On the Mat

A Fine Balance
Extend your energy and feel your balancing poses come to life with this Anusara sequence.
By Desiree Rumbaugh

Asana Built for Two
Want to make yoga a family affair? Here’s a sequence to get you started.
By Andrea Ferretti, sequence by Kate Roades

Benevolent Bend
Surrender into this forward bend for a powerful lesson in releasing tension from body and mind.
By Carol Krucoff

Better With Age
YJ asked six venerable teachers to share their thoughts and words of wisdom on how their practice has changed over the years, what they've learned about themselves along the way, and why they still roll out their mats every day.
By Marisa Guthrie

Better Your Back
No matter what type of back pain you have, there are poses appropriate for that type of pain.
By Melanie Haiken

Block Steady
A strong upper body equals a stronger Headstand. Use a block and this creative sequence of poses to build strength and stability for your inversions.
By Maty Ezraty with Melanie Lora

Blossom and Grow
By moving the energy in your lower chakras, you can harness your creative power and move through the world with more compassion.
By Andrea Ferretti

Bringing Balance Home
Do you want to practice at home but don't know quite where to start? In this series, renowned yoga teacher Cyndi Lee presents a unique home yoga class. Her first sequence focuses on creating balance.
By Cyndi Lee

Bringing Connection Home
Practice this flowing sequence at home and let it remind you of your connection to things larger than yourself.
By Cyndi Lee

Bringing Flexibility Home
It's easy to think we practice yoga just to be able to touch our toes. But Cyndi Lee reminds us that true flexibility means having an adaptable mind as well as a limber body.
By Cyndi Lee

Bringing Happiness Home
It's tempting to think that if we stick to poses we like, we'll be happier. But as Cyndi Lee explains, we can find a more lasting contentment if we embrace the asanas that challenge us the most.
By Cyndi Lee

Bringing Health Home
A mindful home practice is a healthy practice, because you're in charge: When you're feeling low, you can take it easy, and when you're energized, you can rev it up.
By Cyndi Lee

Contact, Commune, Connect
Deepen your relationships with the practice of Contact Yoga.
By Tara Lynda Guber

Core of Support
When your core is strong, you'll feel easier in your poses and more capable in your life.
By Andrea Ferretti

Crick Fixes
Tension can be a pain in the neck. Master these gentle moves to create lasting ease.
By Barbara Benagh

Crick Fixes Asana Sequence
Learn to relax and overcome neck tension with this specialized sequence.
By Barbara Benagh

Drop and Give Me 10!
To do Chaturanga Dandasana, a.k.a. the dreaded yoga push-up, you need more than brute strength.
By Denise Benitez

Easy Does It
Twists can be heaven for a bad back— if you don’t push too hard.
By Andrea Ferretti, sequence by Elise Miller

Emotions in Motion
You reach up and back, your chest opening into a supported backbend. Then, suddenly, you're in tears. How did you move from serenity to intensity in just one moment?
By Donna Raskin

Everybody Upside-Down
Let gravity work for you. Inversions are good for your lungs, heart, thyroid, and more.
By Yoko Yoshikawa

Facing the Heat
Life-saving tips for Bikram students and others who love sweaty yoga.
By Shari Waxman

Feed Your Soul
In both yoga and cooking the better your skills, the better the results.
By Robert Gray

Flow Motion
You've done Chaturanga and Updog hundreds of times, but are you doing them right? Learn the secrets of flawless flow.
By Jason Crandell

Freedom from Addiction
Addiction can harm our physical and spiritual health and deeply affect those who love us. But people who struggle with dependencies are finding new hope through the calming and centering effects of yoga.
By Stacie Stukin

Go with the Flow: Alignment in Anusara
In Anusara yoga, poses adhere to the Universal Principles of Alignment. Discover the five main alignment principles, which apply sequentially in each pose: Opening to Grace, Muscular Energy, Inner Spiral, Outer Spiral, and Organic Energy.
By John Friend

Here Comes the Sun
That most familiar of asana sequences, Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is as rich in symbolic and mythic overtones as it is in physical benefits.
By Richard Rosen

Hip Parade
Hips too tight? This unusual sequence creates balance in your pelvis and can unlock even the most stubborn hips.
By Andrea Ferretti

How to Salute the Sun
There are many variations on Surya Namaskar (the Sun Salutation), but here is one popular version to help you get started.
By Leila Easa

In Praise of Poses
Expressive, healing, and beautiful, asanas are like poetry: They guide us into life's deeper mysteries.
By Claudia Cummins

In the Mood
If you've lost the desire to practice, these ideas will help rekindle your passion for yoga.
By Laurel Kallenbach

Inversion Confusion
Is it safe to go upside down when you're having your period?
By Timothy McCall, M.D.

