Archer Poseआकर्ण धनुरासन
Ākarṇa Dhanurāsana — an intermediate seated pose that works the hip flexors, hamstrings, abdominals.
20–40SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Archer Pose 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.
ஆதாரம்·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 2026
How to do Archer Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit in Dandasana on a folded blanket with both legs straight and the feet flexed.
Hold the right big toe with the right hand and the left big toe with the left hand, bending the knees if needed.
Keep the left leg straight and pressing down into the floor.
Bend the right knee and draw the right foot up towards the right ear, elbow lifting high behind you.
Hold with the spine tall, lower the foot with control, 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 Archer 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.
- Takes one hip into deep flexion and external rotation while the other leg holds full extension.
- Loads the biceps and shoulder to draw the foot up against the resistance of the hip.
- Requires the abdominals and spinal erectors to keep the trunk upright through an asymmetric pull.
Archer Pose is one of 29 seated poses in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses taken on the floor, where the pelvis is the base and the spine works above it.
Who should skip Archer Pose, or change it
- Hamstring strain on the straight leg — bend that knee slightly or skip.
- Knee or groin injury on the drawn-up leg.
- Low back or disc injury, since the pull can round the lumbar spine.
- Shoulder injury on the lifting 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 Archer Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeLetting the straight leg drift sideways or bend as the other foot lifts.
FixPress the straight leg down and keep the kneecap facing the ceiling.
MistakeRounding the back to bring the foot closer to the ear.
FixSit higher on a blanket and take the foot only as far as a tall spine allows.
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. Archer Pose sits at code 02150, யோகா, ஹத, 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 நிமிடம் | 20 நிமிடம் | 30 நிமிடம் | 45 நிமிடம் | 60 நிமிடம் |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| கலோரிகள் | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
ஆதாரம்·2024 பெரியவர்களுக்கான உடற்செயல்பாடுகளின் தொகுப்பு·code 02150 · 2.5 MET · 70 kg reference adult·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Archer Pose?
Sit in Dandasana on a folded blanket with both legs straight and the feet flexed. Hold the right big toe with the right hand and the left big toe with the left hand, bending the knees if needed. Keep the left leg straight and pressing down into the floor. Bend the right knee and draw the right foot up towards the right ear, elbow lifting high behind you. Hold with the spine tall, lower the foot with control, and change sides. Hold for 20–40 seconds each side.
What does Archer Pose work?
Primarily the hip flexors, hamstrings, abdominals, with the biceps, spinal erectors, hip adductors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: takes one hip into deep flexion and external rotation while the other leg holds full extension.
Who should not do Archer Pose?
Hamstring strain on the straight leg — bend that knee slightly or skip. Knee or groin injury on the drawn-up leg. Low back or disc injury, since the pull can round the lumbar spine. Shoulder injury on the lifting 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 Archer Pose suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Archer Pose is rated intermediate here: it assumes a working base of strength and range, and a teacher who has watched you move. Build up through the seated poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Archer 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. Archer Pose 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 seated poses on the wall
More seated poses — 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 மற்றும் 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.
ஆதாரம்·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·மறுபரிசீலனை ஜூலை 2026
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