Leg Alignment in Standing Yoga Poses

We yoga teachers can tell if you’re new to yoga, simply by looking at how far apart your feet are in standing poses. Here’s the secret: your feet are too close together!

While it’s possible to have a stance that’s too wide, it’s rare. Let’s look at how to align our legs so we can move deeper into our practice.

We want strength in our legs, so we can manipulate our power and alignment in the pose. We also want freedom, so we can stretch to our full potential. Yoga asks that we find balance between strength and freedom in all our poses, especially standing ones.

The Stance

How far apart we place our feet determines much of the balance between strength and freedom in our standing poses. With feet too narrow, we become unstable and excess load is placed on our knees. Too far apart, and we can’t access the strength needed to hold the pose or make subtle alignment adjustments in it.

If the front leg is bent, as in Warrior 1, Warrior 2 & Side Angle Pose:

• Bend it until your thigh bone is parallel to the ground.
• If making your thigh parallel to the ground puts your knee out in front of your toes, move your feet farther apart.
• Stack your knee directly above your ankle.

Ideal Foot Alignment

Placing our feet precisely helps align our bones, which provides healing, reduces pain and protects our joints from injury. Here are some basics to find optimal alignment for our feet in standing poses.

Externally Rotated Standing Poses (e.g. Warrior 2 & Side Angle Pose)

• Lift your arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height, your feet should be directly under your wrists.
• Turn your front foot out, so it’s parallel to the long side of your sticky mat.
• Your back foot should be parallel to the short edge of your sticky mat, or perhaps turned in just a tiny bit.
• If you drew a line from your front heel straight back, it would bisect the arch of your back foot.

Forward Facing Poses (e.g. Warrior 1)

• Maintain a wide stance between your feet, as in the previous poses.
• Point your front foot straight ahead and parallel to the long edge of your yoga mat.
• Turn your back heel in so it reaches the ground, but not so much your hips aren’t square; it will likely be at about forty-five degrees.
• Place your feet hip width apart to begin. Move them into heel-to-heel alignment as you advance in your practice.