Left Twist with Left Leg Bent

How to do Left Twist with Left Leg Bent

1. 1Begin seated in Dandasana with both legs extended straight in front of you.
2. 2Bend your left knee and step your left foot over your right thigh, placing the sole flat on the floor beside your right outer knee.
3. 3Bend your right knee and draw your right heel close to your outer left hip, keeping both sit bones rooted into the floor.
4. 4Place your left fingertips on the floor behind your sacrum to support a tall, upright spine.
5. 5Inhale your right arm toward the sky to lengthen through the right side of your torso.
6. 6Exhale and rotate your rib cage to the left, hugging your left knee with your right arm or hooking your right elbow outside your left outer knee.
7. 7Turn your gaze gently over your left shoulder without straining your neck, breathing evenly along the length of your spine.

Benefits

• Increases rotational mobility throughout the thoracic and lumbar spine
• Stretches the outer left hip, gluteal complex, and piriformis
• Encourages healthy digestion by gently compressing and stimulating abdominal organs
• Broadens the collarbones and opens the chest and anterior shoulder
• Tones the internal and external oblique muscles supporting the core
• Eases muscular tension accumulated across the mid and upper back

Common mistakes and cues

• Slumping into the lower back

  Maintain active length in your lumbar spine rather than collapsing your weight into your back hand.

• Lifting the left sit bone

  Ground both sitting bones evenly into the mat before initiating the rotational movement.

• Over-cranking with the neck

  Rotate primarily from the rib cage and thoracic spine, allowing the head and neck to naturally follow.

• Jamming the back arm

  Keep your back hand close to your sacrum with a soft bend in the elbow to act as a supportive kickstand.

• Forcing the elbow leverage

  Avoid aggressively leveraging the elbow against the outer knee, which can strain the shoulder or sacroiliac joint.

Modifications and props

• Bottom leg extended

  Keep your right leg straight along the floor if folding both knees causes your hips to tilt or round.

• Sitting on a folded blanket

  Elevate your pelvis on one or two folded blankets to release tight hip flexors and help maintain a neutral spine.

• Arm hugging knee

  Wrap your right forearm around your left shin instead of hooking the elbow to reduce rotational torque on the shoulders and spine.

• Yoga block behind sacrum

  Place a yoga block beneath your left hand behind you if reaching the floor causes your torso to lean backward.

Cautions

• Active spinal disc injuries

  Avoid deep loaded twists if you have acute disc herniation or severe sciatica, or take a gentle upright variation only.

• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction

  Do not anchor the pelvis forcefully; allow the hips to shift slightly if needed to prevent SI joint irritation.

• Second and third trimester pregnancy

  Avoid deep closed twists across the midline and opt for an open twist toward the opposite side instead.

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

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