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8 Yoga Poses for Beginners and Their Benefits

Beat stress, ease back pain, and gain flexibility with these simple stretches and breathing exercises.

By Beth W. OrensteinMedically Reviewed by Justin Laube, MD

Reviewed:

Medically Reviewed

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There are many great reasons to add yoga to your exercise routine. Yoga improves muscle tone, flexibility, and balance, and it helps you relax and reduce stress, thanks in part to its signature pranayama breathing. Research have also shown that yogic practices also reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain; help you sleep better; and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.

Ready to give it a try? Here are eight beginner poses — called "asanas" — recommended by yoga instructors.

614

Easy Pose — Sukhasana — to Relieve Stress

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Sit cross-legged on a yoga mat with your hands on your knees, palms up. Keep your spine as straight as you can. Push the bones you're sitting on down into the floor — your "sit bones" in yoga-speak. Close your eyes and inhale.

"This is a great pose for beginners to use as an assessment," says Gwen Lawrence, yoga coach for the New York Knicks and other sports teams, athletes, and celebrities. "Just sitting on the floor gives you a perfect way to see and feel the external rotation on the legs." This pose also boosts back flexibility and can help relieve stress.

615

Cat-Cow to Awaken the Spine and Ease Back Pain

Get on your mat on all fours with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees directly below your hips. Distribute your weight equally between your hands and spread your fingers wide. Inhale and round your back, arching it up as you lower your chin to your chest; feel the stretch from your neck to your tailbone, like a cat. As you exhale, lower your back down all the way to a scoop shape as you lift your head, and tilt it back.

“Cat-Cow stretches and awakens the spine, which helps ease back pain,” says Baptiste Yoga teacher Leah Cullis. “It also opens and increases flexibility of the whole spine, neck, chest, and shoulders. I recommend repeating 5 to 10 times or more.”

616

Tree Pose — Vrksasana — to Improve Your Balance

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Start by standing straight for this pose. Bring your hands together in the prayer position and lift them over your head. Balance on your right leg. Bend your left knee out to the left side and press your left foot to the inner thigh of your right leg. Hold for 30 seconds. Switch legs and repeat.

"This pose helps to stretch the body long, from the heels to the tips of your fingers," says Shea Vaughn, wellness and fitness expert and author of Breakthrough: The 5 Living Principles to Defeat Stress, Look Great, and Find Total Well-Being (and mom of actor Vince Vaughn). It will also help you improve your balance.

617

Downward-Facing Dog — Adho Mukha Svanasana — to Enhance Flexibility

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In Downward-Facing Dog, your body forms an inverted V-shape. Start by placing both hands on the mat in front of you, palms down; your hands should be slightly in front of your shoulders. Place your knees on the ground directly under your hips. Exhale as you lift your knees off the ground and lift your buttocks and hips toward the ceiling. Push the top of your thighs back and stretch your heels down toward the floor. Keep your head down between your upper arms and in line with them, not hanging down. If you notice your lower back rounding, try bending your knees to help lengthen your back.

“Downward-Facing Dog calms the nervous system, works on overall flexibility, decompresses the spine, tones the arms, sculpts the legs, and opens the shoulders,” says Cullis. The pose is often held for five breaths between sides, or longer for more strength-building benefits. Lengthen from your wrists to your hips on your inhales, and deepen your roots from your hips to your heels with each exhale, suggests Cullis.

618

Child's Pose — Balasana — to Help You Relax and Unwind

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From Downward-Facing Dog, simply bend your knees and lower your butt to your heels as you bring your chest toward the floor over your knees. Lower your shoulders and head to the floor. Place your arms along your sides, palms down, or you can support your head by folding your arms under your forehead. Breathe and relax for as long as you need to.

“Child’s Pose is one of the most healing yoga poses, and it’s my favorite of them all,” says Cullis. “It awakens the connection between the breath and body and sends calming energy through all the muscles. It’s an opportunity to get grounded, go inward, and to come out of your busy mind and into your body by awakening your breath from the inside out.” Child’s Pose is a great way to take a break and relax during your yoga practice, or anytime you feel tired or overwhelmed.

