Cat Pose
मार्जर्यासन
Mārjaryāsana — a beginner backbend that works the abdominals, spinal erectors.
How to do Cat Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Start on all fours with the hands under the shoulders and the knees under the hips.
Exhale and draw the navel up towards the spine.
Tuck the tailbone under and round the back upward from the pelvis towards the head.
Push the floor away with both hands so the space between the shoulder blades widens.
Let the head hang last, then inhale back into Cow and continue alternating.
Hold: 8–12 rounds with Cow. Breath: Exhale into Cat.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Cat 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.
- Takes the spine into flexion, which is the counter-movement every backbend session needs.
- Trains the abdominal wall to move the spine rather than just brace it.
- Spreads the shoulder blades and lengthens the muscles across the upper back.
Cat Pose is one of 43 backbends in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that extend the spine and open the front of the body — chest, hip flexors and abdomen.
Who should skip Cat Pose, or change it
- Wrist injury — come onto the fists or forearms, or do the movement seated.
- Knee injury: always pad the shins.
- Disc injury, where spinal flexion under load can be provocative — keep the round small.
- Neck injury — let the head follow, do not tuck the chin hard.
- Late pregnancy: the movement is generally comfortable, but keep it small and unhurried.
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 Cat Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeRounding only the upper back while the pelvis stays tipped forward.
FixStart the movement by tucking the tailbone, then let the round travel up the spine.
MistakeRacing between Cat and Cow so nothing actually moves.
FixSlow to one full breath per shape and feel each segment change direction.
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 Cat Pose 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 Cat Pose?
Start on all fours with the hands under the shoulders and the knees under the hips. Exhale and draw the navel up towards the spine. Tuck the tailbone under and round the back upward from the pelvis towards the head. Push the floor away with both hands so the space between the shoulder blades widens. Let the head hang last, then inhale back into Cow and continue alternating. Hold for 8–12 rounds with cow.
What does Cat Pose work?
Primarily the abdominals, spinal erectors, with the rhomboids, shoulders, upper back assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: takes the spine into flexion, which is the counter-movement every backbend session needs.
Who should not do Cat Pose?
Wrist injury — come onto the fists or forearms, or do the movement seated. Knee injury: always pad the shins. Disc injury, where spinal flexion under load can be provocative — keep the round small. Neck injury — let the head follow, do not tuck the chin hard. Late pregnancy: the movement is generally comfortable, but keep it small and unhurried. 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 Cat Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Cat 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 Cat 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. Cat 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.
Related poses
More backbends — 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.