What beginner yoga poses for moms are the best? Moms have special constraints on their time making it hard to practice yoga. Many moms may have been introduced to yoga through prenatal classes and there are plenty of resources for postpartum yoga too. But once you get past that postpartum stage moms are thrown into the wild west of motherhood with little resources or support to keep a consistent yoga practice. Many moms also maintained consistent yoga practices pre-kids only to see that luxury evaporate post-kids. Talk about frustration! When it comes to fitness and yoga, accountability is key if you’re going to keep a successful practice, which is why having a trustworthy teacher who can sequence a class skillfully and manage the time is helpful.

Moms needs nine things from a yoga practice

  1. You need a practice that will help you relieve stress.
  2. You need a practice that will help relieve aches and pains from the very physical demands of motherhood. (Hello kids jumping all over you!)
  3. You need a practice that will help you fit some movement into your day. Yoga may be the only movement you get all day or it may serve as cross-training for your other physical activities such as running, walking, cycling, lifting, or playing a sport. Sometimes, mom’s just need movement so you can keep up with your kids.
  4. You also need a practice that will offer rest and relaxation, even though you might not admit you need it or think it’s even possible to relax. 
  5. You need an opportunity to feel centered, grounded, and calm as a respite from the constant chaos of having kids (and partners and pets) demand everything from you all the time. And that’s before factoring in any demands from work. Finding time to clear your head even for a moment is a practice that can transform how you feel and change the course of your day.  
  6. You need a yoga class that will help you achieve multiple goals: get a good stretch, get your heart rate up, and work on tired and achy areas of the body. Moms have to be the masters of multi-tasking because there just isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done and your own self-care almost always comes last, even when you know you need to prioritize it. A class like this needs to be taught be an experienced yoga teacher who is able to weave multiple skills into one short class while balancing all the movement capabilities of the body and teaching to all levels. That is not an easy feat. You can tell when a class is good based on how you feel at the end. The more skilled the teacher, the better you’ll feel in mind, body, and spirit. 
  7. You need specific skills to help manage stress and anxiety; the emotional toll of motherhood is massive. Yoga is uniquely positioned to help with stress relief strategies because of its focus on breath work, which has been scientifically proven to help balance the central nervous system and provide relief from stress and anxiety. 
  8. You need a practice you can squeeze in during a busy day. You don’t have time for 60 minute yoga classes, and sometimes you can’t even find 30 minutes in your day for movement and relaxation (let alone 5!). Moms need their teachers to understand that sometimes, all you have is the time in the car when you are waiting at school pick-up.
  9. Moms need someone to take care of them. You don’t have time to scroll through YouTube to find the right class. You don’t have time to do all the research about the best yoga classes and poses. You need someone you can trust who is good at what they do to create the classes and sequences and poses that will feel good in your body today. You need someone who understands your struggles and who is ready to show up to take care of you and your needs. You just need someone to tell you what to do, who will hold you and take care of you with a soothing, calm voice, a smile, no judgement, and the permission to show up as you are—hot messes, imperfections, no makeup and all.

10 Beginner Yoga Poses for Moms

Here are 10 yoga poses for beginners specifically chosen for moms to help you move, stretch, relax, and center during your busy day. 

  1. Child’s Pose

Yoga Mom Beginner child's pose

Child’s Pose is a great yoga pose for relaxation. It will give you a great hip stretch and can help you feel more grounded. It’s also a good pose to practice your breathing as it allows you to feel your breath in the back of your body. While Child’s Pose can be challenging for those with tight hips or cranky knees, there are plenty of variations and props to help you find the expression that works best for your body. Plus, there are lots of other pose variations you can add to create a quick and calming Child’s Pose Flow.

 

 

  1. Mountain Pose

Yoga Mom Beginner Mountain Pose

Mountain Pose is a fantastic pose for centering in moments when you’re feeling ready to lose it. This pose is simple and accessible and serves as the foundation for so many other movements. When you don’t have a lot of time but you need to get back to center, Mountain Pose is your go-to posture. From here you can breathe, practice affirmations, or add extra movements to create infinite yoga sequences and flows that can address all your needs in no time. 

