Side Crane Pose
पार्श्व बकासन
Pārśva Bakāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the obliques, shoulders, triceps.
How to do Side Crane Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Set a folded blanket ahead of your hands before starting.
Squat with the feet together and twist the ribcage strongly to the right.
Place both hands on the mat to the right, shoulder-width apart, and rest the outer left thigh across the right upper arm.
Bend both elbows straight back and lean the chest forward until the feet lighten.
Lift both feet, extend them away from the hands, hold, then lower and change sides.
Hold: 3–6 breaths 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 Side Crane 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.
- Loads both arms unevenly while the obliques hold a strong rotation.
- Puts the outer thigh onto one arm so the weight is shared asymmetrically, which is harder than crow.
- Requires the abdominal wall to hold both legs off the floor from the side.
Side Crane Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Side Crane Pose, or change it
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Shoulder injury on either side.
- Pregnancy — a closed twist with the thighs pressed to the belly is unsuitable.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
- Falling sideways or forwards onto the face is the real risk; place a folded blanket in front of the hands.
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 Side Crane Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakePlacing only the knee on the arm so it slides straight off.
FixSet the outer thigh, not the knee, well across the upper arm.
MistakeRushing the feet up before the twist is complete.
FixDeepen the rotation on the ground first — the balance follows the twist.
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 Side Crane Pose is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 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 | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
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 Side Crane Pose?
Set a folded blanket ahead of your hands before starting. Squat with the feet together and twist the ribcage strongly to the right. Place both hands on the mat to the right, shoulder-width apart, and rest the outer left thigh across the right upper arm. Bend both elbows straight back and lean the chest forward until the feet lighten. Lift both feet, extend them away from the hands, hold, then lower and change sides. Hold for 3–6 breaths each side.
What does Side Crane Pose work?
Primarily the obliques, shoulders, triceps, with the abdominals, wrists, hip flexors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads both arms unevenly while the obliques hold a strong rotation.
Who should not do Side Crane Pose?
Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Shoulder injury on either side. Pregnancy — a closed twist with the thighs pressed to the belly is unsuitable. Recent abdominal surgery. Falling sideways or forwards onto the face is the real risk; place a folded blanket in front of the hands. 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 Side Crane Pose suitable for beginners?
No. Side Crane Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate balance poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Side Crane 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. Side Crane Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02175, yoga, Power, at 4 MET — about 147 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 balance 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.