Category: Seated
Level: beginner
Hold: 5–10 breaths
Type: Asana
Breath: Steady, even breathing; lengthen the spine on each inhale

Staff Pose

Dandasana — "staff (rod) posture"

The seated equivalent of Mountain Pose: legs straight out, spine tall, whole body quietly active. Staff Pose is the reference point every other seated pose starts from.

Step by step

1Sit with your legs extended straight in front of you, feet together and flexed.
2Use your hands to move the flesh of your buttocks back so you sit directly on your sitting bones.
3Press your thighs down and reach out through your heels.
4Place your palms or fingertips on the floor beside your hips and press down lightly.
5Lift your chest and lengthen the back of your neck, as if your spine were a straight staff.
6Hold, breathing steadily, without letting your lower back collapse.

Benefits

✓ Teaches an upright, active seated posture
✓ Strengthens the muscles along the spine and the front of the thighs
✓ Stretches the backs of the legs gently
✓ Sets up correct alignment for seated forward folds

Make it yours

· Sit on the edge of a folded blanket to tilt your pelvis forward.
· Bend your knees slightly, or place a rolled blanket under them.
· Sit with your back near a wall to check that your spine is truly vertical.

Take care

Sit on a folded blanket if your lower back rounds or your hamstrings feel strained.
Take a gentle bend in the knees if straight legs pull uncomfortably.

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

Practiced in

Props that help here

Cork blocks (set of 2) — Bring the floor closer in lunges, folds, and triangle — and a block between the shoulder blades turns a backbend into something you can hold. find one
8-foot cotton strap — Extends your reach in hamstring and shoulder work — the honest substitute for grabbing a foot you can't yet reach. Get 8ft, not 6ft. find one

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