Yoga Pose Library

Whenever you’re working on a pose, looking for inspiration when sequencing class, or just wanting to nerd out on yoga we hope you’ll find inspiration in the Adventure Yoga yoga pose library.

Looking for our yoga pose tutorials? We’ve collected them all here so that you can easily navigate your way around by pose category and then click through to read details on each pose, including yoga pose breakdowns and tutorials, step by step guides, video tutorials, the history of some poses, myths and mythology around poses and much more. From basic poses to advanced asanas, standing poses to inversion and everything in between look no further.

Choose the category of pose you’re interested in learning about:

Surya Namaskar / Sun Salutations

Surya Namaskar / Sun Salutations

The Sun Salutation sequences help to engage different parts of your body, and they stretch, tone and strengthen your muscles, ligaments, joints as well as improving overall flexibility in your spine, hamstrings, shoulders, and more.

One study on the effects of practicing Surya Namaskar found that a regular Surya practice “balances, harmonizes, and brings integration between physical and mental health.”

For more detail on the benefits of individual Surya Namaskar sequences, see our individual breakdown posts:

Standing Poses

Standing poses are the foundation of your asana practice because they teach you how to set up your foundation! Work done in standing poses will help you in all other pose categories.

Standing poses are great for building strength in your legs and hips, improving your balance, and strengthening your core. They also teach you how to move your shoulders, straighten your legs and spine, and support body weight, making it easier to feel and adjust your alignment.

For more detail on the benefits of specific standing poses, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Trikonasana / Triangle Pose

illustration of padmasana yoga pose — Seated yoga poses were the very first poses to come into being.
Image of Padmasana from Ramanandi Jayatarama’s Joga Pradīpikā, 1737.

Seated Yoga Poses

Seated poses help improve flexibility in your hips by stretching your legs and passively allowing your hips to open. They are also great for strengthening your back muscles and toning your core.

Sitting on the floor is not comfortable for everyone, especially if they are new to the yoga practice. You can always sit on a chair or use yoga props to help find what works for you.

For more detail on the benefits of specific seated poses, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Yoga Twists

Contrary to popular belief, yoga twists do not wring out your organs or release toxins. If they did, your organs might rupture, or those toxins would go into your blood stream and make you sick!

However, yoga twists do help maintain mobility in your spine — which is a much more important reason to do them. They can release muscle tension around your spine which may reduce pain, increase flexibility and relieve lower back pain.

For more detail on the benefits of specific twisted poses, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Yoga Forward Folds

Forward folds help lengthen and strengthen your spine, as well as strengthening your quads and lengthening your hamstrings. They also stretch the muscles that support your hips.

Forward folds can help you learn how to engage your hip flexor muscles to deepen your forward folds and strengthen your abdominal muscles. They can also help calm your nervous system.

For more detail on the benefits of specific forward fold poses, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Parivrtta Trikonasana / Revolved Triangle Pose

woman doing a standing back bend on a yoga mat — Back bends don’t have to be fancy to be beneficial.

Yoga Back Bends

Back bends help us to strengthen the muscles needed to stand up straight — these same muscles take you into a back bend. They also help keep the spine supple and build strength and flexibility in your shoulders, hips, and legs.

They offer the opportunity to practice engaging your pelvic floor and your deep core muscles to create more stability in your core, which can give you access to a safer and deeper experience of your practice.

For more detail on the benefits of specific back bends, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Bhujangasana / Cobra Pose

handstand painting india — *Shaiva ascetic in handstand. From Tamil Nadu, India circa 1820.*

Yoga Inversions

Inversions in yoga are defined as any pose where your head is below your heart. So, while we often think of poses like Handstand and Headstand as inversions, there are more accessible options such as Downward Facing Dog and Standing Forward Fold as well.

Inversions are great for helping build strength in your arms and shoulders and learning to overcome fear and build confidence. Inversions also help improve your balance and they are a great way to see the world, and yourself, from a different perspective.

Despite what you may read, inversions do not cleanse your lymphatic system. The lymphatic system filters bacteria, abnormal cells, etc from your blood, and sends the clean fluid back towards your heart. It works whether you are upside down or not.

For more detail on the benefits of specific inversions, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

stephen doing an arm balance in front of a very crowded trevi fountain in rome — Arm balances build strength and are fun to do in a crowd.

Yoga Arm Balances

Arm balances will help you build strength in your arms and shoulders, core strength, and leg strength. In fact, these poses are great at really working your whole body, which is why they can be challenging to practice.

Because they are challenging, they may also help you build willpower, determination and strength of mind.

For more detail on the benefits of specific arm balances, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Supine Yoga Poses

Supine poses are poses done lying down on your back. They can be some of most effective poses for increasing flexibility and mobility in your hamstrings, hips, and spine. They can also be useful for learning how to do more physically challenging poses (think arm balances, inversions, and even twists) in a modified form.

Doing a pose lying on the floor makes the work more accessible before progressing to the non-supine version.

Of course, the most important pose in yoga, Savasana, is also a supine pose. Practicing this pose at the end of every yoga class gives your body and mind a chance to absorb the work that you have just done and prepare you for whatever is next in your day.

For more detail on the benefits of specific supine, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Savasana / Corpse Pose

Yoga Hip Openers

Hip openers work the muscles that cross the hip, including the hip flexors, adductors, glutes, abductors, hamstrings, and the external and internal rotators.

Sitting at a desk for long periods, as many of us do during our working day, lends itself to tight hips. When your hips are tight this can lead to overuse and misalignment of your spine.

The benefits of hip openers include improved range of motion, reduced stress, and more support for the muscles of the back and the spine. This can help relieve and / or prevent back pain.

For more detail on the benefits of specific hip openers, see our individual pose breakdown posts for these poses:

Namaste OMies, Stephen

I hope these yoga pose tutorials help improve your understanding of the benefits of yoga and expanding your possibilities with yoga. That’s why I created this yoga pose library and why I wrote all these posts. It is my goal to inspire you to explore your yoga practice more deeply while enabling you to cultivate the strength and clarity needed to live your life adventure to the fullest!