Supported Seated Forward Bendसालम्ब पश्चिमोत्तानासन
Sālamba Paścimottānāsana — a beginner forward bend that works the hamstrings, spinal erectors, calves.
3–5MINUTES HELD
One line on the timetable. Supported Seated Forward Bend is held 3–5 minutes, breathing as follows: long, quiet breathing into the back ribs — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.
ਸਰੋਤ·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
How to do Supported Seated Forward Bend
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit on a folded blanket with the legs straight forward and place a bolster across the thighs.
Stack a second blanket or a block on the bolster so the support meets your forehead where it lands.
Inhale and lengthen the spine; exhale and fold from the hip crease onto the support.
Let the arms rest either side of the legs with the shoulders completely released.
Stay for several minutes, letting the breath move into the back of the ribs, then rise slowly.
Hold: 3–5 minutes. Breath: Long, quiet breathing into the back ribs.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Supported Seated Forward Bend 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 long, low-intensity hamstring stretch that muscle can release into rather than resist.
- Lengthens the back of the spine with the head fully supported so the neck can let go.
- Removes the need for muscular effort, which lets the hold run for minutes rather than seconds.
Supported Seated Forward Bend is one of 22 forward bends in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that fold the torso towards the legs, lengthening the whole back line of the body.
Who should skip Supported Seated Forward Bend, or change it
- Low back or disc injury — build the support high so the spine barely rounds.
- Hamstring tear.
- Later pregnancy: straddle the legs and place the bolster between them.
- Glaucoma or high blood pressure, where the head should not be far below the heart — raise the support.
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 Supported Seated Forward Bend
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeUsing support that is too low, so the pose becomes a strain instead of a rest.
FixKeep adding height until the forehead lands with no effort at all.
MistakeActively pulling deeper once settled.
FixSet the shape, then do nothing; the point of this version is that the muscles stop working.
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. Supported Seated Forward Bend sits at code 02150, ਯੋਗਾ, ਹਠ, 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 ਮਿੰਟ | 20 ਮਿੰਟ | 30 ਮਿੰਟ | 45 ਮਿੰਟ | 60 ਮਿੰਟ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
ਸਰੋਤ·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02150 · 2.5 MET · 70 kg reference adult·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Supported Seated Forward Bend?
Sit on a folded blanket with the legs straight forward and place a bolster across the thighs. Stack a second blanket or a block on the bolster so the support meets your forehead where it lands. Inhale and lengthen the spine; exhale and fold from the hip crease onto the support. Let the arms rest either side of the legs with the shoulders completely released. Stay for several minutes, letting the breath move into the back of the ribs, then rise slowly. Hold for 3–5 minutes.
What does Supported Seated Forward Bend work?
Primarily the hamstrings, spinal erectors, calves, with the lower back, glutes, neck assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: holds a long, low-intensity hamstring stretch that muscle can release into rather than resist.
Who should not do Supported Seated Forward Bend?
Low back or disc injury — build the support high so the spine barely rounds. Hamstring tear. Later pregnancy: straddle the legs and place the bolster between them. Glaucoma or high blood pressure, where the head should not be far below the heart — raise the support. 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 Supported Seated Forward Bend suitable for beginners?
Yes. Supported Seated Forward Bend 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 Supported Seated Forward Bend 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. Supported Seated Forward Bend 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.
The rest of the forward bends on the wall
More forward bends — 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 ਅਤੇ 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.
ਸਰੋਤ·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
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