Marichi's Pose Aमरीच्यासन प्रथम
Marīcyāsana A — an intermediate twist that works the hamstrings, spinal erectors, shoulders.
30–60SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Marichi's Pose A is held 30–60 seconds each side, 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
How to do Marichi's Pose A
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit with the left leg straight forward and the foot flexed, sitting up on a blanket if the pelvis tips back.
Bend the right knee and stand the right foot on the floor close to the right sitting bone.
Reach the right arm forward past the inside of the right shin, then wrap it around the shin and back.
Take the left arm behind you and clasp the hands or a strap between them.
Lengthen the spine and fold forward over the straight leg, then release and change sides.
Hold: 30–60 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 Marichi's Pose A 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 the hamstring of the straight leg with the shoulders pulled back by the bind.
- Draws the shoulders into extension behind the body, opening the front of the chest.
- Trains a forward hinge with the pelvis held asymmetrically.
Marichi's Pose A is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Marichi's Pose A, or change it
- Pregnancy — the bind wraps the abdomen; skip it.
- Disc injury or low back pain that worsens on flexion.
- Sacroiliac irritation from the uneven pelvic load.
- Shoulder injury: use a strap between the hands rather than clasping.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
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 Marichi's Pose A
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeChasing the bind by rounding the whole back forward.
FixSit taller, use a strap, and only fold once the hands connect.
MistakeStraight-leg foot rolling out to the side.
FixFlex the foot and turn the toes straight up so the hamstring loads evenly.
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. Marichi's Pose A 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 Marichi's Pose A?
Sit with the left leg straight forward and the foot flexed, sitting up on a blanket if the pelvis tips back. Bend the right knee and stand the right foot on the floor close to the right sitting bone. Reach the right arm forward past the inside of the right shin, then wrap it around the shin and back. Take the left arm behind you and clasp the hands or a strap between them. Lengthen the spine and fold forward over the straight leg, then release and change sides. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Marichi's Pose A work?
Primarily the hamstrings, spinal erectors, shoulders, with the obliques, chest, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the hamstring of the straight leg with the shoulders pulled back by the bind.
Who should not do Marichi's Pose A?
Pregnancy — the bind wraps the abdomen; skip it. Disc injury or low back pain that worsens on flexion. Sacroiliac irritation from the uneven pelvic load. Shoulder injury: use a strap between the hands rather than clasping. Recent abdominal surgery. 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 Marichi's Pose A suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Marichi's Pose A 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 twists poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Marichi's Pose A 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. Marichi's Pose A 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 twists on the wall
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 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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