Advanced Forward bends

Upward-Facing Forward Bendऊर्ध्व मुख पश्चिमोत्तानासन

Ūrdhva Mukha Paścimottānāsana — an advanced forward bend that works the hamstrings, abdominals, hip flexors.

20–40SECONDS HELD

One line on the timetable. Upward-Facing Forward Bend is held 20–40 seconds, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.

SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The arc draws over 20 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

Sanskritऊर्ध्व मुख पश्चिमोत्तानासनŪrdhva Mukha Paścimottānāsana

EnglishUpward-Facing Forward Bend

Hindiऊर्ध्व मुख पश्चिमोत्तानासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyAdvancedforward bend

Hold for20–40 secondsper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min147 kcal4 MET, 70 kg adult

Workshamstringsplus 5 more muscle groups

Forward bends · 14 / 22

How to do Upward-Facing Forward Bend

Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.

Lie on your back, bend the knees and take hold of the outer edges of both feet.
Rock up onto the sitting bones, or stay lying down and work the shape from there.
Straighten both legs upwards and draw the soles towards the face with the arms.
Lift the sternum towards the shins rather than pulling the head down to the knees.
Hold with steady breathing, then bend the knees and release.

Hold: 20–40 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.

hamstringsprimary

abdominalsprimary

hip flexorsprimary

spinal erectorssecondary

bicepssecondary

quadricepssecondary

What Upward-Facing Forward Bend 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 both hamstrings actively, with the arms pulling against a fully flexed hip.
Loads the abdominals to hold the trunk and legs together against gravity.
Requires the quadriceps to hold the knees straight through the full range of the pull.

Upward-Facing Forward Bend is one of 22 forward bends in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses that fold the torso towards the legs, lengthening the whole back line of the body.

Who should skip Upward-Facing Forward Bend, or change it

Hamstring tear — do not pull into it.
Low back or disc injury, since balancing on the sacrum loads the lumbar spine.
Recent abdominal surgery, hernia or diastasis recti.
Pregnancy, and neck injury if the head is pulled forward.

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 Upward-Facing Forward Bend

What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".

MistakePulling the head towards the shins and rounding the neck.

FixDraw the chest up instead and keep the head in line with the spine.

MistakeBouncing to find the balance point.

FixPractise the whole shape lying on the back first; the balance comes after the range.

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. Upward-Facing Forward Bend sits at code 02175, yoga, Power, 4 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
         = 4 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
         = 4.90 kcal per minute

The whole method, including what it cannot tell you →

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.

Energy cost of a yoga, Power practice at 4 MET, for a 70 kg adult. Compendium 02175 · JUL 2026
Time practising	10 min	20 min	30 min	45 min	60 min
Calories	49	98	147	221	294

SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02175 · 4 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 Upward-Facing Forward Bend?

Lie on your back, bend the knees and take hold of the outer edges of both feet. Rock up onto the sitting bones, or stay lying down and work the shape from there. Straighten both legs upwards and draw the soles towards the face with the arms. Lift the sternum towards the shins rather than pulling the head down to the knees. Hold with steady breathing, then bend the knees and release. Hold for 20–40 seconds.

What does Upward-Facing Forward Bend work?

Primarily the hamstrings, abdominals, hip flexors, with the spinal erectors, biceps, quadriceps assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens both hamstrings actively, with the arms pulling against a fully flexed hip.

Who should not do Upward-Facing Forward Bend?

Hamstring tear — do not pull into it. Low back or disc injury, since balancing on the sacrum loads the lumbar spine. Recent abdominal surgery, hernia or diastasis recti. Pregnancy, and neck injury if the head is pulled forward. 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 Upward-Facing Forward Bend suitable for beginners?

No. Upward-Facing Forward Bend is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate forward bends poses on this site and learn this one in person.

How many calories does Upward-Facing Forward Bend 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. Upward-Facing Forward Bend 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.

The rest of the forward bends on the wall

More forward bends — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Half Bound Lotus Forward Bend Ardha Baddha Padma Paścimottānāsana Advanced · forward bends · 30–60 seconds each side Tortoise Pose Kūrmāsana Advanced · forward bends · 30–60 seconds Sleeping Tortoise Pose Supta Kūrmāsana Advanced · forward bends · 20–45 seconds Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend Prasārita Pādottānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Intense Side Stretch Pose Pārśvottānāsana Intermediate · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Standing Forward Bend Uttānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Half Standing Forward Bend Ardha Uttānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 15–30 seconds

All 22 forward bends All advanced poses Posture and upright sitting Desk work — neck, shoulders and hips Hips The full library

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

The people behind these sites

Follow the build

This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.

Amit Sharma @amitsharmaofficial Instagram

Geeta Patel @geetapatelnz Instagram

Geeta Patel GeetaPatelYoga Facebook

Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.