Bharadvaja's Twist Iभरद्वाजासन प्रथम
Bharadvājāsana I — a beginner twist that works the obliques, spinal erectors.
30–60SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Bharadvaja's Twist I is held 30–60 seconds each side, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.
स्रोत·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
How to do Bharadvaja's Twist I
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit with both legs forward, then swing both shins to the left so the feet rest beside the left hip.
Slide a folded blanket under the right buttock so both sitting bones carry weight.
Turn the trunk to the right, placing the left hand on the outer right thigh and the right hand behind you.
Grow taller on the inhale and turn from the ribs on the exhale.
Look over the right shoulder only if the neck is easy, hold, then swap the legs and repeat.
Hold: 30–60 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 Bharadvaja's Twist I 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.
- Rotates the spine from a gentle side-sitting base that most people can hold without strain.
- Stretches the outer hip on the side the legs swing away from.
- Trains the ribcage to turn while the shoulders stay level.
Bharadvaja's Twist I is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Bharadvaja's Twist I, or change it
- Pregnancy — take the turn open, towards the side the legs point, rather than closed.
- Disc injury: keep the rotation small and stop at the first hint of leg symptoms.
- Sacroiliac irritation, which asymmetric sitting can provoke — prop the lifted hip well.
- अलीकडे झालेली पोटाची शस्त्रक्रिया.
- Knee or ankle pain in the folded legs — pad generously.
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 Bharadvaja's Twist I
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeLetting one sitting bone float so the pelvis tilts.
FixProp under the lighter hip until both sides press down evenly.
MistakePushing the twist with the back hand and hitching that shoulder up.
FixKeep both shoulders level and let the hand rest, not shove.
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. Bharadvaja's Twist I sits at code 02150, योग, हठ, 2.5 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
= 2.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
= 3.06 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 मिनिटे | 20 मिनिटे | 30 मिनिटे | 45 मिनिटे | 60 मिनिटे |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02150 · 2.5 MET · 70 kg reference adult·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Bharadvaja's Twist I?
Sit with both legs forward, then swing both shins to the left so the feet rest beside the left hip. Slide a folded blanket under the right buttock so both sitting bones carry weight. Turn the trunk to the right, placing the left hand on the outer right thigh and the right hand behind you. Grow taller on the inhale and turn from the ribs on the exhale. Look over the right shoulder only if the neck is easy, hold, then swap the legs and repeat. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Bharadvaja's Twist I work?
Primarily the obliques, spinal erectors, with the shoulders, glutes, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: rotates the spine from a gentle side-sitting base that most people can hold without strain.
Who should not do Bharadvaja's Twist I?
Pregnancy — take the turn open, towards the side the legs point, rather than closed. Disc injury: keep the rotation small and stop at the first hint of leg symptoms. Sacroiliac irritation, which asymmetric sitting can provoke — prop the lifted hip well. Recent abdominal surgery. Knee or ankle pain in the folded legs — pad generously. 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 Bharadvaja's Twist I suitable for beginners?
Yes. Bharadvaja's Twist I 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 Bharadvaja's Twist I 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. Bharadvaja's Twist I 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.
भिंतीवरील उरलेली पिळण्याची आसने
आणखी पिळण्याची आसने — आधी त्याच स्तरावरील, मग उरलेल्या गटातील.
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 आणि 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.
स्रोत·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
The people behind these sites
Follow the build
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.
Amit Sharma
@amitsharmaofficial
Instagram
Geeta Patel
@geetapatelnz
Instagram
Geeta Patel
GeetaPatelYoga
Facebook
Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.
