Upward Bow Poseऊर्ध्व धनुरासन
Ūrdhva Dhanurāsana — an advanced backbend that works the glutes, quadriceps, shoulders.
10–20SECONDS HELD
One line on the timetable. Upward Bow Pose is held 10–20 seconds, 2–3 rounds, 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 Upward Bow 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, feet flat and hip-width apart, heels near the buttocks.
Place the hands beside the ears with the fingers pointing towards the shoulders and the elbows narrow.
Press into the hands and feet and lift onto the crown of the head, pausing to check the elbows are still parallel.
Press up fully, straightening the arms as much as the shoulders allow and lifting the chest towards the hands.
Walk the feet slightly in, hold, then tuck the chin and lower down through the crown to the shoulders.
Hold: 10–20 seconds, 2–3 rounds. 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 Upward Bow 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.
- Extends the whole spine while the arms and legs press the body clear of the floor.
- Loads the shoulders through overhead extension under bodyweight.
- Stretches the hip flexors and abdominal wall to their full range while the glutes work.
Upward Bow Pose is one of 43 backbends in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses that extend the spine and open the front of the body — chest, hip flexors and abdomen.
Who should skip Upward Bow Pose, or change it
- Disc injury, spondylolisthesis or spinal fusion — take supported Bridge instead.
- Shoulder impingement or a rotator cuff tear, since the arms are loaded at end-range overhead.
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome — the wrists take a large share of the weight.
- High blood pressure or glaucoma, given the sustained inverted head position.
- Pregnancy from the second trimester onward.
- Neck injury: never rest or push from the head on the way up or down.
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 Upward Bow Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeElbows splaying out to the sides so the shoulders cannot open and the lumbar spine takes the whole arch.
FixLoop a strap around the upper arms at shoulder width and press out against it as you lift.
MistakeFeet turning out and knees falling wide, which grinds the low back.
FixKeep the feet parallel and press the inner edges down, drawing the thighs slightly inward.
MistakeStraightening the arms but leaving the chest behind the hands.
FixShift the shoulders forward over the wrists and press the chest towards the wall behind you.
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. Upward Bow 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 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 | 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 Upward Bow Pose?
Lie on your back with the knees bent, feet flat and hip-width apart, heels near the buttocks. Place the hands beside the ears with the fingers pointing towards the shoulders and the elbows narrow. Press into the hands and feet and lift onto the crown of the head, pausing to check the elbows are still parallel. Press up fully, straightening the arms as much as the shoulders allow and lifting the chest towards the hands. Walk the feet slightly in, hold, then tuck the chin and lower down through the crown to the shoulders. Hold for 10–20 seconds, 2–3 rounds.
What does Upward Bow Pose work?
Primarily the glutes, quadriceps, shoulders, with the spinal erectors, chest, triceps assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: extends the whole spine while the arms and legs press the body clear of the floor.
Who should not do Upward Bow Pose?
Disc injury, spondylolisthesis or spinal fusion — take supported Bridge instead. Shoulder impingement or a rotator cuff tear, since the arms are loaded at end-range overhead. Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome — the wrists take a large share of the weight. High blood pressure or glaucoma, given the sustained inverted head position. Pregnancy from the second trimester onward. Neck injury: never rest or push from the head on the way up or down. 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 Upward Bow Pose suitable for beginners?
No. Upward Bow Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate backbends poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Upward Bow 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. Upward Bow 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 backbends on the wall
More backbends — 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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