Eight-Angle Pose
अष्टावक्रासन
Aṣṭāvakrāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the triceps, obliques, shoulders.
How to do Eight-Angle Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit with the right leg forward and thread the right arm under the right knee, sliding the thigh high onto the shoulder.
Place both hands flat on the mat, shoulder-width apart, with a folded blanket set ahead of them.
Cross the left ankle over the right and squeeze the legs together around the right arm.
Press into both hands, lift the seat, and extend both legs out to the right side.
Bend the elbows to lower the chest towards a low plank, hold, then unwind and change sides.
Hold: 3–6 breaths each side. 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-Angle 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.
- Carries the whole body weight on two arms while the legs form a long lever out to one side.
- Loads the obliques and abdominals to keep the legs horizontal against gravity.
- Places a heavy asymmetric load through both wrists and the arm that the thigh sits on.
Eight-Angle Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Eight-Angle Pose, or change it
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Shoulder or elbow injury on either side.
- Recent abdominal surgery or a hernia repair.
- Pregnancy — the shape compresses the abdomen and demands a strong twist.
- Practise over a folded blanket set in front of the hands; a forward tip lands on the face.
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-Angle Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeThigh sitting low on the upper arm so the shape cannot lift.
FixUse the free hand to draw the leg as high onto the shoulder as it will go before pressing up.
MistakeLegs drifting downward once extended.
FixSqueeze the ankles hard against each other and reach both feet away to the side.
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-Angle 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-Angle Pose?
Sit with the right leg forward and thread the right arm under the right knee, sliding the thigh high onto the shoulder. Place both hands flat on the mat, shoulder-width apart, with a folded blanket set ahead of them. Cross the left ankle over the right and squeeze the legs together around the right arm. Press into both hands, lift the seat, and extend both legs out to the right side. Bend the elbows to lower the chest towards a low plank, hold, then unwind and change sides. Hold for 3–6 breaths each side.
What does Eight-Angle Pose work?
Primarily the triceps, obliques, shoulders, with the abdominals, wrists, hip adductors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: carries the whole body weight on two arms while the legs form a long lever out to one side.
Who should not do Eight-Angle Pose?
Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Shoulder or elbow injury on either side. Recent abdominal surgery or a hernia repair. Pregnancy — the shape compresses the abdomen and demands a strong twist. Practise over a folded blanket set in front of the hands; a forward tip lands on the face. 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-Angle Pose suitable for beginners?
No. Eight-Angle Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate balance poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Eight-Angle 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-Angle 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.
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.