Goddess Pose
उत्कट कोणासन
Utkaṭa Koṇāsana — a beginner standing pose that works the quadriceps, glutes, hip adductors.
How to do Goddess Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Step the feet wide apart and turn both toes out around 45 degrees.
Bend both knees until the thighs move towards parallel with the floor, keeping the knees over the toes.
Keep the torso upright with the tailbone heavy rather than tucked hard.
Bring the arms into a goalpost shape at shoulder height, or hands to the chest.
Hold with slow breathing, then straighten the legs to come out.
Hold: 30–60 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 Goddess 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.
- Loads the quadriceps and glutes in an externally rotated squat.
- Stretches the inner thighs at the same time as strengthening them.
- Builds endurance in the shoulders when the arms are held up.
Goddess Pose is one of 18 standing poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses built on the feet, where the legs carry the work and the floor is the reference point.
Who should skip Goddess Pose, or change it
- Knee injury — reduce the depth.
- Hip or groin strain.
- Recent hip replacement, where deep external rotation may be restricted.
- Low back pain if the pelvis tips 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 Goddess Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeKnees falling inward.
FixPress the outer edges of the feet down and think of turning the thighs out.
MistakeRibs and pelvis flaring so the low back arches.
FixSoften the front ribs and lift the lower belly.
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 Goddess 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 Goddess Pose?
Step the feet wide apart and turn both toes out around 45 degrees. Bend both knees until the thighs move towards parallel with the floor, keeping the knees over the toes. Keep the torso upright with the tailbone heavy rather than tucked hard. Bring the arms into a goalpost shape at shoulder height, or hands to the chest. Hold with slow breathing, then straighten the legs to come out. Hold for 30–60 seconds.
What does Goddess Pose work?
Primarily the quadriceps, glutes, hip adductors, with the calves, shoulders, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads the quadriceps and glutes in an externally rotated squat.
Who should not do Goddess Pose?
Knee injury — reduce the depth. Hip or groin strain. Recent hip replacement, where deep external rotation may be restricted. Low back pain if the pelvis tips 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 Goddess Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Goddess 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 Goddess 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. Goddess 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.
Sequences that use Goddess Pose
Related poses
More standing 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.