Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose
विपरीत करणी
Viparīta Karaṇī — a beginner inversion that works the hamstrings.
How to do Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit sideways with one hip touching a wall and the knees bent.
Swing the legs up the wall as you lower the back to the floor, wriggling the hips close.
Slide a folded blanket under the pelvis if you want the hips slightly higher than the chest.
Let the arms rest wide and the legs stay soft — they do not need to be straight.
Stay for several minutes, then bend the knees, roll to one side and sit up slowly.
Hold: 5–10 minutes. Breath: Quiet, unforced breathing; let the exhale lengthen on its own.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Legs-Up-the-Wall 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.
- Reverses the usual direction of the legs with the whole spine supported by the floor.
- Lengthens the hamstrings passively with no effort from the legs.
- Holds the shape entirely on props, so nothing has to be held up for the duration.
Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — even a mild inversion changes head position.
- Neck injury: keep the neck neutral on the floor and use no pillow under the head that lifts the chin.
- Pregnancy — the flat-on-the-back position is often not comfortable after the first trimester; side-lying is a better choice.
- Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions then, which is a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, and any tingling in the legs — bend the knees or come down.
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 Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeForcing the sitting bones hard against the wall with tight hamstrings.
FixSlide the hips a hand's width away from the wall so the low back can rest.
MistakeStacking the pelvis so high on props that the neck takes the load.
FixLower the support until the throat feels soft and open.
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 Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose 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 Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose?
Sit sideways with one hip touching a wall and the knees bent. Swing the legs up the wall as you lower the back to the floor, wriggling the hips close. Slide a folded blanket under the pelvis if you want the hips slightly higher than the chest. Let the arms rest wide and the legs stay soft — they do not need to be straight. Stay for several minutes, then bend the knees, roll to one side and sit up slowly. Hold for 5–10 minutes.
What does Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose work?
Primarily the hamstrings, with the hip flexors, spinal erectors, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: reverses the usual direction of the legs with the whole spine supported by the floor.
Who should not do Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose?
Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — even a mild inversion changes head position. Neck injury: keep the neck neutral on the floor and use no pillow under the head that lifts the chin. Pregnancy — the flat-on-the-back position is often not comfortable after the first trimester; side-lying is a better choice. Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions then, which is a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, and any tingling in the legs — bend the knees or come down. 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 Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Legs-Up-the-Wall 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 Legs-Up-the-Wall 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. Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose 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.
Sequences that use Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose
Related poses
More inversions — 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.