Asana · Learn with a teacher
Bhujapidasana
Shoulder-pressing pose
Shoulder-pressing pose. An arm balance with the legs wrapped over the upper arms.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
- Meaning
- bhuja = arm or shoulder, pida = pressure, asana = seat or posture
- Family
- Arm balance
- Level
- Advanced
- Gaze
- Nose
Take care
Learn this with a teacher. Avoid it with wrist or shoulder injuries.
Learn this with a teacher
This page is for reading. The practice itself should be learned in person from someone who teaches it, so there are no practice controls here.
Find a teacherHow it is done
- 1
Breathe in
From standing with the feet apart, bend the knees and work the shoulders behind the knees, hands on the floor behind the heels.
- 2
Breathe out
Sit back onto the upper arms and cross the ankles.
- 3
Breathe freely
Balance on the hands. In the full form the chin lowers toward the floor. Stay for five breaths.
Holding it
Five breaths.
Making it easier
Keep the feet on the floor and work only on placing the shoulders behind the knees.
What the tradition says it does
- Strengthens the wrists, arms and abdomen
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, p. 4
- Ashtanga Primary Series as commonly taught in the Mysore style; sequence order and counts await subject review