Motionless Reclining Pose
निःस्पन्द भाव
Niḥspanda Bhāva — a beginner restorative pose that works the none — full release.
How to do Motionless Reclining Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Set a folded blanket or two against a wall and lie back with the shoulders on the blankets and the head resting on the floor or a thin pad.
Take the legs wide apart with the feet resting against the wall, or on the floor with the heels apart.
Rest the arms out at roughly forty-five degrees from the body, palms up.
Check that no joint is unsupported; add a blanket anywhere that feels like it is hanging.
Stay completely still and let the ears simply take in whatever sound is in the room.
Hold: 10–20 minutes. 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 Motionless Reclining 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.
- Positions every limb wide and propped so nothing has to be held in place.
- Uses a slight raise under the shoulders to keep the chest broad while lying back.
- Provides a very long supported hold with no muscular effort required and no instruction to follow.
Motionless Reclining Pose is one of 21 restorative poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Supported, low-effort poses held long, where the point is to stop working rather than to work.
Who should skip Motionless Reclining Pose, or change it
- Pregnancy after the first trimester — take a side-lying rest instead of a long flat-supine hold.
- Reflux or breathlessness lying flat: raise the whole upper body on a slant.
- Low back discomfort with the legs long — bend the knees over a bolster.
- Long stillness is uncomfortable for some people; a shorter hold is a legitimate version.
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 Motionless Reclining Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeAdding a breathing technique or a visualisation to fill the time.
FixThe whole practice is stillness; leave the breath and the mind alone.
MistakeLying flat with nothing under the shoulders so the chest sinks.
FixSlide a folded blanket under the shoulders and let the head rest lower.
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 Motionless Reclining Pose is mapped to the nearest published code — 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), 2 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 | 25 | 49 | 74 | 110 | 147 |
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 Motionless Reclining Pose?
Set a folded blanket or two against a wall and lie back with the shoulders on the blankets and the head resting on the floor or a thin pad. Take the legs wide apart with the feet resting against the wall, or on the floor with the heels apart. Rest the arms out at roughly forty-five degrees from the body, palms up. Check that no joint is unsupported; add a blanket anywhere that feels like it is hanging. Stay completely still and let the ears simply take in whatever sound is in the room. Hold for 10–20 minutes.
What does Motionless Reclining Pose work?
Primarily the none — full release, with the none — full release assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: positions every limb wide and propped so nothing has to be held in place.
Who should not do Motionless Reclining Pose?
Pregnancy after the first trimester — take a side-lying rest instead of a long flat-supine hold. Reflux or breathlessness lying flat: raise the whole upper body on a slant. Low back discomfort with the legs long — bend the knees over a bolster. Long stillness is uncomfortable for some people; a shorter hold is a legitimate version. 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 Motionless Reclining Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Motionless Reclining 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 Motionless Reclining 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. Motionless Reclining Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), at 2 MET — about 74 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 restorative poses — 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.