One-Legged Sage Pose I
एक पाद कौण्डिन्यासन प्रथम
Eka Pāda Kauṇḍinyāsana I — an advanced balance pose that works the obliques, triceps, shoulders.
How to do One-Legged Sage Pose I
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Set a folded blanket ahead of the hands, then come into a deep twisted lunge with the left elbow outside the right thigh.
Place both hands flat on the mat to the right, shoulder-width apart, and keep the twist.
Rest the outer right thigh high across the left upper arm and bend both elbows towards a low plank.
Shift the chest forward and float the back foot off the mat.
Extend the front leg forward and the back leg straight behind, hold, then lower and change sides.
Hold: 3–5 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 One-Legged Sage Pose I 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.
- Splits the legs in opposite directions while both arms carry the weight.
- Holds a deep spinal rotation under full body-weight load.
- Loads the triceps heavily, since the elbows stay bent throughout.
One-Legged Sage Pose I 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 One-Legged Sage Pose I, or change it
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Shoulder or elbow injury.
- Hamstring strain on the front leg.
- Pregnancy — a deep closed twist with the abdomen compressed is unsuitable.
- The face is low and forward here; keep a folded blanket ahead of the hands.
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 One-Legged Sage Pose I
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeTrying to shoot the legs out before the chest has moved forward.
FixShift the shoulders well past the wrists first, then extend.
MistakeBack leg dropping towards the floor.
FixPoint the back foot and reach it back and slightly up, level with the hips.
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 One-Legged Sage Pose I 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 One-Legged Sage Pose I?
Set a folded blanket ahead of the hands, then come into a deep twisted lunge with the left elbow outside the right thigh. Place both hands flat on the mat to the right, shoulder-width apart, and keep the twist. Rest the outer right thigh high across the left upper arm and bend both elbows towards a low plank. Shift the chest forward and float the back foot off the mat. Extend the front leg forward and the back leg straight behind, hold, then lower and change sides. Hold for 3–5 breaths each side.
What does One-Legged Sage Pose I work?
Primarily the obliques, triceps, shoulders, with the abdominals, wrists, hamstrings assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: splits the legs in opposite directions while both arms carry the weight.
Who should not do One-Legged Sage Pose I?
Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Shoulder or elbow injury. Hamstring strain on the front leg. Pregnancy — a deep closed twist with the abdomen compressed is unsuitable. The face is low and forward here; keep a folded blanket ahead of the hands. 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 One-Legged Sage Pose I suitable for beginners?
No. One-Legged Sage Pose I 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 One-Legged Sage Pose I 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. One-Legged Sage Pose I 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.