Bharadvaja's Twist II
भरद्वाजासन द्वितीय
Bharadvājāsana II — an intermediate twist that works the obliques, spinal erectors, hip flexors.
How to do Bharadvaja's Twist II
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
From sitting, fold the right leg back so the right foot rests beside the right hip in a half hero position.
Draw the left foot up onto the right thigh in half lotus, or simply cross the shin in front if the hip is tight.
Sit up on a blanket so the pelvis stays level and neither knee is strained.
Turn the trunk to the left, taking the right hand to the outer left knee and the left hand to the floor behind.
Lengthen, rotate on the exhale, hold, then unwind and set the legs the other way.
Hold: 30–60 seconds 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 Bharadvaja's Twist II 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.
- Asks one hip for internal rotation and the other for external rotation at the same time.
- Rotates the trunk from a base that gives the pelvis almost no room to follow.
- Loads the obliques while the shoulders stay square across the collarbones.
Bharadvaja's Twist II is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Bharadvaja's Twist II, or change it
- Pregnancy — the closed rotation and folded legs are both unsuitable.
- Knee injury, particularly on the folded-back leg, which is loaded in internal rotation.
- Disc injury or recent spinal surgery.
- Sacroiliac irritation from the strongly uneven pelvic position.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
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 Bharadvaja's Twist II
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeSitting flat on the floor so the pelvis tips back and the knees take the strain.
FixRaise the seat on a block or firm blanket before anything else.
MistakeForcing the half lotus to get the shape to look right.
FixCross the shin in front instead; the twist is the point, not the leg.
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 Bharadvaja's Twist II is mapped to the nearest published code — 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 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 | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
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 Bharadvaja's Twist II?
From sitting, fold the right leg back so the right foot rests beside the right hip in a half hero position. Draw the left foot up onto the right thigh in half lotus, or simply cross the shin in front if the hip is tight. Sit up on a blanket so the pelvis stays level and neither knee is strained. Turn the trunk to the left, taking the right hand to the outer left knee and the left hand to the floor behind. Lengthen, rotate on the exhale, hold, then unwind and set the legs the other way. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Bharadvaja's Twist II work?
Primarily the obliques, spinal erectors, hip flexors, with the shoulders, chest, quadriceps assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: asks one hip for internal rotation and the other for external rotation at the same time.
Who should not do Bharadvaja's Twist II?
Pregnancy — the closed rotation and folded legs are both unsuitable. Knee injury, particularly on the folded-back leg, which is loaded in internal rotation. Disc injury or recent spinal surgery. Sacroiliac irritation from the strongly uneven pelvic position. Recent abdominal surgery. 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 Bharadvaja's Twist II suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Bharadvaja's Twist II is rated intermediate here: it assumes a working base of strength and range, and a teacher who has watched you move. Build up through the twists poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Bharadvaja's Twist II 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. Bharadvaja's Twist II sits closest to Compendium code 02150, yoga, Hatha, at 2.5 MET — about 92 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 twists — 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.