Eagle Pose
गरुड़ासन
Garuḍāsana — an intermediate balance pose that works the quadriceps, gluteus medius, rhomboids.
How to do Eagle Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Stand and bend both knees slightly as though starting to sit down.
Cross the right thigh over the left, hooking the right foot behind the left calf if it reaches.
Cross the left elbow under the right, then wind the forearms and bring the palms towards each other.
Lift the elbows to shoulder height and draw the shoulder blades apart.
Sink a little lower, hold, then unwind and repeat with the other side on top.
Hold: 20–45 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 Eagle 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.
- Stretches the upper back between the shoulder blades, which sitting shortens.
- Loads the standing leg while the hip adductors work to hold the wrap.
- Trains balance on a narrow, twisted base.
Eagle Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Eagle Pose, or change it
- Knee injury — cross the thighs without hooking the foot.
- Shoulder or elbow injury: hold opposite shoulders instead of winding the arms.
- Recent hip replacement, where deep adduction is restricted.
- Balance loss — stand near a wall.
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 Eagle Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeSitting so low that the standing knee twists.
FixRise higher until the knee tracks over the foot.
MistakeRounding the upper back to get the palms together.
FixKeep the chest lifted and hold opposite shoulders instead.
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 Eagle 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 Eagle Pose?
Stand and bend both knees slightly as though starting to sit down. Cross the right thigh over the left, hooking the right foot behind the left calf if it reaches. Cross the left elbow under the right, then wind the forearms and bring the palms towards each other. Lift the elbows to shoulder height and draw the shoulder blades apart. Sink a little lower, hold, then unwind and repeat with the other side on top. Hold for 20–45 seconds each side.
What does Eagle Pose work?
Primarily the quadriceps, gluteus medius, rhomboids, with the hip adductors, shoulders, calves assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: stretches the upper back between the shoulder blades, which sitting shortens.
Who should not do Eagle Pose?
Knee injury — cross the thighs without hooking the foot. Shoulder or elbow injury: hold opposite shoulders instead of winding the arms. Recent hip replacement, where deep adduction is restricted. Balance loss — stand near a wall. 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 Eagle Pose suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Eagle Pose 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 balance poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Eagle 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. Eagle 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.