Forearm Stand
पिञ्छ मयूरासन
Piñcha Mayūrāsana — an advanced inversion that works the shoulders, upper back, abdominals.
How to do Forearm Stand
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Set the forearms on the mat a wall's length away, elbows shoulder-width and directly under the shoulders.
Loop a strap around the upper arms at shoulder width so the elbows cannot splay.
Lift the hips into Dolphin and walk the feet in until the shoulders stack over the elbows.
Float one leg up and press through the standing foot to lift the second leg towards the wall.
Stack the ribs over the shoulders, hold, and lower one leg at a time with control.
Hold: 15–45 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 Forearm Stand 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.
- Holds the entire body weight on the forearms with the shoulders in full overhead flexion.
- Builds sustained shoulder and upper-back strength under a vertical load.
- Trains the trunk to resist arching, since the low back will otherwise take the whole line.
Forearm Stand is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Forearm Stand, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure.
- Neck or cervical spine injury — the head hangs unsupported and the neck works to hold it.
- Pregnancy — not a pose to take up in pregnancy; continuing an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor.
- Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions then; that is a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, shoulder impingement or elbow injury — and learn forearm stand with a qualified teacher spotting rather than from a page.
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 Forearm Stand
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeElbows sliding wide the moment the second leg lifts.
FixUse the strap and press the forearms out into it throughout the hold.
MistakeKicking hard and arching the back to find the wall.
FixWalk the feet in far closer first, then float up with the ribs already drawn in.
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 Forearm Stand 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 Forearm Stand?
Set the forearms on the mat a wall's length away, elbows shoulder-width and directly under the shoulders. Loop a strap around the upper arms at shoulder width so the elbows cannot splay. Lift the hips into Dolphin and walk the feet in until the shoulders stack over the elbows. Float one leg up and press through the standing foot to lift the second leg towards the wall. Stack the ribs over the shoulders, hold, and lower one leg at a time with control. Hold for 15–45 seconds.
What does Forearm Stand work?
Primarily the shoulders, upper back, abdominals, with the triceps, glutes, spinal erectors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: holds the entire body weight on the forearms with the shoulders in full overhead flexion.
Who should not do Forearm Stand?
Glaucoma or raised pressure in the eye, and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Neck or cervical spine injury — the head hangs unsupported and the neck works to hold it. Pregnancy — not a pose to take up in pregnancy; continuing an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor. Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions then; that is a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, shoulder impingement or elbow injury — and learn forearm stand with a qualified teacher spotting rather than from a page. 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 Forearm Stand suitable for beginners?
No. Forearm Stand is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate inversions poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Forearm Stand 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. Forearm Stand 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 inversions — 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.