Upward-Facing Forward Bend
ऊर्ध्व मुख पश्चिमोत्तानासन
Ūrdhva Mukha Paścimottānāsana — an advanced forward bend that works the hamstrings, abdominals, hip flexors.
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.
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.
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 Upward-Facing Forward Bend is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 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 | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
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 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.
Related poses
More forward bends — 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.