Feeling that mid-afternoon energy slump?
Sitting too long at your desk and need to release your low back and hips?
Want to super-charge your digestion?

Try a Triangle

Triangle Pose engages the quads while stretching the hips, hamstrings and calves. It also strengthens and stretches the muscles of the low back, fires up the core, and opens the chest and ribcage. And if that were not enough, it also improves balance and digestion!

Practice Triangle Pose with children:

Try this pose and count how many triangles you are making with your body. Could you make triangles in other ways? Invite kids to get creative and use their bodies to make other shapes - circles, squares, diamonds...perhaps a shape they name themselves!

How To: Triangle Pose

Start standing tall in mountain.
Step your feet wider than your hips and raise your arms to the sides, parallel to the floor
Turn your right foot out 90° to the right
Draw your right hip back as you reach out over your right thigh
Bring your right hand down to rest on the floor or your shin
Keep the spine long as you spin your chest open and reach your left hand up to the sky in line with your shoulders
Stay for 3-5 breaths and then switch sides

Tips for Mastering Triangle Pose:

Keep the head neutral or look up toward the top hand (as long as that does not cause tension in your neck or shoulders)
Protect your front knee - Press down through the big toe and ball of your front foot and, if you are resting your hand on your shin, gently press your shin into your hand to avoid hyper-extension
Press firmly through the outer edge of the back foot to create more length and twist in the torso.

More Yoga Poses We Love

Triangle is a full-body pose, requires lots of concentration and has many moving parts. Take it step by step and allow your body to open into this pose by moving slowly with long and deep breaths.

Variations for Triangle:

Partner up and do triangle pose with a friend back-to-back. You can face the same or opposite directions. Either way, you may be able to press your top palms together to create a deeper twist.