Mandukasana (Seated Frog Pose): steps, benefits and precautions

How to do Seated Frog Pose step by step

1. Kneel and sit back on your heels in Vajrasana, knees together, spine tall.
2. Make a fist with each hand, thumbs tucked inside the fingers.
3. Place both fists on your belly, one on each side of the navel, knuckles facing each other and pressing gently in.
4. Breathe out and fold forward from the hips, bringing your chest toward your thighs so the fists press into the belly.
5. Keep your head up and look forward, with the neck long. Keep your buttocks on your heels.
6. Hold for 10–20 seconds (2–4 breaths), breathing gently. Do not strain.
7. Breathe in and slowly come up to sitting. Relax your hands on your thighs. Repeat two or three times.

Where you feel Seated Frog Pose: what it stretches and strengthens

Press your fists into your belly and fold forward, looking ahead. In the 3D guide, turn on Body guide: areas that stretch glow green and areas that work glow saffron.

Benefits and precautions

Mandukasana, the seated frog pose, is a kneeling forward bend in which you sit on your heels, press both fists into your belly and fold forward while looking ahead, so the body looks like a frog sitting on the ground. It is a common pose in Indian yoga programmes and is often taught for digestion and as part of routines for people with diabetes. This page covers the Mandukasana meaning, the procedure, the benefits, the precautions and how it differs from other frog poses in yoga.

Mandukasana meaning (Mandukasana in English)

In Sanskrit, manduka means frog and asana means pose, so Mandukasana in English is frog pose. It is also written Manduk asana or Mandook asana, and in Hindi it is मण्डूकासन. Because there are several different "frog poses" in modern yoga, this one is often called seated frog pose or sitting frog pose to avoid confusion.

How to do Mandukasana: procedure and tips

The steps above give the full Mandukasana procedure, as the 3D figure shows it. The correct way to do frog pose in this form is to keep the fists firm, the buttocks down and the gaze forward. These frog pose tips help:

• Fists beside the navel. Place them on either side of the belly button, not on the ribs or the hip bones.
• Fold from the hips. Lead with the chest. The pressure on the belly comes from the fold, not from pushing with the arms.
• Look ahead. Keeping the head up is part of the pose and keeps the back long. Do not crunch the neck; lift the chin only slightly.
• Buttocks stay on the heels. If they lift, fold a little less.
• Breathe gently. Some teachers ask you to hold the breath out in the fold. Beginners should keep breathing normally.

Mandukasana prep: sit in Vajrasana for a minute first so the knees and ankles are ready, and practise on an empty stomach, ideally in the morning.

Mandukasana benefits

What does the frog pose do? The main Mandukasana benefits are a gentle stretch for the lower back and ankles, a supported bend for the knees, and work for the abdominal muscles as you fold against your fists. The fists press into the belly, which many yoga traditions describe as a massage for the digestive organs. As a frog pose exercise, its benefits come from doing it regularly and gently, not from pressing harder.

The health benefits of Mandukasana are often linked with blood sugar: Mandukasana is widely recommended in Indian yoga programmes for diabetes and digestion. It may be a useful part of a regular practice, but there is no good evidence that this single pose lowers blood sugar or cures any condition. If you have diabetes, keep taking your prescribed medicine and see our yoga for diabetes plan. For bloating or constipation, see yoga for digestion.

What muscles does frog pose stretch?

Is frog pose good for you, or bad for you?

For most healthy adults, men and women alike, this frog sitting position is safe and its benefits are simple: a short stretch and a gentle belly squeeze. It can be bad for you if you have had recent abdominal surgery, a hernia, a stomach ulcer or a knee injury, or if you are pregnant. See the precautions below.

Uttana Mandukasana (Uttan Mandukasana) for beginners

Uttana Mandukasana (stretched-up frog pose) is a related pose. You kneel with the knees wide apart and the big toes touching, sit between your feet, then lift your arms, fold them behind your head and hold each opposite shoulder. The back stays upright. Uttan Mandukasana benefits include a stretch for the inner thighs, shoulders and chest and an upright posture for breathing.

For Uttan Mandukasana for beginners, sit on a cushion and open the knees only as far as they are comfortable. Uttan Mandukasana precautions: avoid it with knee, hip or shoulder injuries.

Mandukasana vs Bhekasana and other frog poses

• Mandukasana vs Bhekasana: Bhekasana is lying on the belly, bending the knees and pressing the feet down beside the hips, a strong thigh stretch. Yoga half frog pose (Ardha Bhekasana) does it one leg at a time.
• Wide-knee frog: in many gyms, "frog pose in yoga" means a wide-knee hip stretch on the forearms, often done with a bolster under the chest. Frog pose with bolster is a strong inner-thigh stretch, very different from Mandukasana.
• Frog pose vs crow pose: crow pose is an arm balance with the knees on the backs of the arms. People also compare crow pose vs frog stand, a gymnastics version with bent elbows. Both need strong arms; Mandukasana needs none.

Frog pose for kids

Kids enjoy sitting like a frog and "looking for flies". Keep the frog yoga pose for kids short and playful, without strong pressure on the belly. See yoga for kids for more animal poses.

Mandukasana precautions and contraindications

Mandukasana pose precautions come mainly from the belly pressure and the knee bend. Mandukasana contraindications include pregnancy, recent abdominal surgery, hernia, stomach ulcer and knee or ankle injuries. With a slipped disc or acute back pain, skip the fold. Frog pose for back pain is not a first choice; gentler asanas for back pain relief are in our yoga for back pain plan.

Where this practice is used

Chakras: Svadhisthana (Sacral Chakra)

This page is for general education. Check with your doctor before starting yoga if you are pregnant, have a medical condition or an injury. Stop if you feel pain, dizziness or shortness of breath.