Standing Spinal Twist
कटिचक्रासन
Kaṭicakrāsana — a beginner twist that works the obliques, spinal erectors.
How to do Standing Spinal Twist
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Stand with the feet about hip-width apart and the arms out in front at shoulder height.
Exhale and turn the torso to the right, letting the arms swing with the ribs.
Take the right hand behind the body and the left hand towards the right shoulder.
Keep the hips facing forward and the feet flat throughout.
Inhale back to centre and repeat to the left, moving slowly with the breath.
Hold: 6–10 rounds 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 Standing Spinal Twist 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.
- Rotates the spine gently with the pelvis anchored by both feet.
- Mobilises the thoracic spine, which is the part of the back designed to rotate.
- Loosens the shoulders through a wide swinging arc.
Standing Spinal Twist is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Standing Spinal Twist, or change it
- Pregnancy — keep the twist open and very gentle, or skip.
- Low back or disc injury: reduce the range and do not swing.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
- Vertigo, since the head turns repeatedly.
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 Standing Spinal Twist
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeSwinging hard and letting momentum take the spine.
FixMove with the exhale and stop where the muscles, not the joints, are working.
MistakeHips turning with the shoulders.
FixFix the feet, keep the knees facing forward, and turn from the ribs.
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 Standing Spinal Twist is mapped to the nearest published code — 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 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 | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
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 Standing Spinal Twist?
Stand with the feet about hip-width apart and the arms out in front at shoulder height. Exhale and turn the torso to the right, letting the arms swing with the ribs. Take the right hand behind the body and the left hand towards the right shoulder. Keep the hips facing forward and the feet flat throughout. Inhale back to centre and repeat to the left, moving slowly with the breath. Hold for 6–10 rounds each side.
What does Standing Spinal Twist work?
Primarily the obliques, spinal erectors, with the shoulders, glutes, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: rotates the spine gently with the pelvis anchored by both feet.
Who should not do Standing Spinal Twist?
Pregnancy — keep the twist open and very gentle, or skip. Low back or disc injury: reduce the range and do not swing. Recent abdominal surgery. Vertigo, since the head turns repeatedly. 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 Standing Spinal Twist suitable for beginners?
Yes. Standing Spinal Twist 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 Standing Spinal Twist 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. Standing Spinal Twist 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.
Sequences that use Standing Spinal Twist
Related poses
More twists — 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.