Relaxed Staff Poseशिथिल दण्डासन
Śithila Daṇḍāsana — a beginner restorative pose that works the hamstrings, calves.
5–15MINUTES HELD
One line on the timetable. Relaxed Staff Pose is held 5–15 minutes, with the breath moving throughout — and it takes its place inside one of the practices posted on this site.
SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How to do Relaxed Staff Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Lie on your back and place a bolster or a firmly rolled blanket under both calves, close to the knees.
Let the heels hang just past the far edge of the bolster so nothing presses into the Achilles.
Slide a thin folded blanket under the head so the chin is level with the forehead.
Let the feet fall out to the sides and rest the arms wide, palms up.
Stay for the whole hold and let the legs be completely heavy on the prop.
Hold: 5–15 minutes. 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 Relaxed Staff 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.
- Supports the legs from below so the hip flexors and thighs have nothing to hold.
- Keeps a soft bend at the knees, which lets the lower back settle towards the floor.
- Provides a long supported hold in a position most people can take without any mobility at all.
Relaxed Staff Pose is one of 21 restorative poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Supported, low-effort poses held long, where the point is to stop working rather than to work.
Who should skip Relaxed Staff Pose, or change it
- Pregnancy after the first trimester — swap to a side-lying rest.
- Reflux or breathlessness lying flat, where a propped incline is more comfortable.
- Calf tenderness or a known clot risk in the legs, where firm pressure under the calves is not appropriate.
- Low back discomfort: move the bolster higher so the knees bend more.
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 Relaxed Staff Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeBolster placed under the ankles so the knees lock straight.
FixMove it up under the calves near the knees so the legs have a soft bend.
MistakeHeels pressing hard into the prop.
FixLet the heels overhang the far edge so nothing digs in.
How the energy figure on a yoga timetable is reached
- Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart, so no per-pose figure is published here — not by this site and not by anyone.
- The pose is matched to the nearest style of practice in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Relaxed Staff Pose sits at code 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), 2 MET.
- That MET value is put through the standard ACSM relationship for a stated reference adult of 70 kg.
- The result is the cost of a practice of that kind for as long as you practise — not the cost of holding this one shape.
- Scale it to yourself: the relationship is linear in body mass, so multiply by your own weight in kilograms and divide by 70.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200
= 2 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
= 2.45 kcal per minute
The same practice, hour by hour
Read it the way you would read a timetable: pick the length of session you actually sit down for, and that is the figure.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 25 | 49 | 74 | 110 | 147 |
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02170 · 2 MET · 70 kg reference adult·REVIEWED JUL 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Relaxed Staff Pose?
Lie on your back and place a bolster or a firmly rolled blanket under both calves, close to the knees. Let the heels hang just past the far edge of the bolster so nothing presses into the Achilles. Slide a thin folded blanket under the head so the chin is level with the forehead. Let the feet fall out to the sides and rest the arms wide, palms up. Stay for the whole hold and let the legs be completely heavy on the prop. Hold for 5–15 minutes.
What does Relaxed Staff Pose work?
Primarily the hamstrings, calves, with the lower back, glutes, neck assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: supports the legs from below so the hip flexors and thighs have nothing to hold.
Who should not do Relaxed Staff Pose?
Pregnancy after the first trimester — swap to a side-lying rest. Reflux or breathlessness lying flat, where a propped incline is more comfortable. Calf tenderness or a known clot risk in the legs, where firm pressure under the calves is not appropriate. Low back discomfort: move the bolster higher so the knees bend more. 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 Relaxed Staff Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Relaxed Staff 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 Relaxed Staff 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. Relaxed Staff Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), at 2 MET — about 74 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 Relaxed Staff Pose
The rest of the restorative poses on the wall
More restorative 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 and what it is written from. 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.
SOURCE·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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