An Easy Guide to Bhujapidasana, or Shoulder Pressing Pose
Bhujapidasana, or Shoulder Pressing Pose, is the perfect arm balance for beginners. As this pose relies more on precise positioning than pure arm strength, it’s a safe and easy way for yogis to practice the sensation of lifting the body, before they move on to more difficult balances and asana.
Bhujapidasana will strengthen the hands and wrists and the abdominal muscles.
Soon you'll be hanging out in this pose, rocking back and forth and feeling light and spacious - we like to think of it as Human Hammock Pose.
Watch a clip for this yoga pose
How to do Bhujapidasana, or Shoulder Pressing Pose, in easy steps
Step 1:
Stand in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) with your feet about two feet apart.
Step 2:
Lean forward and over, bending the legs into a wide-knee squat.
Step 3:
Place the palms on the floor outside the feet.
Step 4:
Rest the backs of the thighs as high as possible on the upper arms, between the shoulders and elbows.
Step 5:
Lean forward and bring the body weight onto the hands.
Step 6:
Exhale and begin to raise the heels from the floor. Next, cross the feet at the ankles. (Try to alternate the cross each time you do the pose).
Step 7:
Press the palms into the floor and raise the feet higher.
Step 8:
Bring the upper body upright and look forwards.
Step 9:
Straighten the arms.
Step 10:
Stay in this position as long as comfortable, breathing normally. Rock back and forth if you can.
Step 11:
To release, exhale and uncross the ankles and bring the feet to the floor one at a time.
Step 12:
Bring the hands up from the floor and come back to standing in Mountain Pose.
Yoga pose category: Weight on hands
Level: 2
If you’re struggling with balancing, try resting a yoga block underneath your buttocks to provide extra support. With daily practice and dedication, you’ll build up your arm strength and be stable enough to hold the pose without the block.
Sanskrit words meaning:
Bhuja - shoulder
Pida - pressure
Asana - pose
Yoga pose health benefits:
Like all yoga poses, Bhujapidasana has many health benefits. Use it to help with the following health conditions:
Stress
Fatigue
Balance issues
Posture
Yoga pose contraindications:
Don’t practice Bhujapidasana if you have any of the following health conditions:
Neck injury
Elbow injury
Wrist injury
Lower back injury
Shoulder injury
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Lucy Edge
is a yoga advocate and writer with three yoga books to her name, including the beloved travel memoir Yoga School Dropout. She writes regularly for the national press, has authored over 150 guides to types of yoga and yoga poses, discovered nearly 250 proven health benefits of yoga through her painstaking classification of 300 clinical studies, and collected more than 500 personal testimonials to the real life benefits of yoga. She is also the creator of our yoga shop – YogaClicks.Store – handpicking yoga brands that are beautifully made by yogis committed to environmental and social sustainability.
