5 Poses to Help You Stand Up Straighter

Practicing yoga for posture is all about alignment. The right yoga poses can help you reconfigure your human form, the one that’s used to slouching and slumping all day, into one that exudes presence and power. Energetics aside, when your posture improves, your body just feels better.

Good posture also protects against the common (and dreaded) back pain, engages your core, even boosts self-esteem. And if confidence and spinal health aren’t more than enough reason to stand up straight, research shows that poor posture is also linked to depression.

So why not take a little time on your mat to find true, sustainable alignment—the kind you can carry with you into rest of the world.

5 Yoga Poses for Better Posture

Standing poses, backbends, heart openers, and gentle inversions can each help improve your posture.

1. Mountain Pose

Standing strong on your mat is your first step toward standing a little straighter IRL. Like many things in life, Mountain Pose appears easy until you add some self-inquiry. In reality, finding stability here requires the cooperation of nearly every muscle in your body, along with the ability to invite ease into the equation. There’s a reason we return to Mountain again and again to reset and realign.

2. Half Bow Pose

This backbend variation helps undo some of the damage that comes with hunching forward all day—whether that’s happening in your car, at your desk, or over your phone. Full Bow Pose is also an effective means of stretching tight hip flexors and strengthening tired back muscles, but Half Bow offers the same benefits in a somewhat easier shape that requires less warm-up and, as a result, is easier to incorporate into your daily routine.

3. Bridge Pose

Another antidote to your daily slouch, Bridge Pose opens your entire front body. This shape stretches and strengthens your glutes, legs, back, and shoulders while offering the additional benefits of a mild inversion. Spend enough time in Bridge and you might cultivate a calmer mind along with your newly improved posture.

4. Standing Forward Bend

Hinge at your hips, dangle, and let it all go. Standing Forward Bend eases back tension, stretches wound-up hamstrings, improves mobility, and aids the spinal flexibility necessary for posture that’s aligned but not rigid.

5. Tree Pose

Posture and balance go hand in hand. Tree Pose encourages strength from legs to glutes to back, opening your shoulders and generally calling for maximum alignment. When you find yourself slouching, remind yourself how it feels to stand strong in Tree—we promise that you’ll immediately and instinctively straighten up.