20 Min Yoga Workout for Complete Beginners



Regularly incorporating yoga into your workouts will help ensure that your body is long and lean. If this is your first introduction to yoga, it is easy to be nervous about starting a new type of exercise, but you have nothing to worry about. Yoga is great for almost everyone because it doesn’t require any equipment and is based around using your own body weight to work your muscles. Use this guide for a good 20 min yoga workout that can easily be done in the comfort of your own home. 



Each pose should be held for 10 deep, controlled breaths. Rest briefly between movements if you need to, but ideally after some weeks practice you should be able to complete this 20 min yoga workout in succession.



Warming up – aim to spend 5 minutes on your warm up



As with any exercise, warming up your muscles, elevating your heart rate and pumping oxygen through your body is essential. In yoga there are a few key poses that are commonly used as yoga warm up. 



Pelvic tilts: A very subtle movement that ensures your spine is open and moving freely. Doing 10 of these will get your body ready for the next exercise.



Cat-cow stretch: While this is a simple exercise, the true effects will only be apparent if you ensure that your breath follows the movement. This will allow your lungs to expel as much air as possible, allowing new oxygen to be spread around the body. 



Beginner’s yoga workout



Cobra pose: this is a well-rounded pose; it firms the buttocks, while stretching the chest, lungs, shoulders and abdomen. It creates a whole body workout while still being comfortable.



Downward dog: one of the most common yoga poses and for good reason: This pose focuses on stretching the legs, while increasing arm strength. If you are looking for a challenge, raise one leg up at a time and hold this pose for 10 breaths.

Triangle pose: great for working your legs and stretching out your arms. Hold this pose for as long as you can, aiming for at least one minute on each side.



Plank: this exercise focuses strongly on working your abs. The first time you start this, you wont be able to hold it for very long. Just try to increase it by 5 seconds each time you practice yoga, until you are about to do 3 sets of 1 minute each. 



Chair pose: similar to a squatting pose, this posture really tightens your thighs and buttocks. You will feel your muscles contracting, but be sure to focus on your breathing while you hold it. Aim for 3 sets of 30 seconds.




Because this is an introductory workout, a long warm down is not really necessary. I would suggest doing two of your favourite poses from the warm up before finishing it off with the corpse pose. In order to get the best benefits from corpse pose, spend at least 2 minutes just focusing on the feelings in your body and being aware of your breathing.



In only 20 minutes, three times a week, you can easily complete this fun, easy, beginners 20 min yoga workout routine. Encourage a friend to do it with you; it will help keep you motivated. If you want to challenge yourself, you can do this routine back-to-back twice.