Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose
सुप्त पादांगुष्ठासन
Supta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana — a beginner restorative pose that works the hamstrings, calves.
How to do Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Lie on your back with both legs long and a folded blanket under the head.
Bend the right knee to the chest and loop a strap around the ball of the right foot, holding it in both hands.
Straighten the right leg upward, keeping the elbows heavy on the floor rather than pulling hard.
Press the left thigh down towards the mat, or keep that knee bent with the foot flat if the back lifts.
Hold quietly, lower the leg, and change sides.
Hold: 1–3 minutes 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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe 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.
- Lengthens the hamstring with the whole spine supported by the floor.
- Uses a strap so the arms are not pulling the torso off the mat.
- Lengthens the calf when the foot is flexed against the strap.
Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe 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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose, or change it
- Hamstring tear — keep the knee softly bent and the stretch mild.
- Low back pain, which usually eases if the bottom knee is bent with the foot flat.
- Pregnancy after the first trimester: prop the whole upper body up on a slant rather than lying flat.
- Sacroiliac irritation when the leg is taken out to the side.
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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeHauling on the strap until the shoulders lift off the floor.
FixLengthen the strap, lower the leg, and let the elbows rest down.
MistakeBottom leg rolling out and the hip lifting.
FixKeep the bottom kneecap pointing at the ceiling and the hip heavy on the mat.
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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose is mapped to the nearest published code — 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), 2 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 | 25 | 49 | 74 | 110 | 147 |
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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose?
Lie on your back with both legs long and a folded blanket under the head. Bend the right knee to the chest and loop a strap around the ball of the right foot, holding it in both hands. Straighten the right leg upward, keeping the elbows heavy on the floor rather than pulling hard. Press the left thigh down towards the mat, or keep that knee bent with the foot flat if the back lifts. Hold quietly, lower the leg, and change sides. Hold for 1–3 minutes each side.
What does Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose work?
Primarily the hamstrings, calves, with the hip flexors, hip adductors, glutes assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the hamstring with the whole spine supported by the floor.
Who should not do Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose?
Hamstring tear — keep the knee softly bent and the stretch mild. Low back pain, which usually eases if the bottom knee is bent with the foot flat. Pregnancy after the first trimester: prop the whole upper body up on a slant rather than lying flat. Sacroiliac irritation when the leg is taken out to the side. 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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe 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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe 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. Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe 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 Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose
Related poses
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. 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.