Head-to-Knee Poseजानु शीर्षासन
Jānu Śīrṣāsana — a beginner forward bend that works the hamstrings, spinal erectors, hip adductors.
1–2MINUTES HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Head-to-Knee Pose is held 1–2 minutes each side, with the breath moving throughout — and it takes its place inside 4 of the practices posted on this site.
SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How to do Head-to-Knee Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit on a folded blanket with the right leg straight forward and the foot flexed.
Bend the left knee and place the left sole against the right inner thigh, letting the left knee open wide.
Support the left knee on a cushion if it hangs high off the floor.
Turn the trunk to face squarely over the right leg, then hinge forward from the hip crease.
Hold the shin, foot or a strap, keep the spine long, hold, then change sides.
Hold: 1–2 minutes 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 Head-to-Knee 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.
- Lengthens one hamstring at a time, which shows up side-to-side differences the two-legged version hides.
- Stretches the inner thigh of the bent leg through external rotation.
- Lengthens the side waist of the straight-leg side as the trunk turns to face the leg.
Head-to-Knee Pose is one of 22 forward bends in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that fold the torso towards the legs, lengthening the whole back line of the body.
Who should skip Head-to-Knee Pose, or change it
- Knee injury on the bent leg — prop the knee and reduce the angle.
- Hamstring strain on the straight leg.
- Low back or disc injury: sit higher and bend the straight knee.
- Recent hip replacement, where the bent-leg position may be restricted.
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 Head-to-Knee Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeFolding straight down the midline instead of over the straight leg.
FixTurn the navel to face the straight thigh before folding at all.
MistakePulling the head towards the knee and rounding the neck.
FixLead with the sternum and let the head stay in line with the spine.
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. Head-to-Knee Pose sits at code 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 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
= 2.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
= 3.06 kcal per minute
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.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02150 · 2.5 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 Head-to-Knee Pose?
Sit on a folded blanket with the right leg straight forward and the foot flexed. Bend the left knee and place the left sole against the right inner thigh, letting the left knee open wide. Support the left knee on a cushion if it hangs high off the floor. Turn the trunk to face squarely over the right leg, then hinge forward from the hip crease. Hold the shin, foot or a strap, keep the spine long, hold, then change sides. Hold for 1–2 minutes each side.
What does Head-to-Knee Pose work?
Primarily the hamstrings, spinal erectors, hip adductors, with the calves, obliques, lower back assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens one hamstring at a time, which shows up side-to-side differences the two-legged version hides.
Who should not do Head-to-Knee Pose?
Knee injury on the bent leg — prop the knee and reduce the angle. Hamstring strain on the straight leg. Low back or disc injury: sit higher and bend the straight knee. Recent hip replacement, where the bent-leg position may be restricted. 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 Head-to-Knee Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Head-to-Knee Pose is a beginner-level pose on this site, which means it is learnable in a first class and has a version that works for most bodies. The cautions above still apply.
How many calories does Head-to-Knee 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. Head-to-Knee Pose 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.
The rest of the forward bends on the wall
More forward bends — 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 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
The people behind these sites
Follow the build
This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
Amit Sharma
@amitsharmaofficial
Instagram
Geeta Patel
@geetapatelnz
Instagram
Geeta Patel
GeetaPatelYoga
Facebook
Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.
