Eight-Limbed Pose
अष्टांग नमस्कार
Aṣṭāṅga Namaskāra — a beginner balance pose that works the triceps, chest, shoulders.
How to do Eight-Limbed Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
From a plank or a low lunge, lower both knees to the mat.
Keeping the hips lifted, slide the chest forward and down between the hands.
Bring the chin — or the forehead, which is kinder to the neck — to the mat.
Keep the elbows drawn in alongside the ribs rather than splaying out sideways.
Eight points now touch the floor: two feet, two knees, two hands, chest and chin.
Hold: 1 breath in a flow, or 3–5 breaths held. Keep the breath moving throughout — if you are holding it, the pose is too much for today.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Eight-Limbed Pose does
Described mechanically — what the movement does to muscle and joint. Not a list of conditions it treats, because a pose does not treat conditions.
- Loads the triceps and chest through a controlled lowering with the knees supporting part of the weight.
- Trains the elbows-in lowering pattern that a full Chaturanga later depends on.
- Extends the upper back while the hips stay lifted.
Eight-Limbed Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Eight-Limbed Pose, or change it
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome — the hands carry load throughout.
- Shoulder impingement: keep the chest higher and the elbows closer.
- Neck injury — take the forehead down instead of the chin.
- Pregnancy, since the chest and abdomen come towards the floor.
- Knee pain: pad the knees with a folded blanket.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing any health condition, ask your doctor before starting a practice, and learn the pose itself from a qualified teacher who can see you move.
Common mistakes in Eight-Limbed Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeElbows flaring wide so the shoulders take the whole load.
FixDraw the elbows in until they brush the ribs.
MistakeHips dropping to the floor so the pose becomes a collapse.
FixKeep the hips lifted — the eight points do not include the pelvis.
What a practice like this costs in energy
Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values per style of practice, so Eight-Limbed Pose is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET — and the figures below are for a practice of that kind, not for holding this one pose.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute — the standard ACSM relationship, shown in full on the method page. Scale it to your own weight by multiplying by your weight in kilograms and dividing by 70. The whole activity dataset, including every non-yoga activity, is at BurnLab.
Questions
How do you do Eight-Limbed Pose?
From a plank or a low lunge, lower both knees to the mat. Keeping the hips lifted, slide the chest forward and down between the hands. Bring the chin — or the forehead, which is kinder to the neck — to the mat. Keep the elbows drawn in alongside the ribs rather than splaying out sideways. Eight points now touch the floor: two feet, two knees, two hands, chest and chin. Hold for 1 breath in a flow, or 3–5 breaths held.
What does Eight-Limbed Pose work?
Primarily the triceps, chest, shoulders, with the abdominals, spinal erectors, quadriceps assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads the triceps and chest through a controlled lowering with the knees supporting part of the weight.
Who should not do Eight-Limbed Pose?
Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome — the hands carry load throughout. Shoulder impingement: keep the chest higher and the elbows closer. Neck injury — take the forehead down instead of the chin. Pregnancy, since the chest and abdomen come towards the floor. Knee pain: pad the knees with a folded blanket. This is general information, not medical advice — if any of these apply to you, ask your doctor and learn the pose with a qualified teacher rather than from a page.
Is Eight-Limbed Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Eight-Limbed Pose is a beginner-level pose on this site, which means it is learnable in a first class and has a version that works for most bodies. The cautions above still apply.
How many calories does Eight-Limbed Pose burn?
The honest answer is that nobody has measured a single asana. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values for styles of yoga, not for individual poses. Eight-Limbed Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02175, yoga, Power, at 4 MET — about 147 kcal for 30 minutes of that kind of practice for a 70 kg adult. Holding one pose for a minute is a rounding error either way.
Sequences that use Eight-Limbed Pose
Related poses
More balance poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written. Energy figures derive from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.