Is Yoga Enough to Keep You Fit?
We sent three yogis to the lab to test the theory that yoga is all you need for optimal fitness.
By Alisa Bauman

It's a Wrap
In the deep forward bend Yoganidrasana, you wrap your limbs around your torso and hug in, which brings forth a state of inner stillness and calm.
By Nicki Doane with Eddie Modestini

Learn to Stay Quiet
By Constance Hale

Living Large
Hatha yoga isn't just for the slim and slinky. A few basic modifications can make its gifts--flexibility, balance, strength, stress reduction, and increased awareness--accessible to every body.
By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg

Long and Strong
Flexible, strong hamstrings are key to any yoga practice. But they're often stubbornly tight. These five poses gently lengthen and strengthen them.
By Roger Cole

Metta in Motion
Learn how to infuse your hatha yoga practice with the meditative quality of metta, or "lovingkindness."
By Anne Cushman

Open Arms
These powerful arm poses will stretch you in new ways.
By Todd Jones

Out of the Unknown
When you unroll your sticky mat, you are launching yourself into the unknown.
By Robert Gray

Over the Moon
Like Anusara itself, this variation of Half Moon Pose is sweet, bendy—and lots of fun.
By Todd Jones

Plumb Perfect
One-legged poses give us a chance to find our center of gravity and dance around its edges. Here's how to still the wobbling and create a sense of fluid stability.
By Roger Cole

Poses We Hate
No matter how advanced your practice is, surely there are asanas you'd just as soon avoid. Here, five top teachers divulge their nemeses and what they've learned by practicing them.
By Nina Zolotow and Jason Crandell

Proper Props
Yoga props reeducate and still the mind by awakening the body's intelligence.
By Leslie Peters

Relief Effort
Tight hips are a big cause of back pain. Open them up with this sequence and feel your pain disappear.
By Andrea Ferretti, sequence by Baron Baptiste

Round out Your Practice: Balance
Need help in creating a complete home practice? Cyndi Lee's solo sequence is appropriate for yogis of all levels and experience.
By Cyndi Lee

Round Out Your Practice: Flexibility
Try this series for a practice that promises to increase flexibility.
By Cyndi Lee

Round Out Your Practice: Happiness
Embrace the asanas that challenge you the most, and find a more lasting sense of contentment.
By Cyndi Lee

Round Out Your Practice: Block Steady
Begin by lying down in a simple spinal twist or in your favorite gentle stretching pose. Stay there until you're ready to move on.
By Maty Ezraty with Melanie Lora

Round Out Your Practice: Health
Take charge, and create a healthy, mindful practice that suits your mood.
By Cyndi Lee

Round Out Your Practice: Spirit
Meditation isn't always as easy as it sounds. It's a practice of noticing, interrupting, and returning to your immediate senses. And it's no easier when done at home, without a teacher to guide you.

Round Out Your Practice: Stress-Relief
Try this 15-minute stress-releasing routine that you can do in the comfort of your own home to unjangle your nerves.
By Cyndi Lee

Sequences for Scoliosis
If you suffer from scoliosis, here are some specific asanas that will help alleviate discomfort and realign your spine.
By Elise Browning Miller

Short and Sweet
When it comes to developing a home practice, consistency—not the length of your sessions—is key.
By Andrea Ferretti, sequence by David Swenson

Sound and Silence
We can approach the making of our postures as a creative act.
By Robert Gray

Spine Savers
Back bothering you? Join the club. Better yet, try these poses.
By Melanie Haiken

Standing on Your Own Two Hands
Balancing upside down doesn't have to be intimidating if you practice the steps that lead to a strong and supple handstand.
By Linda Sparrowe

Sthira Sukham Asanam (Seated posture should be steady and comfortable.)
Patanjali's basic advice in the Yoga Sutra may sound simple, but many find sitting in meditation painful and difficult. This sequence of poses can help bring ease to your seated posture.
By Linda Sparrowe

