Shoulder-Pressing Pose
भुजपीडासन
Bhujapīḍāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the shoulders, abdominals, triceps.
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.
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.
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 Shoulder-Pressing 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 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.
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.