619

Baby Pigeon Pose to Open Up Your Hips

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From all fours, move your right knee forward between your hands. As though you were doing a lunge, slowly straighten your left leg behind you, keeping the knee and top of the foot on the floor. Now rotate the right knee toward the right wrist and bring it down to the floor with your right calf flat on the floor and your right foot resting under your left groin. Lower your upper body over the bent leg, either all the way to the floor or resting on your elbows. Slowly inhale and exhale five times. Before you change sides, push back on your left leg to stretch the calf muscles. Repeat with your left leg bent and right leg extended.

This pose is a favorite for runners because it boosts hip flexibility and also releases the glutes and low back, Lawrence says. "If you run, lift weights, do CrossFit, or Spin, you must do this stretch to keep strong and flexible and enhance your performance." It may be challenging at first, but you'll learn to love this pose, Lawrence promises.

620

Mountain Pose — Tadasana — to Improve Your Posture

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Stand still, with your chest open and broad and your hands at your sides, and feel your feet on the floor and the sensations in your legs and back. Then analyze your posture in front of a mirror. Lawrence makes her athletes hold long pencils in each hand as they stand. "I tell them to look down at the pencils and, like a compass, see how they point. Are they the same? Does one point straight and the other point to three on the clock?"

This pose will show if you have any imbalances in your shoulders and give you clues about what you need to work on. If one pencil is very turned in, so is your shoulder.

621

Legs-up-the-Wall Pose — Viparita Karani — to Restore and Revitalize

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This is a great ending pose for beginners and those experienced at yoga alike. Lie on the floor with your butt right up against a wall. "Walk" your legs straight up the wall so that your body is in an L shape with your torso flat on the floor and perpendicular to the wall. You may want to place a rolled-up blanket under your lower back for support; keep your elbows out to the sides on the floor for additional support. Flex toes to feel a stretch in the backs of your legs. Breathe deeply and hold the position for as long as you like. To release, bring your knees to your chest and roll over to your side.

This pose revitalizes tired legs and puts renewed pep in your step, Lawrence says.

How to make beautiful yoga photos - Live!

Let's be honest: despite the fact that yoga does not mean "ostentatious" practice and the pursuit of complexity of forms, many practitioners dream of a beautiful photo shoot on the mat. Teachers do not condemn this practice. “In some cases, it is even useful to take a yoga photo,” comments Yana Ananyeva, Hatha yoga teacher at the Vkus&Tsvet studio , comments . - Firstly, your pictures can motivate friends to do yoga. Secondly, with the help of the camera, you can track your personal progress by taking photos of the same asana every few weeks, months or years.”

Beautiful yoga photos: basic rules

* Use only proven poses for a photo session. “Asanas, the accuracy of which you are 100% sure of, will look more impressive than the pose that you saw with a friend on Instagram, but you yourself have never practiced it,” says Yana Ananyeva. “If, nevertheless, there is a need to capture an unfamiliar asana, then before that it is worth doing it several times in the presence of your yoga instructor, to make sure that it is safe and accurate.”

Otherwise, you risk injury. “If you go where the body is not yet ready to go, you can seriously harm yourself,” adds Daria Shelestova, teacher of vinyasa flow yoga, yoga of critical alignment at the Prana yoga center . “It is unlikely that a beautiful photograph is worth several months, or even years, of the restoration of joints, muscles and other tissues.”

* Warm up well before the photo shoot. This will help you avoid injury and build asanas more effectively. “The best thing is to practice for half an hour or an hour before shooting. If this is not possible, perform 10-12 rounds of Surya Namaskara. Work out the hip joints, shoulders, knees, make a few backbends,” says Daria Shelestova.

* Take your time. “Enter the asanas slowly and smoothly, use the preparation poses, lingering in them for a few breaths, so the photographer can capture the moment, which will look more natural,” advises Yana Ananyeva.

* Don't overwork yourself. “When planning a photo session, calculate your strength, perform asanas to 90% of your abilities and work not for the camera, but from the heart,” says Yana.

* Choose a good angle. Most asanas look good in profile, front or 3/4 turn. But do not be afraid to experiment: some positions are better to shoot from the back or from above (for example, the pose of a spider).

