Lion Pose
सिंहासन
Siṃhāsana — a beginner seated pose that works the neck, quadriceps, spinal erectors.
How to do Lion Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Kneel in Vajrasana or sit cross-legged with the spine tall.
Place the palms on the knees or the floor in front and spread the fingers wide.
Inhale through the nose while lifting the chest and lengthening the spine.
Exhale forcefully through the mouth, stick the tongue out and down, and open the eyes wide.
Close the mouth, breathe normally for a round, and repeat four to six times.
Hold: 4–6 rounds. Breath: Sharp exhale through the mouth, quiet inhale through the nose.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Lion 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.
- Works the muscles of the face, jaw and front of the throat, which almost nothing else in a practice does.
- Produces a strong, complete exhale that empties the lungs further than a normal breath out.
- Holds the spine in extension with the chest broad throughout each round.
Lion Pose is one of 29 seated poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses taken on the floor, where the pelvis is the base and the spine works above it.
Who should skip Lion Pose, or change it
- Jaw injury or temporomandibular joint pain — keep the mouth only slightly open.
- Neck injury: keep the head level rather than tipping it back.
- Knee injury if kneeling — sit cross-legged or on a chair instead.
- Glaucoma or recent eye surgery, where the wide-eye action is best left out.
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 Lion Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeTipping the head back hard on the exhale.
FixKeep the chin roughly level and let the gaze do the reaching.
MistakeStraining the throat to make noise.
FixThe sound is a by-product of a long exhale, not a target.
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 Lion 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 Lion Pose?
Kneel in Vajrasana or sit cross-legged with the spine tall. Place the palms on the knees or the floor in front and spread the fingers wide. Inhale through the nose while lifting the chest and lengthening the spine. Exhale forcefully through the mouth, stick the tongue out and down, and open the eyes wide. Close the mouth, breathe normally for a round, and repeat four to six times. Hold for 4–6 rounds.
What does Lion Pose work?
Primarily the neck, quadriceps, spinal erectors, with the chest, shoulders, ankles assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: works the muscles of the face, jaw and front of the throat, which almost nothing else in a practice does.
Who should not do Lion Pose?
Jaw injury or temporomandibular joint pain — keep the mouth only slightly open. Neck injury: keep the head level rather than tipping it back. Knee injury if kneeling — sit cross-legged or on a chair instead. Glaucoma or recent eye surgery, where the wide-eye action is best left out. 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 Lion Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Lion 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 Lion 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. Lion 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 seated 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.