Yoga Poses for Beginners: 12 to Know by Name

No. The most useful thing to know before a first class is that you do not have to know anything. The teacher demonstrates every pose, names it, and walks the room offering options for different bodies. Nobody expects a beginner to recognise a Sanskrit name or fall straight into a shape.

So why learn the names at all? Because feeling lost is the thing that puts people off, and a few familiar words take the edge off that. When the teacher says "downward dog" or "child's pose" and you already have a rough picture, the class stops feeling like a foreign language. That is the whole reason this page exists. Treat it as a glossary you can skim, not a test to pass.

A practical note on the two languages. Many Australian studios cue in plain English, some use the Sanskrit names, and plenty mix both. The pose is the same either way. Knowing that "Tadasana" and "mountain pose" point at the identical thing means you are never thrown by which one the teacher reaches for.

These are the foundational poses that turn up in most beginner and general classes. The names below are the common English version and the Sanskrit, so you recognise both. The Sanskrit follows the usual pattern: a descriptor plus asana, which means seat or posture.

Mountain pose (Tadasana). Standing tall and still, feet grounded, arms by your sides. It looks like doing nothing and is actually the blueprint for every standing pose. Cue: stand with your feet about hip-width apart, lengthen up through the crown of your head, and let your shoulders soften down.

Downward-facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). An upside-down V shape, hands and feet on the floor, hips lifting up and back. One of the most recognisable poses in yoga and a frequent resting and transition shape. Cue: press evenly through your hands, and let your heels reach toward the floor without forcing them down. Bent knees are completely fine.

Child's pose (Balasana). A kneeling rest with your hips back toward your heels and your forehead toward the mat. This is your safety pose. Cue: take it any time you want a break in class, no permission needed. A good teacher will tell you the same.

Cat-cow (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana). Two linked shapes on your hands and knees, alternately rounding your spine up (cat) and letting it dip while you lift your chest (cow), moving with your breath. It is a gentle warm-up for the spine. Cue: let your breath lead, rounding as you exhale and opening as you inhale.

Cobra (Bhujangasana). A gentle backbend lying on your front, lifting your chest off the floor with your forearms or hands supporting. Cue: keep the lift small and led by your back, not by pushing hard through your arms, and stop well before any pinch in your lower back.

Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I). A strong standing lunge, back foot angled down, both hips facing forward, arms reaching up. Builds leg strength and stability. Cue: point your front knee over your ankle, not past your toes, and only sink as low as feels steady.

Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II). A wide lunge with your arms stretched out front and back, gaze over the front hand, hips and chest open to the side. Cue: keep your front knee tracking toward your middle toes, and relax your shoulders down away from your ears.

Triangle (Trikonasana). A wide-legged standing stretch, one hand reaching down toward your shin or a block while the other reaches up, body opening to the side. Cue: use a block under your lower hand rather than straining to reach the floor. Reaching the floor is not the goal.

Tree pose (Vrksasana). A standing balance on one leg with the other foot resting against your standing ankle, calf, or inner thigh (never the side of the knee). Cue: fix your eyes on one still point ahead to steady the balance, and start with your toes still touching the floor if you wobble. Everybody wobbles.

Bridge (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana). Lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat, lifting your hips toward the ceiling. A gentle backbend that works the back of the body. Cue: press through your feet to lift, and keep your knees pointing forward rather than splaying out.

Seated forward fold (Paschimottanasana). Sitting with your legs out in front, folding gently forward over them. A hamstring and back stretch. Cue: bend your knees as much as you like and lead with your chest rather than rounding to grab your feet. How far you fold does not matter.

Corpse pose (Savasana). Lying flat on your back, eyes closed, doing nothing at all, usually to finish the class. It looks like the easy one and is often the one people find hardest, because staying still and switched off is its own skill. Cue: let the floor take your full weight and resist the urge to leave early. This is part of the practice, not an afterthought.

Skim, don't memorise. The point of the list above is recognition, not recall. If you walk in already half-knowing what "warrior II" or "child's pose" looks like, the class feels far less disorienting, and that is the whole job done.

When you are actually in the room, watch the teacher more than you chase the name. The demonstration tells you everything the Sanskrit cannot. If you fall behind, child's pose is always available, and dropping into it for a breath or two is normal, not a failure. Plenty of experienced people in the room are doing it too.

One more thing that helps beginners more than knowing pose names: turning up to a class with a teacher who can watch and adjust you, rather than learning off a video at home. Australia's healthdirect, the national health service, advises that if you are new, or have an injury or a health condition, it is best to go to a class with a qualified instructor who can adjust the moves. If you are still choosing between styles, the guide to choosing a yoga style lays out which classes suit beginners, and the first yoga class guide covers the practical side of turning up.

Over time and with regular practice, generally yes, and flexibility is one of yoga's better-supported benefits. healthdirect lists improved flexibility, posture and balance among the reasons people take up yoga, per its overview of yoga and Pilates. The beginner poses above, the forward fold, the lunges, the gentle backbends, move your joints through their range and lengthen muscles, which is how that change builds.

Two honest caveats. You do not need to be flexible to start, the poses adapt to wherever your body is today, and you build flexibility by practising, not before it. And it comes slowly, joint by joint, rather than all at once. If a flexible body is your main reason for starting, the yoga for flexibility guide sets out a realistic timeline and the evidence behind it.

The single rule that matters more than any pose name: if something hurts, stop. Ordinary muscle effort and a mild stretch are fine. Sharp, pinching, or joint-level pain is not, and it is a signal to come out of the shape, not to push through it. Tell the teacher, and they will give you a modification.

Before class, have a quiet word with your teacher if any of these apply to you:

• A recent or recurring injury, especially knees, lower back, shoulders, neck, or wrists, since several beginner poses load exactly those areas.
• Pregnancy. healthdirect notes it is generally safe to practise yoga while pregnant but that some positions may need changing, per its yoga and Pilates overview. A trained teacher can substitute or skip poses, and a pregnancy-specific class is often a better fit.
• High blood pressure, a heart condition, or anything affected by intense exertion, so the teacher can offer gentler options.

For anything specific to your body, an Australian-registered physiotherapist or your GP is the right person to ask, not a class description or this page. You can find a registered teacher through Yoga Australia, the peak national body for teacher registration. When you are ready to find a class, you can browse yoga studios by location on Studio Finder. And before you go, the guide to what to wear to pilates and yoga saves you turning up in the wrong thing.

This guide is general information only and is not medical advice. See your GP or an allied health professional for advice about your own situation.