Guide · Reading
Standing: family introduction
The standing poses build the base of practice: strength in the legs, steadiness on the feet, length in the spine.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
Practical guidance
Standing poses are where most practices begin. They work the large muscles of the legs and hips, ask the feet to spread and root, and teach the spine to stay long while the body moves around it. Many are asymmetrical and are practised on both sides.
The Ashtanga standing sequence moves from forward folds into triangles and side angles, then balances and Warrior poses.
Who should take care
Ask a teacher before practising standing poses with sciatica or a slipped disc, knee or neck problems, in pregnancy, or with insomnia or chronic fatigue. Keep a bent knee in line with its foot, and stand near a wall if balance is unsteady.
Related
Tadasana
Mountain pose
Mountain pose. Standing evenly on both feet, the starting point for the standing poses.
Utthita Trikonasana
Extended triangle pose
Extended triangle pose. A wide-legged side stretch that keeps both legs straight and the chest open.
Virabhadrasana A
Warrior one
Warrior one. A deep lunge facing forward, the arms raised and the palms joined.
Vrikshasana
Tree pose
Tree pose. A standing balance on one leg, the other foot placed on the standing leg.
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, p. 5, family table; cautions rewritten