Supported Bridge Poseसालम्ब सेतुबन्धासन
Sālamba Setubandhāsana — a beginner restorative pose that works the chest, hip flexors.
3–8MINUTES HELD
One line on the timetable. Supported Bridge Pose is held 3–8 minutes, 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 Supported Bridge Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Lie on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat, hip-width apart and close to the hips.
Press into the feet, lift the hips a few inches and slide a block under the sacrum — the flat bony plate, not the lower back.
Start with the block on its lowest height and go higher only if that height is comfortable.
Lower the weight of the pelvis fully onto the block and let the arms rest out to the sides, palms up.
Either keep the feet flat or extend the legs long, then lift the hips to remove the block before lowering.
Hold: 3–8 minutes. 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 Supported Bridge 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.
- Holds the pelvis above the ribs on a solid prop so no muscle has to maintain the lift.
- Lengthens the front of the hips and the front of the chest passively.
- Provides a long supported hold with no muscular effort required once the block is in place.
Supported Bridge Pose is one of 21 restorative poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Supported, low-effort poses held long, where the point is to stop working rather than to work.
Who should skip Supported Bridge Pose, or change it
- Neck injury — the neck is loaded in flexion here; skip if there is any history of neck trouble.
- Pregnancy after the first trimester, where flat supine holds are usually swapped for a side-lying rest.
- Low back discomfort with the block high: drop to the lowest height or use a folded blanket instead.
- Reflux or breathlessness lying low, though the raised pelvis often makes this more comfortable than flat.
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 Bridge Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeBlock placed under the lumbar curve rather than the sacrum.
FixSlide it down until it sits under the flat bony plate at the base of the spine.
MistakeStarting on the tallest block setting.
FixBegin at the lowest height and stay there for several sessions.
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 Bridge Pose sits at code 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), 2 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 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
= 2.45 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 | 25 | 49 | 74 | 110 | 147 |
ஆதாரம்·2024 பெரியவர்களுக்கான உடற்செயல்பாடுகளின் தொகுப்பு·code 02170 · 2 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 Supported Bridge Pose?
Lie on your back with the knees bent and the feet flat, hip-width apart and close to the hips. Press into the feet, lift the hips a few inches and slide a block under the sacrum — the flat bony plate, not the lower back. Start with the block on its lowest height and go higher only if that height is comfortable. Lower the weight of the pelvis fully onto the block and let the arms rest out to the sides, palms up. Either keep the feet flat or extend the legs long, then lift the hips to remove the block before lowering. Hold for 3–8 minutes.
What does Supported Bridge Pose work?
Primarily the chest, hip flexors, with the spinal erectors, shoulders, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: holds the pelvis above the ribs on a solid prop so no muscle has to maintain the lift.
Who should not do Supported Bridge Pose?
Neck injury — the neck is loaded in flexion here; skip if there is any history of neck trouble. Pregnancy after the first trimester, where flat supine holds are usually swapped for a side-lying rest. Low back discomfort with the block high: drop to the lowest height or use a folded blanket instead. Reflux or breathlessness lying low, though the raised pelvis often makes this more comfortable than flat. 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 Bridge Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Supported Bridge Pose 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 Bridge 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. Supported Bridge Pose sits closest to Compendium code 02170, yoga, Nadisodhana (seated, quiet practice), at 2 MET — about 74 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 restorative poses on the wall
More restorative 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
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.
