Yoga home routine for flexibility, core stability, mobility, and strengthening.

Practicing yoga regularly can add much to your overall physical and mental health. But most people can’t find the time to keep up with classes in a studio. That’s why we created this simple yoga routine, which you can do within the comfort of your home

Some tips before beginning:

Each of these poses should be held for around 1 min for a total of 15 minutes workout.
For progression, you can add more time to each pose or repeat the whole routine once or twice.
If you are not flexible enough to hold the same exact pose, you can do a close version of it (not stretching your leg or back all the way down for example) until you build up more elasticity overtime.
Not all poses are for general body stretching only. There are some poses to target core stability, mobility, strengthening and even pain relief.

1- Mountain pose

Come to stand with your big toes touching and your heels slightly apart. Lift and spread your toes wide, releasing them down to the ground, and root down through all four corners of your feet — the big toe mound, pinky toe mound, and the two outer edges of your heels.
Engage your thighs to lift your kneecaps slightly (without hyperextending your knees). Gently draw your energy in toward the midline of your body.
Lengthen your tailbone down toward the floor and find a neutral pelvis.
Draw your low ribs in to your body and press your shoulder blades into your back, lifting your sternum. Move your shoulders away from your ears and broaden your collarbones.
Relax your arms by your sides and turn your palms to face forward to open through your chest.
Bring your chin parallel to the floor and soften your face and jaw. Get tall from the soles of your feet up and out through the crown of your head.
Remain in the pose anywhere from 5 to 10 breaths.

2- Tree pose

Start by standing straight with a long, tall back and your feet aligned and touching. Your arms should be straight along either side of your body.
Take a few breaths and find a place or object in the room to focus your attention. Slowly shift your weight to your left leg and begin to raise your right foot off the floor. Align the sole of your right foot with the inside of your left thigh. The toes should be pointing down and your pelvis should be completely straight.
Stretch your arms straight up toward the ceiling with palms pressed together forming an inverted V.

3- Standing Forward Bend

From Tree pose, sweep your arms down on either side of your body to come into a forward fold from your hips. This is often called a Swan Dive.
Bring your fingertips in line with the toes. Press your palms flat to the mat if you can. You can use blocks under your hands here if they don’t reach the floor.
Microbend the knees so that they are not locked.
Engage your quadriceps muscles and draw them up. The more you use your quads, the more the hamstrings (the muscles on the back of the thighs) will open.
Bring your weight a little bit forward into the balls of your feet so that your hips stay over your ankles.
Let your head hang.
To come up, inhale and place your hands onto your hips. Press your tailbone down and contract your abdominal muscles as you rise up slowly.

4- Cat-cow

Get into the all-fours position with your knees and toes flexed and in contact with the floor. Your hips should be over your knees and your hands should be directly under your shoulders. Grip the ground with your hands and rotate your shoulders outward to engage your lats.
Your pelvis should be slightly tucked and your ribs should be down. Pre-tension your shoulders and hips with a good inhale and exhale. Your chin should remain tucked throughout the movement, as if you were holding an egg under your chin. All repetitions should begin from this starting position.
Exhale as you slowly begin to round your spine toward the ceiling while bringing your head toward the floor and tucking your pelvis to perform the cat stretch.
Inhale and slowly begin to arch your back while lifting your head toward the ceiling, untucking your pelvis to perform the cow stretch. The movement should be fluid and controlled without creating strain along your spine.
Repeat the cat-cow stretch for the desired number of repetitions in each direction.

5- Downward dog

Get down on all fours. Start on the floor with your hands shoulder-width apart, with your shoulders above your wrists. Align your inner shoulders with your index fingers. Your hips should be above or slightly before your knees.
Lift your knees. Next, tuck your toes against the mat or ground, using that leverage to extend your legs and lift both knees into the air. Your body should now resemble an upside-down “V” shape.
Extend. Extend and lengthen your spine, simultaneously pressing through the palms of your hands and balls of your feet. Pull your pelvis up toward the ceiling, using the triceps in your upper arms to help stabilize your form. Some yoga teachers suggest drawing your shoulder blades down your back, while others prefer externally rotating the joints to support the body instead.
Hold and release. Hold your body in position, making sure to breathe properly. Slowly bring your knees back to the floor.

6- Low lunge Low

From Downward dog pose, exhale and step your right foot forward between your hands, aligning the right knee over the heel. Then lower your left knee to the floor and, keeping the right knee fixed in place, slide the left back until you feel a comfortable stretch in the left front thigh and groin. Turn the top of your left foot to the floor.
Inhale and lift your torso to upright. As you do, sweep your arms out to the sides and up, perpendicular to the floor. Draw the tailbone down toward the floor and lift your pubic bone toward your navel. Lift your chest from the firmness of your shoulder blades against the back torso.
Take your head back and look up, being careful not to jam the back of your neck. Reach your pinkies toward the ceiling. Hold for a minute, exhale your torso back to the right thigh and your hands to the floor, and turn your back toes under. With another exhale, lift your left knee off the floor and step back to downward dog pose. Repeat with the left foot forward for the same length of time.

