Easy Beginner Yoga Poses – The 3 Fundamentals
We gave our yogis one task:
Find the best yoga poses and describe their benefits
The most rewarding yoga pose–that is the one that becomes a favorite–is always going to be very personal. But it is possible to identify the most important poses in yoga.
Considering all types of yoga, the dozens of poses, and the various functions each pose may serve, it is difficult to nail down a single most important pose. We can say a bit more objectively that perhaps the most powerful pose is boat pose, or the most popular pose is downward facing dog, but the most important pose overall might be a bit more subjective.
However, in order to achieve the most strenuous pose, or the pose that gives you the deepest stretch, we first have to know the basics. So today we will discuss the most fundamentally important poses: child’s pose, mountain pose and corpse pose. These basic poses each provide their own health and mental wellness benefits, as well as collectively laying the foundation for our practice.
Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Child’s Pose is typically the first pose of class and often the first pose we learn in our practice; kneeling chest to knees, folded forward with the forehead on the floor and arms either stretched out in front, or resting by our sides with our hands by our feet. The physical sensation is felt most as a stretch in the hips and low back. You may even feel a light shoulder stretch, which can be deepened by placing a couple yoga blocks under the biceps. The physical benefits of this pose are great, but what we feel in our body is only half of the story.
This posture is all about focusing on your breath. You are reminded of your breath in every way as you feel it on your face and notice your chest rise and fall on your thighs. This form is a bit of DIY sensory deprivation, with our eyes down and unable to wander, and our ears wedged between our biceps hearing nothing but our own breath.
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If you attend yoga often, occasionally you will see people taking small breaks of Child’s Pose during their flow. The goal here is to steady their breath and slow their heart rate before joining back in. Child’s pose is also said to be excellent for the circulatory system and can also aid in digestion, making it a great pose you can do every day.
For every physical function of yoga, there is also a mental or spiritual function. Much like meditation, the goal of child’s pose is to exist in a state of “non-doing,”. This pose puts you in a childlike, open state and primes your mind and body to get the most out of the rest of your practice.
Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
Mountain pose is established early on in class and revisited many times over the course of one session. In this posture, we stand straight with our hands open at our sides. This pose appears almost comically simple from the outside, but inside every muscle group is lighting up. You can almost feel your feet about to break through your yoga mat.
We’re pulling up on the arches of our feet, engaging our quads, pulling shoulder blades down and back, activating our core, and allowing our head to float upwards on a powerful foundation. This pose aims to embody the strength and stillness of a mountain.
The stability you find in mountain pose lays the foundation for other standing or balancing postures throughout the duration of a class. Poses like warrior I-III, tree pose, chair pose and many more all benefit from the solid footing you established in mountain pose.
This posture is not only important to your yoga practice, it is also one that is important in your everyday life. We stand all the time, but how often do we check in with our posture and alignment? Mountain pose is one of the best poses for strengthening the muscles that correct or maintain good posture which is crucial for spinal health.
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Corpse Pose (Savasana)
As you may have guessed from the name, this pose mimics death. This posture typically ends class, where we lay flat on our back, with our hands out at our sides or resting on our heart or belly.
Both physically and mentally, the objective of this pose is to reach complete relaxation and stillness. Corpse pose is often referred to as one of the hardest yoga poses because complete relaxation is so deceptively difficult to achieve – especially after an hour of near constant movement.
After an hour or so of practicing yoga, your heart rate is up and the endorphins are flowing. It is common to experience strong emotions during corpse pose, sometimes even eliciting tears. Some cry during savasana because it is said in yoga practice that anger, grief, and other strong emotions are stored in the body.
After releasing those feelings during your practice, you are left with a deep sense of peace. In these still moments at the end of class, you reap the benefits of all the physical work you have just done.
While none of these poses will win you any awards for flexibility or brute strength, child pose, mountain pose, and corpse pose lay the foundation for your entire yoga practice. These poses are at the heart of our practice, and subtly enhance our flow as well as our daily life. We become familiar with our breath, aware of our gentle strength and more comfortable with stillness.
Just as important for experts as beginners, these poses are for all bodies and can benefit any practice.
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Frequently asked questions
In Vinyasa yoga, Downward Facing Dog (Adho mukha svanasana) is by far the most frequent pose, as it is a part of the flow that ends every phrase. It has a similar function to Child’s Pose, in the sense that it is meant to refocus you to your breath, however it keeps your body a bit more active than Child’s Pose.
Different schools of thought have different meanings on this. Generally, most yogis agree that shorter hold times are ideal warm up poses, movements that are less advanced and suitable for beginners. Longer hold times can also be for beginners, but will entail some more challenging poses. Longer poses will also have more strength training benefits.
While your mat and your water bottle are important for a comfortable, healthy and safe practice, the most important part of yoga is always your breath. Similar to meditation, the when, where and how is less important than the intent and focus on your breathing.
Daily practice is ideal, but if you can only fit in a Child’s Pose or two it can help to recenter your breath and your body for the demands of the day.
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