What asanas look most impressive in the photo

* Deflections and bridges. “Please note that they are among the most traumatic asanas. Especially if you perform a pose due to a deep deflection and squeezing of the lower back, ”warns Daria Shelestova.

* Ring grip asanas. “This is natarajasana or the King of the Dancers pose, a deep variation of eka pada raja kapotasana, a deep backbend from dove pose with a ring grip on the head. All variations of the scorpion pose also look beautiful, ”comments Daria.

* Twines. "But be careful not to stretch the backs of your legs," says Daria.

* Hand balances , including simple ones like vasishthasana.

* Inverted asanas. “For example, pincha mayyur asana, but all of them are permissible, provided that you have a firm grasp of the correct technique. Otherwise, wrist injuries and falls are inevitable, ”warns Daria Shelestova.

However, this does not mean that basic asanas like the pose of a triangle or a warrior are not suitable for filming - properly built, they can also become the basis for a beautiful yoga photo shoot.

Beautiful yoga photos: what else is worth remembering?

L occi i . At home, in the studio, in the park, in the urban landscape - any of these places will fit for a yoga photo session. However, it should be understood that each location will dictate its own conditions - for example, in the choice of asanas and clothing. “There are certain asanas that look a little more harmonious in the photo under certain conditions,” says Yana Ananyeva. — So, for example, when choosing shooting outdoors, it is better to give preference to meditative asanas, for example, such poses as sukkhasana, padmasana or badhakonnasana. Poses in which a natural thread can be traced, such as the tree pose, vrikshasana, will be appropriate. For an urban environment, more concentrated or power asanas are suitable, such as chaturanga dandasana, bakasana, ashtavakrasana, etc. Postures such as virabhadrasana 1/2/3, utthita trikonasana, navasana look harmonious in any conditions, including at home. But in the end, the choice is still yours.”

Experts also advise remembering the safety rules: don't lose your head in pursuit of beautiful photos and risk your life shooting on the roadway, unstable structures, etc.

Lighting. Natural light is best for filming. Therefore, when photographing indoors, try to make the most of the light from the windows. Filming on the street? Try to do this in the early morning or just after sunset when the light is soft with golden hues.

Clothes. For practice, it doesn't matter what the clothes look like, as long as you feel comfortable in them. But filming is a different matter. “Make sure that the clothes are clean and in size,” advises Yana Ananyeva. “And play with its shape and color depending on the concept of your photo shoot and what poses you chose.”

Here are the main recommendations:

- If you have chosen poses in which the emphasis is on the clarity of lines (for example, utthita trikonasana, virabhadrasana, parshvatannasana, hanumasana), wear tight leggings instead of yoga pant-aladdins, so the asana will look more effective.

- If the asana is more relaxed and free (for example, gomukhasana, sukhasana, rajakapotasana), then traditional yogi clothes or even a light summer dress made from natural fabrics may be suitable.

— Almost any asana will look great in a one-piece yoga suit.

- If you are photographing outdoors, choose more natural colors that will echo and harmonize with the environment, but do not merge with the general landscape.

— If the photo shoot takes place in a studio on a special background, choose classic colors, preferably plain and contrasting with the background color.

- When shooting in a city landscape, you should choose bright clothes that will stand out against the background of plain houses and buildings.

Tricks. It's great to have a photographer take pictures of you. However, alone there is a chance to take beautiful pictures. “There are few options: you can turn on the delayed shooting mode on your phone or camera, set the equipment on a tripod and take a pose in 10 seconds. The second option is to record a good quality video and then take a screenshot of it,” says Daria Shelestova.

Keep safety in mind when following these recommendations. Believe me, no picture is worth your health.

photos and descriptions with names and what they are for

Contents

  1. Yoga asanas: photos and descriptions
  2. Yoga asanas: photo with correct execution

According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, asana is the third limb of yoga. It is not recommended to practice asanas for those who have not mastered the first two steps at least at the basic level - Yama and Niyama, that is, moral precepts. And this is not a dogma to be followed simply because it is written that way. In the scriptures, one can find many examples of how those who practiced yoga, without having any kind of moral paradigm and adequate worldview, became demons and asuras. Yes, and in everyday life, we can see how the practice of yoga sometimes leads to strange, to put it mildly, results.

