Thread the Needle Pose
परिवृत्त बालासन
Parivṛtta Bālāsana — a beginner twist that works the obliques, rhomboids, spinal erectors.
How to do Thread the Needle Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Start on all fours with the knees under the hips and the hands under the shoulders.
Slide the right arm along the floor under the chest and out to the left, palm facing up.
Let the right shoulder and the side of the head rest on the mat or on a folded blanket.
Walk the left hand forward, or reach it overhead, and let the chest turn towards the left.
Breathe slowly for the hold, press back up, and repeat on the other side.
Hold: 60–90 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 Thread the Needle 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.
- Rotates the upper back with the pelvis supported on the knees, so the lumbar spine stays quiet.
- Stretches across the back of the threaded shoulder and between the shoulder blades.
- Gives a repeatable upper-back rotation that needs no strength to hold.
Thread the Needle Pose is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Thread the Needle Pose, or change it
- Pregnancy — comfortable for many, but widen the knees and keep the pressure off the belly.
- Disc injury: keep the rotation modest and stop at any arm or leg symptom.
- Sacroiliac irritation, which kneeling asymmetrically can provoke.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
- Shoulder injury on the threaded side, and neck pain if the head bears weight — prop it.
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 Thread the Needle Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeDumping the head onto the mat so the neck takes the load.
FixSupport the head and shoulder on a folded blanket so the weight sits on the shoulder.
MistakeHips sliding away from over the knees.
FixKeep the hips stacked above the knees so the twist stays in the upper back.
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 Thread the Needle 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 Thread the Needle Pose?
Start on all fours with the knees under the hips and the hands under the shoulders. Slide the right arm along the floor under the chest and out to the left, palm facing up. Let the right shoulder and the side of the head rest on the mat or on a folded blanket. Walk the left hand forward, or reach it overhead, and let the chest turn towards the left. Breathe slowly for the hold, press back up, and repeat on the other side. Hold for 60–90 seconds each side.
What does Thread the Needle Pose work?
Primarily the obliques, rhomboids, spinal erectors, with the shoulders, trapezius, chest assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: rotates the upper back with the pelvis supported on the knees, so the lumbar spine stays quiet.
Who should not do Thread the Needle Pose?
Pregnancy — comfortable for many, but widen the knees and keep the pressure off the belly. Disc injury: keep the rotation modest and stop at any arm or leg symptom. Sacroiliac irritation, which kneeling asymmetrically can provoke. Recent abdominal surgery. Shoulder injury on the threaded side, and neck pain if the head bears weight — prop it. 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 Thread the Needle Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Thread the Needle 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 Thread the Needle 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. Thread the Needle 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 Thread the Needle Pose
Related poses
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. 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.