  1. Firebolt Pose

Yoga Mom Beginner Firebolt Pose

Firebolt Pose, commonly called Chair Pose, is a great pose for building strength and gaining energy. When you need a quick pick-me-up, this is the pose for you. While challenging—it’s essentially a squat—this pose will help you build up strength in your legs and is a great starting option for flows that will get your heart rate up fast. I prefer to call this pose Firebolt for its energetic connotation rather than Chair, which while aesthetically accurate, is the last thing you’ll feel like when you’re in it. This pose is deceptively challenging while also easily modified so that you can work in it no matter your ability or experience level.

  1. Warrior 2

Yoga Mom Beginner Pose Warrior 2

Warrior 2 is the ultimate pose for reclaiming your inner fierceness. The myth behind the Warrior poses is one of my favorite stories and invokes the true warrior spirit (there’s decapitation, a half-goat/half-man, love, and forgiveness all wrapped into one wild night). Moms need to feed their inner strength daily in order to show up as the best versions of themselves and parent at their best. This standing pose makes you feel strong and steady and is the perfect starting point for a breath-based flow that will leave you feeling good all over and ready to face your day (or the rest of it!).

  1. Plank

Yoga Mom Beginner Plank Pose

Plank is a workhorse pose that is a great option for building up core strength, especially if you are coming back to core after baby. If you have diastasis recti or just haven’t worked out in years, plank is challenging but doable with its many modifications and options. Plus, you can easily string some poses together from Plank to create a fun, muscle-toning flow that will leave you feeling accomplished and strong.

  1. Bridge Pose

Yoga Mom Beginner Bridge Pose

Bridge Pose is a great multi-tasking pose that will help you rebuild and reconnect to your pelvic floor. This pose gives you a gentle backbend, helps you build strength in your lower body, and gives you an opportunity to reconnect to your pelvic floor muscles. You can also work your shoulders in this versatile pose and the modifications offer a great variety of fun movements to explore. This pose is also a gentle precursor to more advanced backbends like Wheel Pose.

  1. Dancer

Yoga Mom Beginner Dancer Pose

Dancer is a fun posture that will put a smile on your face while challenging your balance. This pose will also open up your heart and stretch your quadriceps and shoulders. You can always use a wall or chair to support you when you’re feeling extra wobbly. String together a few balancing postures to create even more of a balance challenge. 

  1. Crescent Twist

Yoga Mom Beginner Crescent Twist

A student once told me that this pose is the one for the quintessential yoga photo. Twists are great for your spine and good for wringing out all the tension that has built up in your body throughout the course of your day (or week, or month, or year(s)…). When you add a twist to a low Crescent Lunge you add in a hip stretch with a bonus option to stretch your quads. Plus, by opening up the arms you get a good shoulder stretch, too. You can easily fit this twist into a flow for a quick release of stress and stagnant energy. 

  1. Goddess

Yoga Mom Beginner Goddess Pose

No pose list for moms is complete without a Goddess Pose (I don’t think I need to explain why.) Goddess is a hip opener that also will help you feel like you can conquer the world. Combined with Lion’s Breath and a few extra movements you can create a quick Goddess Flow that will have you feeling back on top of your world in no time. 

  1. Cobra

Yoga Mom Beginner Cobra Pose

Cobra Pose offers more than a great back stretch—it also strengthens your back muscles! When your low back is feeling achy and sore—researches estimate that up to 84% of people will experience back pain at some point in their life—then a good stretch and strength routine is the perfect solution. There are so many options to modify and accessorize Cobra Pose and a fun back flow can have you feeling better in less than five minutes!

If you don’t think you have time for yoga, try one pose. Take three breaths in one pose and see if it makes even the slightest difference in your mood. 

If you can find the time, stay a little longer in each pose, string together a couple poses from the list above or try some of the videos on my YouTube channel. 

No matter how much time you have, practicing a little is better than not practicing at all. Being a mom is tough on your body. Take care of yourself with a little yoga practice so that you can better show up for the people who need you most: your kids!

Make sure to get the 3-part Yoga Mom Beginner series. Sign up below to start the first video today. It’s totally free!