Category: Arm balances
Level: advanced
Hold: 1–5 breaths
Type: Asana
Breath: Exhale as you sit back and lift; even breaths in the hold.

Shoulder-Pressing Pose

Bhujapidasana — "shoulder-pressure posture"

Also known as: Arm-Pressure Pose

Thighs squeeze your upper arms, ankles cross in front, and you sit back onto your hands in mid-air. It's the bent-knee cousin of Firefly and usually the first of the two to arrive, since it asks less of the hamstrings.

Step by step

1Stand with your feet slightly wider than your hips and fold forward, bending your knees generously.
2Work your shoulders behind your knees one at a time, snugging the backs of your thighs high onto your upper arms.
3Place your palms flat behind your feet, fingers pointing forward, and bend your knees around your arms.
4Sit your hips back and down toward your wrists, letting your thighs squeeze your upper arms.
5Shift your weight into your hands until one foot lifts, then the other.
6Cross your ankles in front of you and press the floor away to round and lift your upper back.
7Gaze forward, breathe, then uncross and land your feet softly.

Benefits

✓ Strengthens the arms, wrists, and shoulders
✓ Opens the hips and stretches the inner groins
✓ Builds the leg-squeezing compression used across arm balances
✓ More accessible than Firefly, so it builds confidence for it

Make it yours

· Start with your feet on blocks so the sit-back is shorter
· Keep your toes on the floor and practice just shifting weight into the hands
· Place a folded blanket behind your hands in case you sit down early — many people do

Take care

Take care with wrist injuries or carpal tunnel symptoms
Approach cautiously with shoulder or lower-back injuries

This is general practice guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts, ease out of it.

Practiced in

Ashtanga — as “Bhujapidasana” (#36)

Props that help here

Liforme Original — The grippiest mat we've used, with alignment markers that genuinely help beginners place hands and feet. Priciest of the three. find one
Wrist wedge — Reduces the wrist angle in plank, chaturanga, and arm balances. Worth trying before concluding your wrists can't do this. find one

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