Intermediate Balance

Pendant Poseलोलासन

Lolāsana — an intermediate balance pose that works the shoulders, abdominals, triceps.

3–8BREATHS HELD

One line on the timetable. Pendant Pose is held 3–8 breaths, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.

SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The arc draws over 15 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

SanskritलोलासनLolāsana

EnglishPendant Posealso called Dangling Pose

HindiलोलासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyIntermediatebalance pose

Hold for3–8 breathsper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min147 kcal4 MET, 70 kg adult

Worksshouldersplus 5 more muscle groups

Balance · 24 / 31

How to do Pendant Pose

Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.

Kneel and sit back on the heels, then cross the ankles with the shins tucked in close.
Place a block under each hand if the arms are not long enough to clear the floor.
Set the hands beside the hips, fingers forward, and press down hard.
Round the upper back, draw the knees towards the chest and lift the whole body off the mat.
Hold for a few breaths with the legs hanging, then lower and cross the ankles the other way.

Hold: 3–8 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.

shouldersprimary

abdominalsprimary

tricepsprimary

wristssecondary

hip flexorssecondary

serratus anteriorsecondary

What Pendant 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.

Lifts the whole body weight straight up on two hands with no leg support at all.
Loads the abdominals and hip flexors to hold the folded legs clear of the floor.
Trains the shoulder blades to push down and wide, which is the base of every press-up shape.

Pendant 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 Pendant Pose, or change it

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Shoulder injury.
Knee discomfort from sitting on the heels — pad the ankles or skip.
Recent abdominal surgery or a hernia repair.

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 Pendant Pose

What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".

MistakeStraining upward with a flat back so nothing leaves the floor.

FixRound the upper back strongly and draw the knees in; the lift is a curl, not a hoist.

MistakeHands too far forward or behind the hips.

FixSet the palms level with the hips and use blocks to buy height.

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. Pendant Pose sits at code 02175, yoga, Power, 4 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
         = 4 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
         = 4.90 kcal per minute

The whole method, including what it cannot tell you →

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.

Energy cost of a yoga, Power practice at 4 MET, for a 70 kg adult. Compendium 02175 · JUL 2026
Time practising	10 min	20 min	30 min	45 min	60 min
Calories	49	98	147	221	294

SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02175 · 4 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 Pendant Pose?

Kneel and sit back on the heels, then cross the ankles with the shins tucked in close. Place a block under each hand if the arms are not long enough to clear the floor. Set the hands beside the hips, fingers forward, and press down hard. Round the upper back, draw the knees towards the chest and lift the whole body off the mat. Hold for a few breaths with the legs hanging, then lower and cross the ankles the other way. Hold for 3–8 breaths.

What does Pendant Pose work?

Primarily the shoulders, abdominals, triceps, with the wrists, hip flexors, serratus anterior assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lifts the whole body weight straight up on two hands with no leg support at all.

Who should not do Pendant Pose?

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Shoulder injury. Knee discomfort from sitting on the heels — pad the ankles or skip. Recent abdominal surgery or a hernia repair. 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 Pendant Pose suitable for beginners?

Not as a first pose. Pendant 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 Pendant 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. Pendant 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.

The rest of the balance poses on the wall

More balance poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Tree Pose● Vṛkṣāsana Beginner · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Warrior III Vīrabhadrāsana III Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Half Moon Pose Ardha Candrāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Eagle Pose Garuḍāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) Pārśva Phalakāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–40 seconds each side Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose Utthita Hasta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Lord of the Dance Pose Naṭarājāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Plank Pose Phalakāsana Beginner · balance · 20–45 seconds

All 31 balance poses All intermediate poses Desk work — neck, shoulders and hips Hips Neck and shoulders The full library

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

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