stabilizers.
Just like in other cases of planks we discussed, you will have to get your body to a certain position and hold it for a couple of minutes.
Lay down on one side of your body.
Place your hand underneath your shoulder and push your body up until your hand is in a straight position.
Raise your other hand in the air so that your hands are in a straight line.
Hold this position for a couple of minutes before taking a break and repeating it.
Ready to move on with this great yoga workout for beginners?
Let’s go…
8. Downward Dog
This one is one of the most important poses of any yoga routine regardless of level.
Lean forward to the ground, stand on your knees right underneath your hips and place your palms flat on the ground shoulder-width apart.
Press your hands into the floor and slowly straighten the legs to get to the downward dog position.
Hold your back and legs straight.
Try to put your heels to the ground to make sure that your legs are straight and you are not leaning you’re your fingers.
Breath as you would normally do…
Hold yourself in this pose for a couple of seconds without losing the form and get back to the initial position.
For most of the beginners, it is easier to keep their knees bent. Don’t worry about it, after some time your body will start getting more flexible and used to this type of movement. After that, you will be able to do this exercise without bending the knees.
9. Boat Pose
For this position, you have to create a 45-degree angle using your legs and hands.
Lay down on your back. Start by slowly raising your legs up for a bit.
Do the same movement with your core body and point your hands towards your raised legs.
As a result, you should have a triangle form created out of your body and hands… and you’ll be mostly laying on your glutes.
Hold this position for around 30 seconds before taking a rest. Repeat it for 3-4 times.
10. Wide-Arm Cobra
To start, lie down on the stomach, straighten up your hands as if you are doing the push-ups.
Try to lean on your fingertips…
Lean on your hands and extend your legs(palms looking up) without leaving the ground.
Keep your legs and feet slightly apart, parallel to your hips. Keep your head up and look forward.
On an inhalation start lifting your chest off the floor without the abdominal area leaving the ground, keep your spine long and lift the top of the head toward the ceiling.
Exhale… Don’t be in a hurry to go back, try having 5-6 deep breaths in this position.
Then slowly get back to the initial position.
Repeat this movement for a couple of times without changes.
11. Childs Pose
We will finish this yoga workout for beginners with one of the most relaxing poses – the child’s pose.
To do this exercise, sit on your knees, with your heels under your butt and slowly lean your torso forward.
Lower your chest to your knees as close as you can while pointing your arms in front…
..Rest your head on the mat (You might not be able to do it right away, but you will get there in a matter of a couple of workouts).
Hold this pose for around 10-15 seconds and slowly start getting into the starting position. Repeat it for 2-3 times with around 10-20 seconds of rest in between.
Every single position is for beginners but can be practiced at any level you might be at…
That’s it… Now you can start practicing by following this basic yoga workout for beginners.
Did you know all of these facts about yoga workout for beginners? Was it helpful? Let us know…
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