Advanced Balance

Lord of the Dance Poseनटराजासन

Naṭarājāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the quadriceps, hip flexors, spinal erectors.

5–15SECONDS HELD

One line on the timetable. Lord of the Dance Pose is held 5–15 seconds, with the breath moving throughout — and it takes its place inside one of the practices posted on this site.

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

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

SanskritनटराजासनNaṭarājāsana

EnglishLord of the Dance Posealso called Dancer Pose

HindiनटराजासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyAdvancedbalance pose

Hold for5–15 secondsper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min147 kcal4 MET, 70 kg adult

Worksquadricepsplus 5 more muscle groups

Balance · 05 / 31

How to do Lord of the Dance Pose

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

Stand tall and shift your weight onto the left foot.
Bend the right knee and take hold of the inner right ankle or foot behind you.
Press the lifted foot back into the hand while reaching the opposite arm forward.
Hinge the torso slightly forward as the lifted thigh rises behind you.
Hold with a steady gaze, come out slowly, and change sides.

Hold: 5–15 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.

quadricepsprimary

hip flexorsprimary

spinal erectorsprimary

shoulderssecondary

chestsecondary

gluteus mediussecondary

What Lord of the Dance 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.

Stretches the hip flexors and quadriceps of the lifted leg under active tension.
Extends the thoracic spine while balancing on one foot.
Trains the standing ankle and outer hip through a moving backbend.

Lord of the Dance Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.

Who should skip Lord of the Dance Pose, or change it

Low back injury — this is a backbend on one leg.
Knee injury on the lifted leg.
Balance loss or vertigo: use a wall for the front hand.
Shoulder injury if reaching overhead for the foot.

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 Lord of the Dance Pose

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

MistakeLifted hip rolling open so the low back takes the whole bend.

FixLevel the hips and lift less; the chest reaches forward as the leg goes back.

MistakeGrabbing the foot from overhead too early.

FixHold the ankle from the inside first, for months if needed.

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. Lord of the Dance Pose 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 Lord of the Dance Pose?

Stand tall and shift your weight onto the left foot. Bend the right knee and take hold of the inner right ankle or foot behind you. Press the lifted foot back into the hand while reaching the opposite arm forward. Hinge the torso slightly forward as the lifted thigh rises behind you. Hold with a steady gaze, come out slowly, and change sides. Hold for 5–15 seconds.

What does Lord of the Dance Pose work?

Primarily the quadriceps, hip flexors, spinal erectors, with the shoulders, chest, gluteus medius assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: stretches the hip flexors and quadriceps of the lifted leg under active tension.

Who should not do Lord of the Dance Pose?

Low back injury — this is a backbend on one leg. Knee injury on the lifted leg. Balance loss or vertigo: use a wall for the front hand. Shoulder injury if reaching overhead for the foot. 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 Lord of the Dance Pose suitable for beginners?

No. Lord of the Dance Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate balance poses on this site and learn this one in person.

How many calories does Lord of the Dance 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. Lord of the Dance 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 Lord of the Dance Pose

Balance9 poses · about 20 minutes

The rest of the balance poses on the wall

More balance poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Tree Pose● Vṛkṣāsana Beginner · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose Utthita Hasta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Crane Pose Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–8 breaths Side Crane Pose Pārśva Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–6 breaths each side Shoulder-Pressing Pose Bhujapīḍāsana Advanced · balance · 3–6 breaths Warrior III Vīrabhadrāsana III Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Half Moon Pose Ardha Candrāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Eagle Pose Garuḍāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side

All 31 balance poses 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

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