Yoga positions for beginners

I'm not a practitioner of yoga. Never have been, and most likely never will be. I prefer good, old fashioned cardio, resistance training and stretching for my workout routines.

That said, some folks do yoga for reasons beyond their physical health. Many do yoga as a form of meditation and relaxation, and from what I've learned from them, there's more to yoga than what meets the eye.

First and foremost, it's important not to jump into yoga and try to do advanced programs without proper preparation. If you're straining and causing yourself discomfort, then you're not going to be relaxed, you're not going to be properly stretched, and you're not going to have a good work out.

With that in mind, it's time to figure out some yoga positions for beginners. The very first one on the list of yoga positions for beginners is called the "Cat Cow Stretch," and according to the yoga entry on about.com, it goes as follows:

1. Start on all fours, bringing the wrists underneath the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips.

2. Think of the spine as a straight line connecting the shoulders to the hips. Try visualizing the line extending forward through the crown of the head and backwards through the tail bone.

3. Keep the neck the natural extension of the spine.

Next on the list of yoga positions for beginners is the Downward Facing Dog. Again, from About.com:

1. Come to your hands and knees with the wrists underneath the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips.

2. Curl the toes under and push back raising the hips and straightening the legs.

3. Spread the fingers and ground down from the forearms into the fingertips.

4. Outwardly rotate the upper arms broadening the collarbones.

5. Let the head hang, move the shoulder blades away from the ears towards the hips.

6. Engage the quadriceps strongly to take the weight off the arms, making this a resting pose.

7. Rotate the thighs inward, keep the tail high and sink your heels towards the floor.

8. Check that the distance between your hands and feet is correct by coming forward to a plank position. The distance between the hands and feet should be the same in these two poses. Do not step the feet toward the hands in Down Dog in order the get the heels to the floor. This will happen eventually as the muscles lengthen.

Beginners: Try bending your knees, coming up onto the balls of your feet, bringing the belly to rest on the thighs and the sit bones up high. Then sink your heels, straightening the legs keeping the high upward rotation of the sit bones. Also try bending the arms slightly out to the side, drawing the chest towards the thighs. Then restraighten the arms.