Temple Pose
Temple Pose is a great yoga exercise that works your lower body, while focusing on your thighs and butt.
To do the Temple Pose:
- From a Chair Pose or Mountain Pose, extend your hands
- Bring your feet out below your hands, to where your wrists are parallel to your ankles.
- Plant your feet on the floor with the toes turned out, try not to sway your lower back or lean forward.
- Engage your quads and your glutes to make sure you are comfortable with the Temple Pose.
- Gently rock from up and down, then side to side, to get used to the pose.
- Inhale, and bring your palms together in prayer position (a), and bend both knees. Exhale.(b)
- Inhale, and draw your shoulders up toward ears, then exhale as you push your shoulders back down.
- Inhale then rise back up, and spread your hands over your head in a wave-like motion as you bend down into a squat, now exhale again.
- Go down deeper into our squat, and repeat your hand over head motions.
- Try variations where you clasp your hands, bend your knee in one direction (see video), or try Fan Pose.
Temple Pose Variations
As a beginner, you may not be able to remain in Temple Pose for a long time. If your knees knock or buckle in, just bring your feet in a little bit. When they no longer buckle, you can continue with the exercise.
When you are comfortable with the Temple Pose, you can add a Fan Pose, like in the video below.
For Fan Pose Variation of the Temple Pose:
- Turn your toes forward, and exhale into fan pose.
- Clasp your hands behind your back.
- This will stretch your glutes, quads and hamstrings more.
Popular Temple Pose Workout:
- The Jennifer Aniston workout uses the Temple Pose to work her abs, especially the obliques, during her Yoga workouts.
- The Gisele workout uses Temple Pose during her aerobics & yoga workouts.
- The Jessica Biel workout uses Temple Pose as part of her yoga workouts. She usually runs in the morning, and does yoga afterwards to stretch her body.
Here is a great video explanation of how to do the Temple Pose:
Interested in the yoga workout Jennifer Aniston uses? Get Mandy Ingber’s Yogalosophy Workout DVD (on Amazon).
Help Share the Temple Pose Yoga Exercise
Know anyone who can benefit from the Temple Pose yoga exercise?
Please share it with them below:
