Advanced Balance

One-Legged Sage Pose IIएक पाद कौण्डिन्यासन द्वितीय

Eka Pāda Kauṇḍinyāsana II — an advanced balance pose that works the triceps, shoulders, abdominals.

3–5BREATHS HELD · EACH SIDE

One line on the timetable. One-Legged Sage Pose II is held 3–5 breaths each side, 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 15 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

Sanskritएक पाद कौण्डिन्यासन द्वितीयEka Pāda Kauṇḍinyāsana II

EnglishOne-Legged Sage Pose II

Hindiएक पाद कौण्डिन्यासन द्वितीयHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyAdvancedbalance pose

Hold for3–5 breaths each sideper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min147 kcal4 MET, 70 kg adult

Workstricepsplus 5 more muscle groups

Balance · 18 / 31

How to do One-Legged Sage Pose II

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

From a low lunge, work the front shoulder underneath the front thigh so the thigh sits high on the upper arm.
Plant both hands shoulder-width apart with a folded blanket set out in front of them.
Bend both elbows towards a low plank and lean the chest forward past the wrists.
Lift the back foot and reach the back leg straight behind you.
Extend the front leg forward alongside the arm, hold, then lower and change sides.

Hold: 3–5 breaths each side. 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.

tricepsprimary

shouldersprimary

abdominalsprimary

hip adductorssecondary

wristssecondary

hamstringssecondary

What One-Legged Sage Pose II 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.

Holds a wide front-to-back leg split with the whole weight on two bent arms.
Loads the front shoulder deeply, since the thigh rests directly on it.
Requires the abdominals to keep both legs from sinking towards the floor.

One-Legged Sage Pose II 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 One-Legged Sage Pose II, or change it

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Shoulder injury — the front shoulder carries a thigh on top of body weight.
Groin or hamstring strain, which the split demands.
Pregnancy and recent abdominal surgery.
Set a folded blanket in front of the hands; the head is low and a tip forward lands on the face.

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 One-Legged Sage Pose II

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

MistakeFront thigh slipping down towards the elbow.

FixWalk the shoulder further under the thigh before taking any weight.

MistakeChest staying upright so the feet never lighten.

FixBend the elbows and move the shoulders forward of the wrists; height comes from the lean.

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. One-Legged Sage Pose II 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 One-Legged Sage Pose II?

From a low lunge, work the front shoulder underneath the front thigh so the thigh sits high on the upper arm. Plant both hands shoulder-width apart with a folded blanket set out in front of them. Bend both elbows towards a low plank and lean the chest forward past the wrists. Lift the back foot and reach the back leg straight behind you. Extend the front leg forward alongside the arm, hold, then lower and change sides. Hold for 3–5 breaths each side.

What does One-Legged Sage Pose II work?

Primarily the triceps, shoulders, abdominals, with the hip adductors, wrists, hamstrings assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: holds a wide front-to-back leg split with the whole weight on two bent arms.

Who should not do One-Legged Sage Pose II?

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Shoulder injury — the front shoulder carries a thigh on top of body weight. Groin or hamstring strain, which the split demands. Pregnancy and recent abdominal surgery. Set a folded blanket in front of the hands; the head is low and a tip forward lands on the face. 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 One-Legged Sage Pose II suitable for beginners?

No. One-Legged Sage Pose II 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 One-Legged Sage Pose II 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. One-Legged Sage Pose II 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 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 അഡ്വാൻസ്ഡ് · ബാലൻസ് · 5–15 സെക്കൻഡ് Lord of the Dance Pose Naṭarājāsana അഡ്വാൻസ്ഡ് · ബാലൻസ് · 5–15 സെക്കൻഡ് Crane Pose Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–8 breaths Side Crane Pose Pārśva Bakāsana അഡ്വാൻസ്ഡ് · ബാലൻസ് · ഓരോ വശത്തും 3–6 ശ്വാസം 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 Hips Neck and shoulders Core and trunk 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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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.

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