Advanced Balance

Shoulder-Pressing Poseभुजपीडासन

Bhujapīḍāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the shoulders, abdominals, triceps.

3–6BREATHS HELD

One line on the timetable. Shoulder-Pressing Pose is held 3–6 breaths, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.

SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The arc draws over 15 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

SanskritभुजपीडासनBhujapīḍāsana

EnglishShoulder-Pressing Pose

HindiभुजपीडासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyAdvancedbalance pose

Hold for3–6 breathsper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min147 kcal4 MET, 70 kg adult

Worksshouldersplus 5 more muscle groups

Balance · 15 / 31

How to do Shoulder-Pressing Pose

Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.

Stand with the feet a little wider than the hips and fold forward, threading each shoulder behind the corresponding thigh.
Walk the hands behind the heels and set the palms flat, fingers pointing forward.
Squat down until the backs of the thighs rest high on the upper arms, close to the armpits.
Bend the elbows slightly, shift the weight back into the hands and lift both feet.
Cross the ankles in front, hold, then lower the feet and unwind slowly.

Hold: 3–6 breaths. 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.

shouldersprimary

abdominalsprimary

tricepsprimary

wristssecondary

hip adductorssecondary

hip flexorssecondary

What Shoulder-Pressing 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.

Presses the thighs high onto the arms so the whole body weight sits on two bent arms.
Requires deep hip flexion and inner-thigh squeeze to keep the legs from sliding off.
Loads the wrists and shoulders in a compressed, folded position.

Shoulder-Pressing 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 Shoulder-Pressing Pose, or change it

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Shoulder injury — the arms are deeply loaded behind the thighs.
Hamstring strain, since entry needs a deep forward fold.
Pregnancy, where the folded shape compresses the abdomen.
Set a folded blanket in front of the hands; the head is low and 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 Shoulder-Pressing Pose

What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".

MistakeArms placed low behind the knees so the legs slide down.

FixSquat lower and walk the shoulders further behind the thighs before lifting.

MistakeWeight staying forward so the feet never leave the floor.

FixShift the hips back over the heels of the hands and let the seat drop behind the wrists.

How the energy figure on a yoga timetable is reached

Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart, so no per-pose figure is published here — not by this site and not by anyone.
The pose is matched to the nearest style of practice in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Shoulder-Pressing Pose sits at code 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET.
That MET value is put through the standard ACSM relationship for a stated reference adult of 70 kg.
The result is the cost of a practice of that kind for as long as you practise — not the cost of holding this one shape.
Scale it to yourself: the relationship is linear in body mass, so multiply by your own weight in kilograms and divide by 70.

kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200
         = 4 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
         = 4.90 kcal per minute

The whole method, including what it cannot tell you →

The same practice, hour by hour

Read it the way you would read a timetable: pick the length of session you actually sit down for, and that is the figure.

Energy cost of a yoga, Power practice at 4 MET, for a 70 kg adult. Compendium 02175 · JUL 2026
Time practising	10 min	20 min	30 min	45 min	60 min
Calories	49	98	147	221	294

SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02175 · 4 MET · 70 kg reference adult·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.

Asked before class

How do you do Shoulder-Pressing Pose?

Stand with the feet a little wider than the hips and fold forward, threading each shoulder behind the corresponding thigh. Walk the hands behind the heels and set the palms flat, fingers pointing forward. Squat down until the backs of the thighs rest high on the upper arms, close to the armpits. Bend the elbows slightly, shift the weight back into the hands and lift both feet. Cross the ankles in front, hold, then lower the feet and unwind slowly. Hold for 3–6 breaths.

What does Shoulder-Pressing Pose work?

Primarily the shoulders, abdominals, triceps, with the wrists, hip adductors, hip flexors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: presses the thighs high onto the arms so the whole body weight sits on two bent arms.

Who should not do Shoulder-Pressing Pose?

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Shoulder injury — the arms are deeply loaded behind the thighs. Hamstring strain, since entry needs a deep forward fold. Pregnancy, where the folded shape compresses the abdomen. Set a folded blanket in front of the hands; the head is low and 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 Shoulder-Pressing Pose suitable for beginners?

No. Shoulder-Pressing 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 Shoulder-Pressing 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. Shoulder-Pressing 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.

The rest of the balance poses on the wall

More balance poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Tree Pose● Vṛkṣāsana Beginner · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose Utthita Hasta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Lord of the Dance Pose Naṭarājāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Crane Pose Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–8 breaths Side Crane Pose Pārśva Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–6 breaths each side Warrior III Vīrabhadrāsana III Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Half Moon Pose Ardha Candrāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Eagle Pose Garuḍāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side

All 31 balance poses All advanced poses Desk work — neck, shoulders and hips Hips Neck and shoulders The full library

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 and what it is written from. 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.

SOURCE·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·REVIEWED JUL 2026

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