I know what you’re thinking. Yoga poses don’t save the earth—recycling, reusing, buying organic, and using reusable bags at the grocery store helps save the Earth, but not yoga poses! It may be true that yoga asanas are meant to bring awareness to your own breath, body, and spirit, but if you believe that we’re all connected if you make yourself healthier, you make the world healthier every time you practice.

These are the poses I’ll practice in honor of Earth Day!

1. Tadasana (Mountain Pose) This pose is the Earth and the sky. Grounding and expanding. Two opposites living in harmony together.

2. Vrksasana (Tree Pose) You don’t have to live in a tree to appreciate the beauty, stability, and oxygen they provide.

3. Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) Without the sun, none of us would be here. It provides warmth and radiant energy.

4. Dolphin Pose I want to remember our water-dwelling friends every time I practice Dolphin Pose. Water is a big part of every living creature, and yet we toss our plastics into the ocean every day. Why?

5. Savasana (Corpse Pose) Eventually, we’ll all just be fertilizer anyway. I practice yoga so when I go I’ll be sending happy, healing energy back into the Earth—not toxins like negativity, stress, or anger.

See also:
What is a Conscious Consumer
5 Poses for When There’s Not Enough Time in the Day
Spoiled, Bratty, Privileged Yogi