Why is this happening? The thing is that the practice of yoga, in particular the practice of asanas, gives a person a lot of additional energy and the efficiency of a person’s life increases significantly. And if a person follows moral precepts, acts not out of selfish motivations, but out of a desire to benefit all living beings and change the world for the better, through personal practice, such a person will benefit from additional energy.

And now imagine that a person, for example, sells alcohol. Additional energy - will allow him to sell alcohol more efficiently. What result this will lead to both the person himself and those to whom he sells alcohol is quite obvious. Or, for example, a person has some kind of serious addiction. Here the situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, the practice of asanas can help to cope with addiction by changing the energy, and on the other hand, if a person does not intend to fight addiction, then the practice of asanas will only allow him to indulge in his painful passion even more effectively and, of course, to no good. it won't. In this case, the motivation and attitude of a person is important. If he is determined to fight addiction, then it is worth trying to use asanas to change energy, and if for a person yoga is a tool for more efficient living through life, then such a practice will not lead to anything good.

A complex for practice can be compiled both independently and by contacting an experienced teacher. If you make a complex on your own, you should take into account your physical capabilities, level of training, and, of course, the characteristics of your personality - the qualities that you would like to develop and the shortcomings that you would like to get rid of. You should also read the contraindications. There are no obstacles for independent practice - each asana is accompanied by a detailed description of how exactly it should be performed. Possible runtime errors are also described.

There are a number of options for performing this or that asana, and for each person, taking into account his physique, you can find the best option for performing it. If the state of the physical body and flexibility leave much to be desired, you can try a lightweight version of the asana. From simple to complex - according to this principle, you can master any asana, however, fanaticism and forcing events in the process of practice should be avoided - complex elements should be mastered gradually. It is necessary to maintain a balance between asceticism and sanity. While in the asana, discomfort should be felt, but there should be no pain.

Photos with asanas were taken by professional yoga teachers, so you should strive for just such a position of the body, but you should understand that what is available to a yoga teacher is not always available to a beginner, so you should measure your real physical capabilities with the desire for correct performance. Each asana contains a photo and a description of what it is for. The text of the description details the indications for implementation and the effect that this or that asana gives. Thanks to this, you can choose for yourself exactly those asanas that will help solve the problems that currently exist. It is desirable to compose a complex in such a way that for each asana there is a counter-asana.

For example, if Pashchimotanasana is performed, then it is advisable to perform Chakrasana after it, so that the deflection of the spine is first in one direction and then in the opposite direction. This will contribute to harmonious development. In the case of inverted asanas, you should not immediately proceed to perform asanas that involve a vertical position of the body immediately after them. After performing inverted asanas, it is advisable to perform asanas in which the body is in a horizontal position twice as long.

Inverted asanas such as Shirshasana, Sarvangasana, Halasana, Viparita-karani are effective tools for raising energy from the lower chakras to the upper ones. Thanks to the force of gravity, inverted asanas change the direction of blood flow and give rest to the heart. The practice of asanas should be regular so that the level of energy and awareness is always sufficient. The practice of asanas can be compared to cleaning the house. A clean person cleans his house regularly, because as soon as the cleaning is completed, at that very moment the process of pollution begins again and the very next day you can see a thin layer of dust. In the practice of asanas, the same is true.

If we do not make efforts to ourselves regularly, the environment will make efforts to us, which often leaves much to be desired. By the way, such a principle of Niyama as "Shaucha" speaks about the regular purification of one's consciousness, body and surrounding space. There is a simple rule - where your attention is, there is your energy; where your energy is, there is the result. Thus, you need to spend your time wisely and in accordance with your goals. Therefore, you should practice regularly. It is better to practice 30-40 minutes daily to constantly maintain your body and mind in proper condition than to practice for 4 hours, but once a week - as experience shows, the practice will take place according to the principle of "one step forward and two steps back."

It is better to practice asanas in the morning, preferably before sunrise - as experience shows, the effectiveness of the practice increases significantly. The best option is the so-called "Brahma-Muhurta" - the "Hour of Brahma", which starts an hour and a half before sunrise and lasts 48 minutes.


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