Stress Buster
Your home practice should be your sanctuary from stress. Here's a sequence to ensure that it is.
By Andrea Ferretti

Strong-Arm Tactics
Want more powerful biceps, triceps, and shoulders? These poses can put you on the right path.
By Alisa Bauman

Sun, Sand, and Samadhi
Take your yoga to the beach this summer and reconnect with nature.
By Sharon Goldman

Surya Namaskar
Sun Salutations, or Surya Namaskar, are traditionally performed in the morning to greet the new day. This sequence of postures can be a complete practice in itself or can prepare you for a longer asana routine. Sun Salutes are often performed in sets of five, but if you are new to the practice, it's wise to begin with two or three. Each time you flow through this sequence, synchronize your breath with the movements of your body.
By YJ Staff

Sweet Surrender
All excuses aside, how could you begin to commit to a daily yoga practice?
By Phillip Moffitt

Sweet Surrender
Find stillness and greater depth by holding poses longer in a Yin Yoga sequence.
By Andrea Ferretti, sequence by Sarah Powers

Take Flight
Take a new approach to Bakasana and get yourself airborne with ease.
By Andrea Ferretti. sequence by Natash Rizopolos

The Compassionate Backbend
In backbends, we come face-to-face with the boundaries of our flexibility, patience, and equanimity. But learning to practice with our limitations—instead of struggling against them—can make backbending an exercise in self-acceptance.
By Kate Tremblay

The Online Reference for Your Home Practice
If you're enjoying columnist Cyndi Lee's home practice series, then visit our online library of her sequences. You'll find each issue's sequence in an easy-to-read format with hyperlinks to detailed explanations of the poses.

The Other Mat
Pilates may not offer spiritual or meditative benefits, but its core-strengthening exercises can invigorate your yoga practice. Plus: 6 great exercises to incorporate into your yoga routine.
By Stacie Stukin

The Right Triangle
No two styles of yoga teach the same pose the same way, and nowhere is this more evident than with Trikonasana (Triangle Pose). So who's right? We asked five instructors to show us their approach to Triangle and compared their methods.
By Todd Jones

This Side Up: Building a Forearm Balance
Going upside down makes you stronger and more flexible. Plus it changes your perspective. Use this sequence to build to Forearm Balance and watch your body and mind transform.
By Cyndi Lee

This Which We Call Body
Many people study yoga without ever consciously considering what deeper beliefs they hold about the body.
By Phillip Moffitt

Tune In, Tune Up
Tune in to the infinite and tune up your body with this energizing Kundalini sequence for optimum health.
By Andrea Ferretti

Twist & Soar
It's a twist! It's a standing pose! It's an arm balance! The super-pose Visvamitrasana is all of those things and more.
By Shiva Rea

Upside Downside?
Headstand can have just as many risks as benefits. Here are a few things to consider before going up.
By Timothy McCall, M.D.

What Science Can Teach Us About Flexibility
In recent years, biomedical research has begun to investigate and appreciate what yogis have known for centuries: Stretching keeps us limber, youthful, and healthy.
By Fernando Pagés Ruiz

When Less Is More
By trying too hard, you may be adding tension to your poses...and your life.
By Phillip Moffitt

With A Twist
Give your back a treat with this series of twists that loosen your spinal muscles and tame your tension.
By Roger Cole

Yin Yoga
Every meditator knows the pain of stiff knees and an aching back. By stretching the connective tissue, Yin Yoga can condition you to sit longer— and more comfortably.
By Paul Grilley

Yin Yoga Asanas
Longer, more passive holdings of yoga poses can condition you to sit longer— and more comfortably.
By Paul Grilley

Yoga for Moms-To-Be
Bond with your unborn baby and prepare for labor.
By Lynn Felder / Asana Sequence by Shiva Rea

Yoga for Scoliosis
With regular practice, you can ease the pain of a crooked back and turn it into a powerful teacher.
By Elise Browning Miller

Yoga to the rescue!
When you're feeling overwhelmed, a restorative yoga practice can calm your jangled nerves. Cyndi Lee of OM yoga studios in New York offers this 15-minute stress-releasing routine that you can do in the comfort of your own home.
By Cyndi Lee

Yogi Beware: Make Your Practice Safe
Hidden dangers can lurk within even the most familiar pose. Here's how to play it smart and safe.
By Judith Hanson Lasater