Prone & Kneeling Yoga Poses
7 poses, every one explained in full
Prone and kneeling poses are done face-down or on hands and knees: the tabletop family, Child's Pose, and the deep hip openers that start from all fours. It is the smallest category, and the one you will come back to most often.
This is the recovery ground of a practice. Cat–Cow warms the spine at the start, Child's Pose is where you go when a class is moving faster than you want it to, and Pigeon and Frog are where a stiff hip actually gets addressed.
What to watch for
Knees on a hard floor. Fold the mat over or slide a blanket underneath — kneeling discomfort is nearly always a padding problem rather than a joint one.
New to these? Start with Child's Pose, Cat–Cow, then Tabletop.
Beginner (5)
TabletopbeginnerBharmanasana
The neutral hands-and-knees position that most floor work starts from. Tabletop is where you learn what a level spine actually feels like.
Cat–CowbeginnerMarjaryasana–Bitilasana
A flowing pair of spinal shapes — round up like a cat, arch down like a cow — moved with the breath. It's the simplest way to warm up the whole spine.
Child's PosebeginnerBalasana
Knees down, hips back toward the heels, forehead to the floor. Child's Pose is the standing invitation to rest — you can come here any time a practice gets to be too much.
Extended Puppy PosebeginnerUttana Shishosana
Halfway between Child's Pose and Downward Dog: hips stay over the knees while the chest melts toward the floor. A generous shoulder and upper-back opener that asks very little of the rest of you.
Crocodile PosebeginnerMakarasana
Lying face-down with the forehead resting on stacked forearms — the belly-down cousin of Savasana. Crocodile is a rest pose that doubles as quiet breath training, since you can feel each inhale press into the floor.
Intermediate (2)
Pigeon PoseintermediateEka Pada Rajakapotasana (prep)
One shin forward, the other leg stretched straight back — a deep stretch for the outer hip of the front leg. In Yin practice the folded version is called Sleeping Swan and is held much longer.
- Frog Poseintermediate
Mandukasana
Knees wide, feet in line with the knees, hips sinking between them — one of the deepest inner-thigh stretches in the practice. In Yin classes it's simply called Frog and held for minutes at a time.
Other categories
Or browse every pose in one list, searchable by English or Sanskrit name.