Parighasana (Gate Pose): a kneeling side stretch — steps, benefits and variations

How to do Gate Pose step by step

1. Kneel on your mat with your knees hip-width apart and your thighs upright. Put a folded blanket under your knees if the floor feels hard.
2. Stretch your left leg out to the left side, in line with your right knee. Keep the left leg straight, the foot flat and the toes pointing forward.
3. Check that your hips face forward and stay directly above your right knee, not pushed back toward your heel.
4. Breathe in and raise your right arm up beside your ear. Rest your left hand lightly on your left thigh or shin.
5. Breathe out and bend sideways over your left leg, sliding the left hand down the leg. Reach the right arm over your head without letting your chest turn toward the floor.
6. Hold for 3–5 slow breaths (about 20–30 seconds), breathing into the stretched right ribs. Look forward, or up under the top arm if your neck is comfortable.
7. Breathe in to come back up to kneeling, bring the left knee back beside the right and repeat on the other side.

Where you feel Gate Pose: what it stretches and strengthens

Arch sideways and feel your whole side body open. In the 3D guide, turn on Body guide: areas that stretch glow green and areas that work glow saffron.

Benefits and precautions

Gate pose (Parighasana) is a kneeling side bend: one knee on the mat, the other leg stretched out to the side, and your body leaning over that leg like a gate swinging on its hinge. It stretches the waist, ribs and shoulders in a direction daily life rarely asks for, which makes it a useful warm-up and a quick break from desk work. Below you will find the alignment details, what the pose is good for, the muscles it works, variations and who should take care.

What is gate pose in yoga?

It is a lateral (sideways) stretch done from kneeling. The Sanskrit name describes the shape: parigha is the heavy bar that locks a gate and asana means pose. So the Parighasana meaning is "cross-bar pose", and its usual English name is gate pose. The straight leg is the bar; the long line from the kneeling knee to the reaching hand is the gate.

Gate pose in Hindi is परिघासन (Parighasana), and in German classes Parighasana is called Torhaltung, "gate posture". No equipment is needed, though a blanket under the knee helps.

Gate pose alignment tips and cues

The steps above take you in and out. These points are the difference between a real side stretch and a collapsed lean:

• Stack the hips over the kneeling knee. If your bottom drifts back toward your heel, the stretch disappears.
• Line up the legs. The heel of the straight leg sits roughly in line with the kneeling knee. Turning the foot out a little eases a tight hamstring.
• Bend sideways, not forward. Imagine your body between two panes of glass and roll the top shoulder back.
• Length before depth. Reach up first, then over. A long, shallow curve beats a deep bend that crunches the lower waist.
• Keep the lower hand light. Let the side muscles hold you, not the hand on your leg.

Is gate pose an inhale or an exhale?

Both. Breathe in as you lift the arm and lengthen, breathe out as you bend. While you hold, send each inhale into the ribs on the stretched side and feel them widen.

Gate pose benefits

What is gate pose good for? Mainly lengthening the sides of the trunk. Sitting, driving and most gym exercises move us forward and back, rarely sideways, so these muscles stay short.

What does gate pose stretch?

On the long side it stretches the obliques, the quadratus lumborum (a deep muscle running from the lowest ribs to the pelvis), the latissimus dorsi and the muscles between the ribs. The straight leg gets a hamstring and inner-thigh stretch, and the raised arm opens the shoulder.

As the ribs spread, breathing into the side and back of the chest often feels easier. Raising the arm slowly also mobilises the shoulder, which is why the pose appears in our yoga for frozen shoulder plan, where you lift the arm only as far as it goes without pain. It is not a treatment by itself, but regular practice helps keep the spine and shoulders moving.

Gate pose muscles worked

Gate pose for beginners: modifications

• Sore knee: fold a blanket under the kneeling knee.
• Tight hamstrings: bend the straight leg slightly, or rest the heel down with the toes pointing up.
• Short reach: rest the lower hand on a block beside the straight leg.
• Shoulder pain: keep the top hand on your hip and simply lengthen.
• Gate pose on a chair: sit sideways on a sturdy chair, stretch one leg out and bend over it. It is the easiest version, ideal in chair yoga and for seniors who cannot kneel.

Gate pose for kids works well as a game: "open the gate" by bending over the leg, "close the gate" by coming back up.

Gate pose variations

• Classic Parighasana: in the Iyengar yoga version the lower hand slides to the ankle and the top arm reaches over until the palms meet above the foot.
• Revolved gate pose: turn the chest toward the straight leg and reach the top arm toward the foot, adding a twist.
• Gate pose with thread the needle: sweep the top arm down and under your chest so that shoulder moves toward the floor — a release for the upper back.
• Gate pose forward fold: face the straight leg and fold over it, a hamstring stretch close to head-to-knee pose.
• Gate pose to supported side plank: put the hand on the kneeling side on the floor under your shoulder, lift your hips and sweep the other arm up. Stronger students then straighten into full side plank.

Gate pose vs modified side plank and stargazer

All three start from kneeling with one leg out. In gate pose your weight stays on the kneeling knee and the work is mostly stretching. In a modified side plank one hand goes to the floor and the hips lift, so the side body works against gravity. Stargazer is a kneeling side plank with the top arm reaching overhead past the ear. Gate pose is the usual preparation for both.

Parighasana contraindications and precautions

If you feel pinching in the lower waist, you have gone too deep: come up a little and lengthen. Sharp pain in the kneeling knee means stop and pad the knee or use a chair. After a recent shoulder or back injury, ask a physiotherapist first. In pregnancy, widen the base, keep the bend small and hold a chair if balance feels uncertain.

Gate pose prep, warm up and flow

Good Parighasana preparatory poses are cat pose and cow for the spine, a low lunge for the hip flexors and a gentle standing side bend. A simple gate pose yoga sequence: cat–cow, low lunge on each side, gate pose on each side, a kneeling side plank, then rest in child's pose. Triangle pose gives a similar side opening while standing. Build your own flow in the sequence builder or follow a voice-guided session on the practice page.

Health conditions this pose is used for

Yoga for frozen shoulder · Yoga for tennis elbow

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.