Easy Bow Pose
सरल धनुरासन
Sarala Dhanurāsana — a beginner backbend that works the quadriceps, spinal erectors, chest.
How to do Easy Bow Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Lie face down and bend both knees so the heels come towards the buttocks.
Loop a strap around both ankles and hold one end in each hand, or hold the ankles if they reach easily.
Rest the forehead down and take one settling breath.
Press the shins back into the strap and let that pressure lift the chest a little way off the mat.
Keep the thighs on the floor throughout, hold, then release the legs down slowly.
Hold: 15–30 seconds, 2 rounds. 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 Easy Bow 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.
- Introduces the bow shape with the thighs still supported, so the lower back carries much less load.
- Stretches the quadriceps and the front of the hips with the knees bent.
- Opens the chest through the pull of the arms rather than the strength of the back.
Easy Bow Pose is one of 43 backbends in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that extend the spine and open the front of the body — chest, hip flexors and abdomen.
Who should skip Easy Bow Pose, or change it
- Pregnancy from the second trimester — prone poses are not suitable.
- Knee injury: use a wide strap and do not force the heels towards the buttocks.
- Disc injury or spondylolisthesis, where even a small lift may not be advised — take Sphinx instead.
- Shoulder injury on the reaching arms.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
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 Easy Bow Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakePulling with the arms to hoist the chest up.
FixKeep the arms long and let the shins do the pressing; the arms are only a rope.
MistakeLetting the whole arch sit in one spot at the waist.
FixLengthen the tailbone towards the heels and lift the sternum forward so the curve spreads upward.
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 Easy Bow 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 Easy Bow Pose?
Lie face down and bend both knees so the heels come towards the buttocks. Loop a strap around both ankles and hold one end in each hand, or hold the ankles if they reach easily. Rest the forehead down and take one settling breath. Press the shins back into the strap and let that pressure lift the chest a little way off the mat. Keep the thighs on the floor throughout, hold, then release the legs down slowly. Hold for 15–30 seconds, 2 rounds.
What does Easy Bow Pose work?
Primarily the quadriceps, spinal erectors, chest, with the glutes, shoulders, hip flexors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: introduces the bow shape with the thighs still supported, so the lower back carries much less load.
Who should not do Easy Bow Pose?
Pregnancy from the second trimester — prone poses are not suitable. Knee injury: use a wide strap and do not force the heels towards the buttocks. Disc injury or spondylolisthesis, where even a small lift may not be advised — take Sphinx instead. Shoulder injury on the reaching arms. Recent abdominal surgery. 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 Easy Bow Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Easy Bow 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 Easy Bow 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. Easy Bow 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.
Related poses
More backbends — 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.