The twelve basic yoga poses or asanas (meaning steady pose) here form the foundation of the Sivananda Open Class. They exercise every part of the body, stretching and toning the muscles and joints, the spine and the entire skeletal system. Whilst many of the yoga postures we see today are influenced by nature, inspired by trees (Vrksasana), the moon (Ardha Chandrasana), or even birds (Bakasana), there are also postures which depict the deities revered in Yogic and Hindu culture.

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Bikram Yoga poses consist of 26 groups of postures (known as Asanas). By doing these yoga poses, one can exercise and invigorate all of the body by stimulating its glands, nerves, and organs and by improving circulation of oxygen throughout the body. Before you do any of these poses, please consider the following:

– The most important part of Bikram Yoga is to continuously focus on breathing calmly
– Beginners may need weeks or even years of practice before their bodies can move completely into many of the poses
– Practicing in front of a mirror is recommended because several steps involve using a mirror
– For extra safety and comfort, make sure to use a high quality Yoga mat while practicing
– The standing poses warm up the body, and the floor poses squeeze, stretch, and twist various parts of the body
– To support the spine during all twisting poses, keep the abdominal muscles engaged
– Ideally, you will perform these poses in a room with an average temperature of 107 Fahrenheit; however if this isn’t possible, a somewhat cooler room will do just fine

This article provides the names and explanations of all 26 Bikram Yoga poses, and it’s divided using the following headings (bold font) and subheadings:

Pose number. English name of pose: Sanskrit name of pose (NOTE: The first 2 poses are grouped together, and so are poses 24 & 25.)
Purposes and Benefits
How to Do (how to perform each pose)

26 Bikram Yoga Poses

Before you begin doing the actual Bikram Yoga poses, start by doing the Standing Deep Breathing pose, also called the Pranayama. This will help you expand your lungs, improve detoxification of the organs, and increase mental relaxation as well as blood flow – all of these will prove very useful during your Bikram Yoga workout.

How to Do:

Make sure to breath slowly as this will facilitate lung expansion.
Keep your back straight all the time and do not bend backwards. This will be easier to achieve if you suck your belly in so that your rib cage protrudes a bit.
As you exhale, tilt your head back slightly, while keeping your eyes open.
Shoulders should be kept in line with hips. Hips should be kept forward (you’ll achieve this by slightly squeezing your buttocks).
When exhaling, make sure to breath out completely to get rid of every bit of CO2 in your lungs.
Finally, don’t worry if you feel a little dizzy during this pose or if you feel a slight pinch in the shoulder area – these are completely normal symptoms and indicate that you are doing things right.

Do the above pose for a few minutes, and then move on to the remaining Bikram Yoga Poses, outlined below:

Bikram Yoga Poses 1 Through 9:

1. and 2. Half-Moon Pose with Hands-to-Feet Pose: Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana (NOTE: These are 2 poses.)

Purposes and Benefits:

Provides quick energy and vitality for your practice session
Corrects any issues with posture or with lower-back pain
Strengthens thighs, calves, and all of body’s central muscles
Exercises circulatory, glandular, pancreatic, muscular, respiratory, renal, and skeletal systems
Improves bowel activity by toning abdominal organs and spinal nerves
Firms and trims abdomen, buttocks, hips, and waistline
Lessens anxiety and mental stress
Increases spinal flexibility

How to Do:

Lock arms and fully engage arm muscles
Straighten body towards ceiling
While bending backwards, evenly distribute this bend over all of your spine
During Hands-to-Feet pose, glue body to legs and move elbows as close to each other as possible behind calf muscles
Lift hips up towards ceiling while moving face increasingly further down your shins

Purposes and Benefits:

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Continues warming up body for all other yoga poses
Heals chronically cold feet
Circulates fresh blood to knees and ankles
Alleviates rheumatism and arthritis in legs
Strengthens and firms all muscles of legs and upper arms
Increases hip flexibility and relieves muscular aches and cramps
Helps to cure slipped discs and other lower-spine problems

How to Do:

Maintain 6-inch gap between knees and hands while keeping them parallel to floor
Ensure that shoulders stay down by relaxing them throughout all 3 stages of this pose
Ease exhaustion by focusing on stretching arms out
Keep fingers together
Breathe at normal pace

4. Eagle Pose: Garurasana

Purposes and Benefits:

Works into 12 major joints of body
Warms body and readies it for next 3 poses
Promotes health of central nervous system
Enhances lymphatic functions
Improves balance, hip-joint mobility, and immune system
Strengthens deltoid, trapezius, and legs
Reduces varicose veins

How to Do:

Remember to breathe
Pull in stomach and keep it away from thighs
Position fingers below nose
Keep palms together
Enter sitting posture and maintain straight spine
Squeeze knees and thighs together in all areas that you feel contact between them to increase tourniquet effect
Focus body weight onto heel of standing foot and eventually eliminate gap between wrapped foot and back of standing leg

5. Standing Head-to-Knee Pose: Dandayamana Janushirasana

Purposes and Benefits:

Uses all major muscle groups
Exercises digestive and reproductive organs
Improves concentration and mental strength
Unifies body and mind
Tightens abdominal and thigh muscles
Lessens/mitigates diabetic disorders
Squeezes and flushes out ovaries, uterus, and internal abdominal organs, such as gall bladder, pancreas, and spleen
Increases flexibility of sciatic nerves
Strengthens the following: Tendons, hamstrings, and biceps of thigh muscles; Biceps, triceps, deltoids, trapezius, back muscles, latissimus dorsi, and scapula

Elephant Pose Yoga

How to Do:

Evenly distribute weight over 4 points of standing foot
Lock knee of standing leg
Maintain tight grip with all 10 fingers
Keep non-standing leg parallel to floor
Suck in stomach and contract abdominal muscles
Move foot toward face and past perpendicular position
Touch elbows to calf muscle
Tuck chin to chest, round spine, and touch forehead to knee

6. Standing Bow-Pulling Pose: Dandayamana Dhanurasana

Purposes and Benefits:

Exemplifies “tourniquet” effect in Bikram Yoga because this pose transfers circulation from 1 side of body to other side and then equalizes circulation
Improves flexibility and strength of most of body’s muscles
Stimulates cardiovascular system
Increases circulation to heart and lungs
Opens shoulder joints and diaphragm

Yoga Asanas Postures