Whether you are new to yoga or you have years of attending Northern Beaches yoga lessons, you can still make mistakes. Just like any other exercise, mistakes in yoga can cause injuries. Doing your poses incorrectly will hinder you from achieving your desired results. Here are some common yoga poses and how to do them correctly.

Upward facing dog

The cobra and the upward-facing dog are two different yoga poses. The upward-facing dog is a stronger pose of the two. You need to ensure proper alignment when doing this pose. To achieve proper alignment, you need enough upper body and core strength to avoid dumping into your shoulders and crunching into your lower back. I have seen a lot of beginners pushing themselves into this pose and incorrectly placing strain on their shoulders or lower back.

You should avoid curling your toes under rather than staying on the tops of your feet. Do not keep your knees on the floor – they need to be slightly lifted from the ground. Avoid dipping or crunching into your pelvis, and lower back but ensure your pelvis is tucked.

Make sure you avoid crunching the back of your neck and collapsing into your shoulders. Your shoulders should not be up near your ears.

Low plank

This is a strong pose and if done with the wrong technique, it can result in injury. If it is your first time in a yoga studio, you should do this on your knees until you are strong enough. Some of the most common mistakes are collapsing to the ground without control, putting your elbows out to the side instead of putting them close to your ribs, dipping the tops of your shoulders below the elbow, keeping your hands in front of your shoulders instead of keeping them by the ribs, dipping or lifting through the hips and so on.

Warrior 2

This is a lunge that tones and strengthens the legs whilst opening the grown and hips. Getting this stance right is key. If the stance is not wide enough or too wide, it can cause a knee injury. You should position the feet apart at a leg-length distance. Keep the front knee above the front ankle and avoid taking a stance that is too wide or too narrow. When doing this pose, you want to feel stable and strong. If you feel like you will fall over then you are doing the wrong thing.

Triangle

This is a lateral bend of the spine. You should ensure your shoulders are in the same line as your hips and your bellow and chest roll up towards the ceiling. The biggest mistake people make in this pose is trying to reach for their toes by bending forward. Doing this misaligns the spine and rotates the hips.

You can avoid the above mistakes by getting help from a coach during your Northern Beaches yoga lessons. With time, you will be able to do them perfectly on your own. Expect some of the poses to be challenging at first.