Gate Pose
परिघासन
Parighāsana — a beginner standing pose that works the obliques, hip adductors, intercostals.
How to do Gate Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Kneel on the mat with a folded blanket under the knees.
Extend the right leg out to the side with the foot flat and the toes turned slightly forward.
Rest the right hand lightly on the right leg and reach the left arm overhead.
Side bend to the right, keeping both sides of the waist long and the chest open.
Hold, come up on an inhale, and change sides.
Hold: 30–60 seconds. 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 Gate 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.
- Lengthens the side body from the hip to the fingertips in a stable kneeling base.
- Stretches the inner thigh of the extended leg.
- Opens the ribcage on the top side, which deepens the breath into the upper ribs.
Gate Pose is one of 18 standing poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses built on the feet, where the legs carry the work and the floor is the reference point.
Who should skip Gate Pose, or change it
- Knee injury on the kneeling side — pad well or skip.
- Recent groin strain.
- Shoulder injury on the lifted arm.
- Ankle problems on the kneeling foot.
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 Gate Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeCollapsing the bottom ribs towards the extended leg.
FixLift out of the bottom waist first, then bend.
MistakeChest rotating towards the floor.
FixTurn the top shoulder back and keep the collarbones broad.
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 Gate 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 Gate Pose?
Kneel on the mat with a folded blanket under the knees. Extend the right leg out to the side with the foot flat and the toes turned slightly forward. Rest the right hand lightly on the right leg and reach the left arm overhead. Side bend to the right, keeping both sides of the waist long and the chest open. Hold, come up on an inhale, and change sides. Hold for 30–60 seconds.
What does Gate Pose work?
Primarily the obliques, hip adductors, intercostals, with the latissimus dorsi, shoulders, hamstrings assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the side body from the hip to the fingertips in a stable kneeling base.
Who should not do Gate Pose?
Knee injury on the kneeling side — pad well or skip. Recent groin strain. Shoulder injury on the lifted arm. Ankle problems on the kneeling foot. 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 Gate Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Gate 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 Gate 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. Gate 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.
Sequences that use Gate Pose
Related poses
More standing 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.