The pose library
Yoga poses, explained plainly
40 shapes you'll meet in an LA studio — what each one is for, how to get into it, the mistake most people make, and how to make it easier. No Sanskrit gatekeeping, no assumption that you can already touch your toes.
Warm-ups
Where most classes start — small movements that tell you what your body has today.
Standing poses
The working poses. Strength, stability, and most of the effort in a typical class.
- Chair Pose Utkatasana A held squat with the arms up. Simple to describe, and the legs know about it within thirty seconds. beginner
- Downward-Facing Dog Adho Mukha Svanasana The pose most people picture when they hear 'yoga' — a full-body stretch that doubles as a resting position once it stops feeling like work. beginner
- Extended Side Angle Utthita Parsvakonasana A long diagonal line from the back heel to the top fingertips — a working pose that looks like a stretch. intermediate
- High Lunge Ashta Chandrasana A lunge held with the back knee lifted — more work for the legs than Low Lunge, less depth in the hip. beginner
- Low Lunge Anjaneyasana The most direct hip-flexor stretch in the practice, and the one runners and cyclists tend to need most. beginner
- Mountain Pose Tadasana The reference posture for every standing shape — quiet to look at, and the one that teaches you how to stand. beginner
- Pyramid Pose Parsvottanasana A square-hipped fold over a straight front leg — a stronger hamstring stretch than it looks, and easy to overdo. intermediate
- Standing Forward Fold Uttanasana A hanging fold from the hips. Comfortable and useful with bent knees; a common way to irritate a back with straight ones. beginner
- Triangle Pose Trikonasana A long side-body stretch with straight legs — easy to fake by reaching for the floor, better done with length. beginner
- Warrior I Virabhadrasana I A strong, square-hipped lunge with the arms overhead — the pose where most people first meet the difference between effort and strain. beginner
- Warrior II Virabhadrasana II The open-hipped warrior — a long, low stance that asks the front leg to work and the mind to stay put. beginner
- Wide-Legged Forward Fold Prasarita Padottanasana A stable, wide-based fold — usually more accessible than the feet-together version, and kinder to tight hamstrings. beginner
Balances
One leg, full attention. These expose left-right differences faster than anything else.
- Half Moon Ardha Chandrasana A standing balance turned open to the side — one of the clearest tests of hip stability in the practice. intermediate
- Tree Pose Vrksasana The first balance most people learn, and a useful daily check on how steady you actually are. beginner
- Warrior III Virabhadrasana III A single-leg balance held horizontal — the pose that exposes exactly how strong the standing-leg glute is. intermediate
Seated poses
Hips and hamstrings, usually held longer and taken slower.
- Cow Face Pose Gomukhasana Stacked knees and bound hands — an unusually specific stretch for outer hips and shoulders at once. intermediate
- Garland Pose Malasana A deep squat with the heels down — a resting position in much of the world and a mobility project in most of LA. beginner
- Head-to-Knee Pose Janu Sirsasana A one-legged seated fold — usually kinder than the two-legged version because one hip gets to open. beginner
- Pigeon Pose Eka Pada Rajakapotasana The deep outer-hip opener everyone asks for — and the pose most often forced by people whose hips aren't ready. intermediate
- Seated Forward Fold Paschimottanasana A long fold over straight legs. The classic hamstring stretch, and the classic place people round their lower back. beginner
Twists
Rotation through the spine — length first, then turn.
- Reclined Twist Supta Matsyendrasana A supported twist on the floor, usually the last thing before rest — the one twist almost everyone can do comfortably. beginner
- Seated Spinal Twist Ardha Matsyendrasana An upright rotation of the spine — length first, then turn. Reversing that order is how twists get uncomfortable. beginner
- Thread the Needle Parsva Balasana A shoulder and upper-back twist done from hands and knees — small, specific, and very good for desk-shaped bodies. beginner
Backbends
Opening the front of the body, from very gentle to genuinely strong.
- Bridge Pose Setu Bandha Sarvangasana A supine backbend powered by the glutes — one of the few poses that is both a stretch and a strengthener. beginner
- Camel Pose Ustrasana A kneeling backbend with a big reputation — powerful, and the pose most often pushed past what the body agreed to. intermediate
- Cobra Pose Bhujangasana A low backbend driven by the back muscles rather than the arms — small and strong beats big and pushed. beginner
- Locust Pose Salabhasana A prone lift with no hands to help — the clearest way to find out whether your back muscles are actually working. intermediate
- Puppy Pose Uttana Shishosana Halfway between Child's Pose and Downward Dog — a chest opener that leaves the hips where they are. beginner
- Sphinx Pose Salamba Bhujangasana A propped, forearm-supported backbend you can hold for minutes rather than breaths. beginner
Core poses
Held strength work. Short, honest, and harder than they look.
Reclined poses
On your back, with the floor doing the supporting.
Restorative poses
Nothing to achieve. Props hold the shape so you can stop holding it.
- Child's Pose Balasana The universal rest position. Available in any class, at any moment, without asking. beginner
- Constructive Rest Lying down with the knees bent. It looks like nothing and it is one of the kindest things you can offer a tired back. beginner
- Corpse Pose Savasana The final rest of every class. Physically the simplest pose in yoga and, for a lot of people, the hardest. beginner
- Legs Up the Wall Viparita Karani The most-recommended recovery pose there is, and the least demanding. You lie down; the wall does the rest. beginner
- Reclined Bound Angle Supta Baddha Konasana Soles of the feet together, knees falling open, fully supported. A pose you can stay in for ten minutes. beginner
- Supported Fish Matsyasana A passive chest opener over a prop. Nothing to hold, nothing to achieve — you just lie there and open. beginner
Practising these with a teacher
A library is a reference, not a class. If you're starting out, a teacher watching you is worth more than any written cue — browse LA studios by style or by neighborhood, and tell them it's your first time.