Guide · Reading
Twists: family introduction
Twists rotate the spine around its length, lengthening first and then turning.
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.
Practical guidance
Twists rotate the spine. They are practised standing, seated and lying down, and in the Ashtanga series they appear as revolved standing poses and the Marichyasana group.
The principle is the same in all of them: lengthen first, then turn. A twist forced from the shoulders or the neck does not reach the spine.
Who should take care
In pregnancy, practise only open twists, which turn away from the bent knee, and only after the first trimester. Ask a teacher before twisting with hyperthyroidism, a hernia or a peptic ulcer, and go gently during menstruation.
Related
Parivritta Trikonasana
Revolved triangle pose
Revolved triangle pose. The triangle turned into a twist, the opposite hand reaching to the front foot.
Marichyasana C
Marichi's pose C
Pose of the sage Marichi, third variation. A seated twist toward the bent knee.
Supta Padangusthasana C
Reclining hand-to-big-toe pose C
Reclining hand-to-big-toe pose, third variation. The held leg crosses over the body into a twist.
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, p. 5, family table; cautions rewritten