Once you’ve gotten the hang of downward dog and happy baby, you might find it’s time to level up your yoga practice. Trying more difficult intermediate poses not only challenges your balance and flexibility but also your mental strength as you work through the initial discomfort and self-doubt.
Even as a beginner, you can attempt certain intermediate poses so long as you practice with a yoga teacher to nail down your form and properly breathe through the asanas.
Here, Rachel Hirsch, E-RYT 500, yoga teacher and founder of Empowered Yoga, shares her five go-to intermediate poses to try.
The splits are the ultimate test of flexibility, and nailing the move can help improve your mobility.
“Hanumanasana stretches your lower body, including your thighs, hamstrings, and groin,” Hirsch says. “Practicing your splits can support hip mobility and flexibility and may stimulate the digestive and reproductive organs.”
You know you’re ready to level up your Hanumanasana after spending time and gaining mobility and flexibility in your half-splits.
“Each time, going a bit deeper, you may notice it’s time to try your full splits,” Hirsch says.
A variation to try: When your right leg is in front, try twisting your torso to the right. This will increase sensation—and eventually, you can take this into an arm balance, Hirsch says.
Bird of paradise strengthens your core, stretches your shoulders, and helps posture and balance improvement. (If you’re looking for more ways to work on your stability, this yoga flow for better balance can help!)
“The pose can also strengthen the muscles in your legs and ankles,” Hirsch says. “Svarga Dvijasana takes quite a bit of hamstring flexibility, external rotation in the hip, focus, and balance pose. With a thorough asana practice, you may feel ready to try Svarga Dvijasana after warming up your body and working through hip mobility, hamstring flexibility, and shoulder opening.”
A variation to try: Move from bound extended side angle, into bird of paradise, back down into bound half moon.
Wheel pose is an energizing posture that opens the front line of your body, from your shoulders, chest, and abdomen through your hip flexors and quadriceps, according to Hirsch.
“Urdhva Dhanurasana supports better posture as it opens your heart and may improve lung capacity as it expands the space in the front line,” she says.
Urdhva Dhanurasana takes shoulder strength and flexibility training, as well as good wrist mobility, so you need to build those up before attempting this pose.
“Start by trying [wheel pose] against a wall, by placing your arms overhead and pretending the wall behind you is the floor in full wheel. If you feel spacious and supported, then try it on the floor,” Hirsch recommends.
A variation to try: Lift one leg at a time, then lift one arm at a time. “It’s a great way to continue to build strength and endurance in this posture,” Hirsch says.
Crow pose, a great arm balance pose, strengthens your core and upper body while improving flexibility and range of motion in your wrists.
“Kakasana is as much of a mental game as a test of physical strength,” Hirsch says. “You’re ready to give this a go when you’ve built your core strength and feel confident that falling isn’t failing.”
A variation to try: Get into crane pose (Bakasana) by straightening your arms and bringing your knees closer to your armpits.
Sirsasana is a stress-relieving inversion posture.
“It relaxes the mind as your hips are higher than your heart, which also increases blood flow to the brain, which may improve mental focus,” Hirsch says. “Sirsasana builds core strength and upper-body strength and also stimulates the pituitary glands.”
The headstand requires you to build both physical and mental strength.
“You need upper-body and core strength physically, and a bit of fearlessness mentally,” Hirsch says. “It can be scary taking your feet off the ground and above your head, but again, falling isn’t failing, and you learn every time.”
A variation to try: You can start to make fun shapes with your legs, bringing them out wide into a straddle or taking them into the splits, Hirsch says.
“I like to tell my students, ‘every layer matters and every layer counts.'” —Nicole Wood, master trainer
Intermediate yoga poses typically have multiple steps that need to be performed before finally entering the pose.
“Think of each step as a progression,” says Nicole Wood, master trainer with YogaSix. “Once you’ve nailed one of the steps, then you’re ready for the next step, and so on until you’re finally able to do the pose.”
For example, someone might be able to lift just one foot when trying to enter crow pose, and eventually, they’ll be able to lift both feet with time and practice. And to enter bird of paradise, you should be able to successfully take a full bind in extended side angle before stepping up and trying to lift the leg to enter bird of paradise.
“I like to tell my students, ‘every layer matters and every layer counts,'” Wood says.
It depends on many different factors, including the style of yoga you practice, how often you practice, and your anatomy. For starters, there are so many yoga poses, and they all have different intentions.
“Poses can have a strengthening aspect, or they can lengthen or challenge balance. Depending on what intermediate pose you’re trying to accomplish, your yoga practice should help complement and facilitate the intentions of the pose you’re trying to get into,” Wood says.
For example, the splits are a huge stretch for your legs and hips, so you’d need to focus on stretching the lower body. Wheel pose, on the other hand, requires strength so you’d want to work on building upper- and lower-body strength.
How often someone practices also plays a role.
“A student who practices a couple of times a week versus a student who practices a couple of times in one day could look very different on the mat. It also depends on whether a student has had a consistent yoga practice for multiple years versus someone newer,” Wood says.
Because bones don’t move, a person may never get into an intermediate pose based on their anatomy.
“When I was in teacher training, I had to choose a pose that I was unable to do and practice working towards it. I worked on preparing my body for the pose a couple of times a week and after 10 months I was still unable to do the pose,” Wood says.
“I don’t think yoga is easy, and I have been practicing for almost 15 years,” Wood says. A beginner’s yoga class is challenging—it takes strength and effort to do most yoga poses.
How often a person practices yoga within one day or one week will reflect how fast they progress toward a more intermediate practice.
“If someone is doing tons of restorative yoga where they basically take a nap, that isn’t going to progress them toward more advanced poses, so the style of yoga matters,” Wood says.
Yes, but you’ll want to level up with the help of an experienced and attentive yoga teacher.
“A good yoga teacher will offer layers, modifications and the utilization of props for more advanced poses so each student is able to find the ‘perfect pose’ for their body,” Wood says.
As far as safety goes, listening to your body and intuition is extremely important.
“If you ever feel pain or are uncertain, back off. It’s important to listen to the teacher as well and to take each progression slowly,” Wood says.