7- Lunge with Side-bend

From downward dog, step your right foot in between your hands.
Drop your left knee to the mat and release your back foot. Check that your right knee is directly above your right ankle.
Inhale, sweep your arms out and up into crescent lunge, bring your palms together or shoulder-width apart.
Exhale drop your right fingertips to the mat and bend to the right. Reach through your fingertips.
Stay in the pose for 5 deep breaths (in and out through your nose) feeling the stretch in the front of your left hip and down the left-hand side of your body. Bring your left hand back down to the mat, tuck your back toes and step back to downward dog for the other side.

8- Baby Cobra Pose

Lie down in a prone position. Lie face down on your mat with your entire body extended. Press your legs and the tops of your feet firmly into the yoga mat and bring your legs to a hips-width distance.
Bring your hands underneath the shoulder blades. Bring your hands palms facing down directly underneath your shoulder blades and prepare to lift your upper body and head.
Begin to lift your upper body. Press through the hands to lift the upper body and first come into a low cobra. Ensure that you are not pressing too much weight in the hands because you want to focus on strengthening the lower back muscles to lift gently.
Use lower back muscles to lift higher. When you feel stabilized in low cobra, begin to press gently into the hands, even more, using your back and abdominal muscles to lift as high as you comfortably can into a deeper backbend. Continue breathing comfortably in and out through the nose. Keep your shoulder blades back and down as you draw your chest forward. You do not have to remain completely static in this posture—you can undulate and writhe like a serpent.
Look slightly forward and up. Keep your gaze neutral but slightly facing up. Ensure the back of your neck is long to ensure proper spinal alignment. You can stay here for a few breaths, maintaining spinal alignment and integrity in the breath.
Lower down gently. On an exhale, slowly lower down to the ground.

9- Child pose

Kneel on the floor with your toes together and your knees hip-width apart. Rest your palms on top of your thighs.
On an exhale, lower your torso between your knees. Extend your arms alongside your torso with your palms facing down. Relax your shoulders toward the ground. Rest in the pose for as long as needed.

10- Seated Spinal Twist

Sit upright on your mat with your legs extended in front of you and your hands resting on your thighs.
Bend your right knee, then cross your right leg over and place your foot next to your left thigh. You should feel as though you’re sitting in a tight half cross-legged position.
Bend your left knee and position your left ankle next to your right glute. Your right foot should stay planted on the floor. Square your hips so they remain even.
Reach your right arm behind you and place your fingertips on the floor, gently twisting your body to the right. Raise your left arm upward.
Hook your left arm around your bent right knee. Take a deep breath and exhale as you twist further to the right. With each exhale, twist your body further. Gently release from the pose and then repeat on the other side.

11- knee to chest

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
Bring both knees to your chest, keep your lower back pressed to the floor and hold this position.
Relax and lower the knee to the starting position.
To get more stretch, put your arms around your leg and push them down toward the floor.

12- Plank

Start in a pushup position.
Go down on your elbow with your hands pointing forward aligned with your shoulders.
Keep your torso parallel to the floor.
Press your outer arms inward and firm the bases of your index fingers into the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, then spread them away from the spine. Also spread your collarbones away from the sternum.
Contract your glutes and hold that position as much as possible.

13- Bridge pose

Lie on your back and bend your knees. Center yourself on your yoga mat. Point your knees up to the sky with the soles of your feet on the ground.
Adjust your feet and arms. With your palms face down, extend your arms long to each side of your body. Spread your feet to hip-width distance, so your fingertips graze the back of your heels.
Lift your hips. Press down through your feet and hands, lift your hips off the ground without squeezing your glutes.
Tuck your chin. Lengthen the back of your neck by tucking your chin in slightly towards your chest.
Interlace your hands behind your back. Inch your shoulder blades underneath you, then interlace your hands while still pressing down on them to lift your torso.
Relax your glutes and engage your inner thighs. Relax all of the muscles in your gluteus maximus. Use the strength of your quadriceps and hamstrings to keep your hips lifted. Breathe in and out.
Lift your hips higher. If possible, lift your hips even higher for a few breaths towards the end. Feel the bend in your low back and the deep stretch in your hip flexors and the front of your body.
Slowly release. Unlace your fingers and slowly begin to lower your hips, vertebra by vertebra, until your tailbone reaches the floor. Take a few deep breaths as you complete the pose.

14- Upward Facing Plank

Sit with your legs outstretched in front of you.
Place your hands a little behind your hips with the fingers pointing towards the toes, point your toes.
Roll your inner thighs in, draw your belly in and up, and as you inhale, lift your hips up as high as you can, keeping your chin to your chest.
Firm your shoulder blades on your back to help lift your chest up.
When your chest is lifted you may choose to bring your head back.
Keep your chin tucked when you bring your head back, to the point where you can’t keep it tucked anymore. Then gently release your head.
Alternatively, if this feels too much for your neck, keep your head up and your chin towards your chest.
Stay here for about 5 breaths, then as you exhale, lower your hips back down.

15- Side plank

Roll onto the outside edge of your right foot and stack your left foot on top of your right.
Swing your left hand onto your left hip, turning your torso to the left as you do. Support the weight of your body on the outer right foot and right hand.
Align your body into one long diagonal line from your heels to the crown of your head.
Stretch your left arm toward the ceiling, so it is in line with your shoulders. Keep your head neutral or gaze up at the left hand.
Stay in the position for several breaths, then return to Plank and repeat on the other side.