Advanced Balance

Scales Poseतोलासन

Tolāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the shoulders, triceps, abdominals.

5–10BREATHS HELD

One line on the timetable. Scales Pose is held 5–10 breaths, 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

The arc draws over 25 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

SanskritतोलासनTolāsana

ஆங்கிலம்Scales Posealso called Balance Pose, Utpluthih

இந்திतोलासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyAdvancedbalance pose

Hold for5–10 breathsper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min147 kcal4 MET, 70 kg adult

Worksதோள்கள்plus 5 more muscle groups

Balance · 25 / 31

How to do Scales Pose

Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.

Sit in a comfortable full lotus with both knees resting low.
Place a block under each hand if the arms cannot clear the floor.
Set the palms on the mat just beside the hips, fingers pointing forward.
Press down through the whole hand, round the upper back slightly and lift the lotus off the floor.
Hold for a few breaths, lower with control, then rebuild the lotus the other way and repeat.

Hold: 5–10 breaths. 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.

தோள்கள்முதன்மை

tricepsமுதன்மை

abdominalsமுதன்மை

wristsஇரண்டாம் நிலை

serratus anteriorஇரண்டாம் நிலை

இடுப்பு மடக்கும் தசைகள்இரண்டாம் நிலை

What Scales 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.

Lifts a locked lotus straight up on the hands, so the arms and shoulders take everything.
Loads the abdominals to hold the folded legs up rather than letting them hang.
Puts a straight-down pressing load through both wrists.

Scales Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.

Who should skip Scales Pose, or change it

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
Knee injury — the pose depends on an easy full lotus.
Shoulder injury.
Recent abdominal surgery.

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 Scales Pose

What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".

MistakeShrugging the shoulders up to the ears to get height.

FixPress the hands down and reach the shoulders away from the ears instead.

MistakeLifting from a lotus that is already straining the knees.

FixUse a cross-legged version on blocks until the lotus is comfortable.

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. Scales Pose 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 whole method, including what it cannot tell you →

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.

Energy cost of a yoga, Power practice at 4 MET, for a 70 kg adult. Compendium 02175 · JUL 2026
Time practising	10 நிமிடம்	20 நிமிடம்	30 நிமிடம்	45 நிமிடம்	60 நிமிடம்
கலோரிகள்	49	98	147	221	294

ஆதாரம்·2024 பெரியவர்களுக்கான உடற்செயல்பாடுகளின் தொகுப்பு·code 02175 · 4 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 Scales Pose?

Sit in a comfortable full lotus with both knees resting low. Place a block under each hand if the arms cannot clear the floor. Set the palms on the mat just beside the hips, fingers pointing forward. Press down through the whole hand, round the upper back slightly and lift the lotus off the floor. Hold for a few breaths, lower with control, then rebuild the lotus the other way and repeat. Hold for 5–10 breaths.

What does Scales Pose work?

Primarily the shoulders, triceps, abdominals, with the wrists, serratus anterior, hip flexors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lifts a locked lotus straight up on the hands, so the arms and shoulders take everything.

Who should not do Scales Pose?

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Knee injury — the pose depends on an easy full lotus. Shoulder injury. Recent abdominal surgery. 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 Scales Pose suitable for beginners?

No. Scales Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate balance poses on this site and learn this one in person.

How many calories does Scales 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. Scales Pose 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 balance poses on the wall

More balance poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Tree Pose● Vṛkṣāsana Beginner · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose Utthita Hasta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Lord of the Dance Pose Naṭarājāsana Advanced · balance · 5–15 seconds Crane Pose Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–8 breaths Side Crane Pose Pārśva Bakāsana Advanced · balance · 3–6 breaths each side Warrior III Vīrabhadrāsana III Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Half Moon Pose Ardha Candrāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side Eagle Pose Garuḍāsana Intermediate · balance · 20–45 seconds each side

All 31 balance poses All advanced poses Desk work — neck, shoulders and hips Hips Neck and shoulders The full library

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.