The 16 Asanas — meanings, how to practise & what they do

Hand-written guides to the most-practised yoga poses across hatha, ashtanga, iyengar and restorative traditions. From Tadasana (the daily standing pose) to Ananda Balasana (the bliss-child pose). Each page has the actual lineage, the actual alignment, the gift, the shadow, and the contraindications.

How to use this page

Looking for the right pose for your moment? Click any of the 16 below. Every page has the actual *meaning* (tradition + translation), what the pose *does* in the body and nervous system (with the contraindications named explicitly), *how to practise* it (alignment, duration, entry & exit), what it means in love and in work, the *gift* it teaches, the *shadow* (forcing, performance, bailing — named where relevant), and pair-with cards for chakra, pranayama (breath), mudra (gesture), and zodiac.

The four families. The 16 poses cluster naturally. Grounding (Mountain, Child, Down-Dog, Corpse) is the daily-practice family — safe for everyone, the foundation of every other practice. Heart (Cobra, Camel, Bridge, Fish) is the heart-throat opening family — for the chest that has been compressed, the throat that has been silenced, the front body that has armored against the world. Power (Warrior One, Tree, Chair, Plank) is the activating family — for strength, will, sustained presence. Restorative (Legs-Up-the-Wall, Butterfly, Seated Forward Fold, Happy Baby) is the surrender family — for the inversion of the day, the slow opening, the introspection, the joy.

Posture is the fourth leg of the body-practice quadrant. Sound (mantras), gesture (mudras), and breath (pranayama) shape the inside; posture is what shapes the outside. The four practices together have been the spine of yogic transmission for millennia. See the 10 pranayamas → · See the 16 mudras → · See the 12 mantras →

Grounding poses · the daily-practice family

Tadasana. Tada = mountain, asana = seat / posture. The pose of standing as a mountain stands.

The pose that looks like nothing and contains everything. Standing on two feet, fully — the posture every other pose returns to.

Balasana. Bala = child, asana = seat. The pose of the child returning to the earth.

The pose to come back to whenever the practice (or the day, or the life) has asked too much. Forehead on the earth, arms heavy, breath returning.

Downward-Facing Dog

Adho Mukha Svanasana. Adho = downward, mukha = face, svana = dog. The pose of a dog stretching after a long sleep.

The full-body stretch every dog knows by instinct. Hands and feet on the floor, hips pointing to the sky, body in an inverted V.

Savasana. Sava = corpse, asana = posture. The pose of lying as a corpse lies.

Lying flat on the back. Eyes closed. Doing absolutely nothing. The pose that ends every yoga class — and the pose most practitioners cannot do.

Heart-opening poses · the chest-throat opening family

Bhujangasana. Bhujanga = serpent / cobra, asana = posture. The pose of a cobra lifting its hood.

Lying face-down, hands under shoulders, the chest lifts off the floor. The first backbend most yogis learn. The pose that re-opens the heart after a day of rounding forward.

Ustrasana. Ustra = camel, asana = posture. The pose of a kneeling camel arching back.

Kneeling, hands reaching back to the heels, chest open to the sky. The pose that brings up everything the body has been holding in the chest.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. Setu = bridge, bandha = lock / bond, sarva-anga = all-limbs, asana = posture. The whole-body bridge.

Lying on the back, knees bent, feet flat, hips lift toward the sky. The accessible backbend — a heart-opener anyone can practice safely.

Matsyasana. Matsya = fish, asana = posture. The pose attributed to Matsya, the first incarnation of Vishnu.

Lying on the back, lifting the chest, crown of the head touching the floor. The body becomes an arch with the throat fully open to the sky.

Power poses · the activating family

Virabhadrasana I. Virabhadra = the fierce warrior born from the rage-lock of Shiva's grief. The pose of the warrior arrived at the threshold.

Front knee bent, back leg long, arms reaching up, hips squared forward, chest open to the sky. The body of a warrior who has arrived.

Vrksasana. Vrksa = tree, asana = posture. The pose of standing on one foot like a tree stands on its roots.

One foot rooted, the other folded against the inner thigh, arms reaching like branches. The pose that teaches the impossibility of balance without movement.

Utkatasana. Utkata = powerful / intense / fierce, asana = posture. The intense pose. Sometimes translated *fierce seat*.

Standing with knees bent as if sitting in an invisible chair, arms reaching overhead. The pose that burns. Heat as a teacher.

Phalakasana. Phalaka = plank / board, asana = posture. The pose of the body straight as a plank.

The top of a push-up. The body as a single straight line from crown to heels. The pose that builds the core nothing else can quite reach.

Restorative poses · the surrender family

Legs-Up-the-Wall

Viparita Karani. Viparita = inverted / reversed, karani = action / doing. The inverted action — undoing gravity.

Lying on the back, legs straight up against a wall. The pose that costs nothing, asks nothing, and changes everything.

Baddha Konasana. Baddha = bound, kona = angle, asana = posture. The bound-angle pose; sometimes called the cobbler's pose.

Seated, soles of the feet pressed together, knees falling open. The hip-opener that the body has been waiting for since childhood.

Seated Forward Fold

Paschimottanasana. Paschima = west / behind / back-of-body, uttana = intense stretch, asana = posture. The intense stretch of the back of the body.

Sitting with legs straight in front, folding the torso over the legs. The pose that puts the body in a position the modern world has forgotten.

Happy Baby Pose

Ananda Balasana. Ananda = bliss / joy, bala = child, asana = posture. The bliss-child pose.

Lying on the back, knees pulled toward the armpits, hands holding the feet, rocking gently. The pose every infant does, and most adults have forgotten.

Want to know which pose your chart is asking for?

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