Left Triangle Pose

How to do Left Triangle Pose

1. 1Stand with your feet wide, about three to four feet apart, turning your left foot out ninety degrees and angling your right foot slightly inward.
2. 2Inhale and extend your arms parallel to the floor, reaching actively through the fingertips with soft, relaxed shoulders.
3. 3Exhale and reach your left torso forward over your left thigh, hinging deeply from your left hip crease rather than bending from your waist.
4. 4Lower your left hand onto your shin, ankle, or a block placed outside your left calf while keeping both legs engaged.
5. 5Extend your right arm straight up toward the ceiling, stacking your right shoulder directly over your left.
6. 6Turn your gaze gently upward toward your right thumb, or look straight ahead if your neck feels strained.
7. 7Press firmly into the outer edge of your back right foot while lifting the left kneecap with an active front quadricep.
8. 8Hold for five to eight steady breaths, then press firmly through your feet and inhale to rise back to standing.

Benefits

• Deeply stretches the left hamstring and both inner thigh adductors.
• Strengthens the obliques, transverse abdominis, and spinal stabilizers.
• Opens the chest and thoracic spine to support full, unrestricted breathing.
• Tones the quadriceps while building stability through the ankle and knee joints.
• Encourages body awareness by aligning the pelvis, spine, and shoulders in one plane.

Common mistakes and cues

• Collapsing the lower ribcage

  Keep the left side of your waist as long as the right side by reaching forward before hinging downward.

• Hyperextending the front knee

  Maintain a subtle micro-bend in your left knee and actively engage your quadriceps to protect the joint.

• Dumping weight into the lower hand

  Rest your hand lightly on your shin or a block, relying on your core rather than arm pressure to hold your torso.

• Rolling the top hip forward

  Draw your left sitting bone under and roll the right hip slightly back to keep the pelvis open.

Modifications and props

• Block at the shin

  Place a yoga block on its tall setting outside your left ankle to bring the floor closer and keep your spine straight.

• Hand on the hip

  Rest your right hand on your right hip to reduce shoulder strain while focusing entirely on chest rotation.

• Back against a wall

  Practice with your back lightly touching a wall to feel the correct planar alignment of your hips and shoulders.

• Soft front knee

  Bend your front knee slightly if tight hamstrings pull uncomfortably behind the knee or tuck your pelvis.

Cautions

• Neck sensitivity

  Keep your gaze turned forward or down at your front foot rather than looking up toward your top hand.

• Low back irritation

  Shorten your stance and elevate your hand on a prop to avoid rounding or twisting the lumbar spine.

• Hamstring attachment strain

  Avoid locking out the left leg and back off the depth of the fold if you feel pulling at the sitting bone.

If you are working with an injury, pregnancy or a medical condition, check with a qualified professional before practising this pose.

Practise this for

Classes that teach this pose

Upcoming Vinyasa classes where this shape shows up.

Teachers and studios for this practice

Related poses