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Technique

  1. Seated with the legs extended, bring the left leg into half lotus and the right foot back toward the hip with the knee up (see Sitting bound half lotus fold).
  2. Keeping the weight forward in the left thigh and right foot, take the left elbow to the outside of the right leg.
  3. Press the arm and leg into each other to bring you deeper into the twist and take the right hand to the floor behind you for support.
  4. Gaze over the right shoulder and take 5 breaths.
  5. Unfold and repeat on the other side.

Form tips

  • Keep the spine tall as you twist. Support for this action comes from the deep core and psoas major muscles.
  • Avoid leaning backward or collapsing in the lower back as you twist.
  • It is common for the bent leg hip to lift off the ground in this posture. That is ok and actually quite normal.
  • This is an external rotation for the hip that is in half lotus, and an internal rotation for the bent leg with the foot down.
  • Tuck the half lotus foot securely into the hip crease before bending the other leg. Only bend that leg as far as is comfortable for the lotus ankle, knee and hip.
  • You’re trying to come forward enough that the foot and opposite thigh are the foundation of the posture, which means the lotus leg has to rotate externally even more. If it won’t go, DO NOT FORCE IT. This will put pressure on the knee rather than the hip, and potentially cause pain or harm.
Logging: Work each side for the time indicated.

Muscles

Flexibility

Primary

  • Obliques
  • Spine
  • Glutes

Secondary

  • Neck
  • Pelvis
  • Hamstrings

Equipment

Appears in

Other disciplines
Joint movements
trains stretches

Progressions

e0vw

Sitting bound half lotus revolved spinal twist

Intermediate

Regressions

e0vu

Supported sitting half lotus revolved spinal twist

Novice
e0xl

Half lotus

Novice
e0vl

Sitting half lotus fold

Novice
e0vp

Supported cross-leg spinal twist

Novice
e0w7

Bent-leg pigeon

Novice
e0hs

Vertical frog

Novice
Want to log this exercise? Open it in Calistree. Text and images are used under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; the video plays from the original source.