Marichi's Pose Cमरीच्यासन तृतीय
Marīcyāsana C — an advanced twist that works the obliques, spinal erectors, shoulders.
20–40SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Marichi's Pose C is held 20–40 seconds 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
How to do Marichi's Pose C
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit with the left leg extended forward, foot flexed and toes pointing up.
Bend the right knee and stand the right foot on the floor beside the right sitting bone.
Turn the trunk to the right and hook the left elbow across the outside of the right thigh.
Press elbow and thigh into each other, bring the right hand to the floor behind you, and lift the chest.
Rotate a little further on each exhale, hold, then unwind and change sides.
Hold: 20–40 seconds 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.
What Marichi's Pose C 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.
- Produces a strong thoracic rotation with the bent thigh acting as a fixed lever.
- Anchors the pelvis through the extended leg so the turn stays in the spine.
- Loads the obliques hard against the resistance of the arm and thigh.
Marichi's Pose C is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Marichi's Pose C, or change it
- Pregnancy — a closed twist against the thigh is not appropriate.
- Disc injury, spinal fusion or nerve pain down a leg.
- Sacroiliac irritation, which the elbow leverage can spike.
- Recent abdominal surgery or hernia repair.
- Shoulder injury on the hooking arm.
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 Marichi's Pose C
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeCranking with the elbow while the ribs never actually turn.
FixRotate the sternum first, then place the elbow where the twist has already reached.
MistakeThe extended leg rolling outward as the trunk turns.
FixKeep that foot flexed with the toes vertical and the thigh muscle firm.
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. Marichi's Pose C 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 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.
| 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 Marichi's Pose C?
Sit with the left leg extended forward, foot flexed and toes pointing up. Bend the right knee and stand the right foot on the floor beside the right sitting bone. Turn the trunk to the right and hook the left elbow across the outside of the right thigh. Press elbow and thigh into each other, bring the right hand to the floor behind you, and lift the chest. Rotate a little further on each exhale, hold, then unwind and change sides. Hold for 20–40 seconds each side.
What does Marichi's Pose C work?
Primarily the obliques, spinal erectors, shoulders, with the glutes, abdominals, chest assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: produces a strong thoracic rotation with the bent thigh acting as a fixed lever.
Who should not do Marichi's Pose C?
Pregnancy — a closed twist against the thigh is not appropriate. Disc injury, spinal fusion or nerve pain down a leg. Sacroiliac irritation, which the elbow leverage can spike. Recent abdominal surgery or hernia repair. Shoulder injury on the hooking arm. 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 Marichi's Pose C suitable for beginners?
No. Marichi's Pose C is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate twists poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Marichi's Pose C 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. Marichi's Pose C 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 twists on the wall
More twists — 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 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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