9 Funny Yoga Poses for a Mood Boost

Try these 9 funny yoga poses to make your practice lighthearted and fun! Wrap yourself up in a pretzel or try to balance while laughing!

Table of Contents

• 9 Funny Yoga Poses to Lift You Up
• Final Words

Yoga is a science, a spiritual path, and can be life-changing – but there’s no reason not to have fun on your mat. Arm yourself with a healthy sense of humor and allow our favorite funny yoga poses to help renew your practice with child-like energy. 

Although we invite you to flex your funny bone, enter into these awkwardly curious shapes with eyes wide open  — many are better reserved for the very limber. But even if you don’t have the flexibility to reach the full expressions, play with the stages of these poses to spice up your practice with an open mind and a joyful spirit.

9 Funny Yoga Poses to Lift You Up

Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana)

The main entertainment in Goddess Pose is in balancing its awkwardness with grace. 

Goddess Pose builds strength in the legs and improves flexibility in the hips. It is believed to connect yogis to the Divine Feminine energy. 

How to Practice:

• Stand with feet wider than hips width. Turn heels in and toes out.
• Bend the knees so they are directly over the heels and not past the ankles.
• Lengthen the spine and lift the crown of the head towards the ceiling and the tailbone down towards the ground.
• Open the arms out to a T and bend the elbows. Allow the palms to be open.

Variations & Tips:

• You can keep your feet a little bit closer together and knees not quite as bent for a less challenging variation. 
• Keep the thigh bones pressed open so the knees do not collapse inward.
• Rise up onto the balls of the feet to challenge your balance.
• Smile! Enjoy the full expression of your feminine strength.

Squat Pose (Malasana)

Drive through the streets of India, and you’ll see plenty of shop owners and their customers hanging around in front of their businesses in this pose. Malasana helps with hip flexibility, leg strength and also can aid digestion. Try not to suppress a giggle when you remember that this pose can kickstart your morning poop! 

How to Practice:

• From Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana), lower your hips all the way down, in between your ankles.
• Bring your palms together and press your thumbs to your breastbone, and your elbows into your thighs.
• Lift your pelvic floor so you do not collapse the pose.
• Keep your chest and crown of the head lifted.
• Stay in the pose for five breaths. 
• To exit, drape the torso down as you lift your hips, coming into a wide-leg forward fold.

Variations & Tips:

• If you have sensitive knees, raise your hips higher; you can place your hands on your thighs if necessary.
• For a more challenging exit variation, keep your hands at your heart, press down into the feet, and straighten the legs to stand up. 

Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana)

A list of funny yoga poses wouldn’t be complete without Happy Baby. This posture opens your hips and lower back and helps you work on your flexibility in a less intense and more relaxing way. 

This pose is often done at the end of a practice to release any tension from the back body and hips before Shavasana. 

How to Practice:

• Lie on your back and bring your knees into your chest.
• Keeping the feet together, part your knees and reach through your legs to hold the shins, ankles, or feet.
• Press the inner thighs open with your elbows as you draw the soles of the feet together.
• Lengthen your tailbone to the floor and maintain a natural curve in the lower back. 
• Broaden your collarbones and breathe 5 deep breaths.
• To exit, bring the legs together and the feet to the ground.

Variations & Tips:

• While holding the pose, rock side to side to massage the muscles around your spine.
• To get a deeper inner thigh stretch, you can alternately extend one leg and then the other. 
• Experience your innocence and joy, just like a happy baby!

Ear Pressure Pose (Karnapidasana)

One of the best funny yoga poses for taking yourself a bit less seriously is Ear Pressure Pose. This pose is so awkward that it’s nearly impossible not to have a laugh with fellow students when it comes up in a class. 

Still, it’s beneficial on many levels – providing a deep stretch to the whole back body, decreasing mental clutter, and allowing you to turn your attention inward. Plus, it’s a mild inversion, bringing the heart higher than the head, which promotes enhanced circulation.

How to Practice:

• Begin on your back, with knees into chest. Rock forward and back.
• Straighten the legs and lift them up and over head into Plow Pose (Halasana).
• Stretch the sit bones up towards the ceiling so as not to compress the spine.
• Lower your knees towards the floor alongside your ears, supporting your lower back with your hands. Take five deep breaths here.
• To exit, roll yourself down onto your back.

Variations & Tips:

• If the knees are all the way down to the floor, you may extend the arms overhead.
• Practice Child’s Pose (Balasana) first, to mimic the rounded spine and open hips of Karnapidasana, in a simpler and more relaxed variation. 
• Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana) is another mild inversion that is a good preparatory pose.

Embryo Pose (Pindasana)

If you’re trying to take up the least possible space with your body,try Embryo Pose. Wrap your body up into a ball, smile at yourself, and get a huge release.

This challenging yet restorative asana is not suitable for beginners – as it combines both Lotus Pose and a deep forward fold. Still, it is worth working towards if you want to add something new to your practice and develop more advanced flexibility. Those new to yoga or with less flexibility can explore Lotus Pose (Padmasana) or Half Lotus (Ardha Padmasana), and Shoulder Stand (Sarvangasana) for accessible first steps. 

How to Practice: 

• Begin lying on your back. Raise your legs up and over head into Plow Pose (Halasana); support your lower back with your hands as you lift your legs to the ceiling in Shoulder Stand (Sarvangasana).
• Come into Lotus Pose and lower your knees towards your shoulders, wrapping your arms around your legs.
• Take five breaths as you hold the pose. 
• To exit, lift the knees, unfold the legs, return to Plow Pose, and then lower the spine and legs back to the ground.

Variations & Tips:

• For a less intense variation of this pose, keep the hands on the lower back.
• For a more challenging upright balancing variation of this pose, Garbha Pindasana, come into a seated Lotus pose, bring the knees up towards the chest, thread the arms through the legs, and cup the chin with the hands. 

Yogic Sleep Pose (Yoga Nidrasana)

Is it myth or reality that the ancient yogis actually fell asleep in this pose? We might never know, but we can tell you that getting into the pose requires lots of work. Warm up with a full practice before even attempting Yogic Sleep Pose, and be prepared for the deepest, true sense of stillness if and when you get there.

How to Practice:

• Begin on your back; bend both knees into your chest.
• Draw your feet towards your shoulders and snuggle your knees behind your shoulders. 
• Cross your feet behind your head and rest on them like a pillow.
• Breathe deeply.

Variations & Tips:

• Do not strain or force this pose. There are many preparatory poses that come first to open your hips and hamstrings safely, including standing poses like Side Angle Pose (Parsvakonasana). 
• Remember to breathe smoothly and, above all, keep your body safe and healthy. That’s a reason to smile! 

Foot Behind the Head (Eka Pada Sirsasana)

Many people get intimidated by yoga because this pose is what they think we are all doing on our mats! Although it may be one of the most recognizable weird yoga poses – the Foot Behind the Head Pose is an advanced asana that should be practiced with great care.

Foot Behind the Head Pose can make you laugh out loud just by saying it, yet this asana provides an intense and edgy stretch to the legs, hips, and spine. It can also boost your mood – not only because it looks funny, but also because once you get in safely, it can soothe your nervous system. Plus, working towards more depth in your practice, both physically and mentally, may bring a sense of fulfillment, which can help keep you motivated to continue your practice. 

How to Practice: 

• Begin in Baby Cradle (see above pose), holding the right leg.
• Externally rotate the thigh, pointing the knee to the side.
• Bring the thigh around your right shoulder and the lower leg back behind your head, and down towards your shoulder blades.
• Broaden your collarbones and look up.
• Don’t hold your breath! 
• To exit, carefully take the leg back into your hands and release it slowly to the floor.

Variations & Tips:

• You can keep the opposite leg straight or folded in front of you.
• Consider practicing Foot Behind the Head Pose on your back first (aka Yoga Nidrasana) with one leg at a time to bring more support to your spine and to avoid straining your hamstrings.
• The full variation of the pose includes a forward fold over the straight leg. 
• Be patient, and do not strain! Maintain a sense of humor, and remember that you are in the pose no matter what part of it you can do, and that’s no laughing matter!

Tortoise Pose (Kurmasana)

 Funny poses are also often the most difficult ones, and this pose intends to fold you in half like a sandwich, with legs and arms strong yet splayed. Although a modified version with bent knees can be approached by all students, the full expression of Tortoise Pose requires advanced flexibility – and years of experience, especially with forward folds.

The work is worth it, as this pose helps you open your thighs, hamstrings, shoulders, spine, and chest. 

How to Practice: 

• Begin seated with legs wide; place your flexed feet at the edges of your mat.
• Bend your knees and extend your torso forward and down, in between your legs.
• Keeping your feet flexed, keep hinging forward so that you can place your shoulders inside or underneath your knees and stretch your arms out to the sides.
• Press your feet forward and work to straighten your legs as you broaden your collarbones so as not to collapse in the pose.
• Stay here for 5 breaths; to exit, bend your knees and slowly sit up.

Variations & Tips:

• Stay connected to your breath, move slowly, and do not force this pose.
• If you are feeling less flexible, stay more upright or keep your knees bent. 
• This pose is about moving inward  — pay attention, lengthen your spine, broaden your shoulders, and open your mind.

Wide-Legged Forward Bend Pose For Two (Prasarita Padottanasana)

There’s nothing too funny about Wide-Legged Forward Bend – until you partner up. The main amusement will come from turning your world upside while grasping your friend’s hands between your legs. Stay steady, keep your balance, and have fun keeping your composure! 

Besides being entertaining, this pose will also help you and your partner reach a deeper level of togetherness, while enhancing your flexibility, leg strength, and balance skills. 

How to Practice:

• Begin in a wide-legged stance with parallel feet, back to back with your partner.
• Place your hands on your hips and as you inhale, lift your chest and lengthen your spine.
• As you exhale, fold forward from the hips and bring your hands down to the ground. 
• Steady yourself with toes spread wide, legs strong, and core engaged.
• Reach through your legs and hold onto your partner’s arms above or below the elbow joint.
• Stay here for five breaths with a steady gaze at your partner.
• To exit the pose, release each other’s arms, lengthen your spine, bring your hands to your hips, and inhale to rise back up to standing.

Variations & Tips:

• Keep your knees bent if your hamstrings, hips, or lower back are tight.
• You can hold your partner’s hands if you can’t reach each other’s arms or hold one hand and keep the other on the ground to aid your stability.

Final Words

Get inspired to take your practice to the next level while finding some fun in the process. Just remember that doing these poses won’t make you a better person, but it may render you more humble, more compassionate, and more dedicated to your practice, both on and off the mat. If you wonder how to find more cool yoga poses to spice up your practice, here are a couple of ways you can do that:

• Read more yoga articles – like our arm balance guide.
• Check out master yogis on social media.
• Use a yoga app, like Yoga-Go, to inspire your practice.
• Broaden your horizons, and take classes in different styles of yoga.
• Get curious and have fun!