Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose): how to do it, how long, and its benefits

How to do Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose step by step

1. Sit sideways on the floor with one hip touching a wall and your knees bent. Keep a folded blanket nearby if you want support under your hips.
2. Lean back onto your forearms, then swing your legs up the wall as you lower your back and head to the floor.
3. Shuffle your hips as close to the wall as feels comfortable. With tight hamstrings, stay further away and let your knees bend a little.
4. Rest your legs against the wall, hip-width apart, feet relaxed. Keep your head and shoulders flat on the floor.
5. Rest your arms out to the sides, palms up, or place your hands on your belly.
6. Close your eyes and breathe slowly for 3–10 minutes.
7. To come out, bend your knees, roll onto your right side and rest for a few breaths before pressing yourself up slowly.

Where you feel Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose: what it stretches and strengthens

Rest your legs up and let your belly soften. In the 3D guide, turn on Body guide: areas that stretch glow green and areas that work glow saffron.

Benefits and precautions

Legs-up-the-wall pose (Viparita Karani) is the easiest inversion in yoga: you lie on your back with your hips near a wall and your legs resting up it. There is nothing to balance and almost nothing to hold, which makes Viparita Karani ideal for beginners and is why it is a favourite at the end of a class, after a long day on your feet, and before bed. This guide explains the name, how to set it up, how long to stay, what it may help with, its side effects and who should skip it.

What is legs-up-the-wall pose?

The Sanskrit name of the legs-up-the-wall yoga pose is Viparita Karani: viparita means "inverted" or "reversed" and karani means "doing" or "action", so Viparita Karani is "the inverted action". In the old Hatha Yoga texts it was a mudra rather than a pose: the hips were lifted and supported so the body was turned upside down, rather like a half shoulder stand. Today "viparita karani mudra" still refers to that classical version, while most classes use Viparita Karani as the asana name for the relaxed legs-up-the-wall pose.

Viparita Karani and Sarvangasana

In shoulder stand (Sarvangasana) your body weight rests on your shoulders and the neck is strongly bent. In legs-up-the-wall, the whole back lies on the floor and the neck stays neutral, so it has none of those risks. Is legs up the wall a yin yoga pose? It is used in yin classes, but it belongs more to restorative yoga: fully supported and held for several minutes.

How to do legs-up-the-wall pose

The steps above get you in and out. Getting into this legs-up-the-wall yoga pose takes beginners a try or two — sitting sideways first is the trick. These legs-up-the-wall pose cues and props make it more comfortable:

• Supported legs-up-the-wall pose: a folded blanket or low bolster under the hips lifts the pelvis slightly and eases the lower back. As a yoga pose for lower back pain, it is restful rather than corrective.
• A strap around the thighs lets the legs rest without effort.
• Legs up the wall pose without a wall: rest your calves on a chair seat or sofa, or lie on your bed with your legs against the headboard. You can also hold the legs up freely, as the 3D figure does, but that takes more effort. A chair is the easiest legs-up-the-wall pose alternative if getting down to the floor is hard.

How long to do legs-up-the-wall

Beginners can start with 3–5 minutes. Most people find 5–15 minutes ideal, and legs up the wall pose for 15 minutes or longer is fine if your legs do not go numb. When should you do legs up the wall? Evenings and bedtime are the most popular time to do legs-up-the-wall pose, and it feels good after running, a flight or a long shift standing. After eating, wait one to two hours; right after dinner the pose can bring on reflux.

Legs-up-the-wall pose benefits

What does legs up the wall pose do? The health benefits of the legs-up-the-wall yoga pose come from two things: gravity helps fluid flow back from the legs, and lying still with slow breathing calms the body.

Tired legs and varicose veins

What does putting your legs up the wall do for the legs? It raises them above the heart, a standard self-care tip for heavy, swollen legs. The health benefits of raising, elevating or simply holding your legs up on a wall are mostly about circulation and comfort. Used for varicose veins, the pose can ease aching and heaviness for a while, but it does not remove the veins; see our yoga for varicose veins page and follow your doctor's advice on compression and treatment.

Sleep, stress and anxiety

Many people use legs up the wall pose for sleep, stress and anxiety because it is simple, still and warm. Viparita Karani breathing techniques are simple too: a longer exhale or soft Ujjayi breathing deepens the effect. It is part of our plans for better sleep and anxiety.

Benefits for women

Women often use legs-up-the-wall pose during periods, when stronger inversions feel wrong. Its benefits for PCOS and menopause are mainly relaxation and better sleep. You may also read about legs up the wall pose benefits for conceiving, or advice to do it after embryo transfer. There is no good evidence that it improves the chance of pregnancy; it may help you relax during a stressful time, so follow your fertility clinic's advice. Our yoga for fertility page explains what yoga can and cannot do.

Face and weight loss claims

Your face may look flushed for a few minutes after coming down, but there is no evidence of lasting legs-up-the-wall pose benefits for the face or skin. The pose burns very few calories, so it does not cause weight loss on its own. The legs-up-the-wall pose benefits for men and women are the same: rest, recovery and lighter legs.

Legs-up-the-wall pose side effects

Like its benefits, the side effects of Viparita Karani are mild:

• Pins and needles in the feet or legs: bend your knees, move your hips away from the wall, or come down.
• Dizziness when getting up: roll to your side and sit up slowly.
• Pressure in the head or face: lower the hips (remove the blanket) or shorten the hold.
• Pulling behind the knees or sciatic-type pain: move further from the wall and bend the knees. With sciatica, keep the stretch mild.

Viparita Karani variations

These legs-up-the-wall yoga pose variations change the stretch. In every version, the legs up the wall pose stretch on the hamstrings grows as you move your hips closer to the wall.

• Butterfly legs: bring the soles together and let the knees open down the wall for a hip stretch.
• Wide legs: let the legs slide apart into a V to stretch the inner thighs.
• Classical Viparita Karani: lift the hips onto a block or support them with your hands, legs overhead. This is a stronger inversion, so the precautions above matter more.

Viparita Karani precautions

Even a gentle inversion raises pressure in the head a little. Skip it or ask your doctor if you have glaucoma, uncontrolled high blood pressure or heart disease, and avoid it during a migraine attack. What about pregnancy? In the first trimester it is usually comfortable; later, lying flat on your back can make you dizzy, so rest on your side and ask your midwife.

Where it fits in a sequence

In a Viparita Karani yoga sequence, the pose usually comes near the end: after backbends, twists and forward bends, and before final relaxation. You can follow it with voice guidance in the bedtime and stress sessions in guided practice.

Health conditions this pose is used for

Yoga for low blood pressure · Yoga for thyroid · Yoga for menopause · Yoga for fertility · Yoga for anxiety · Yoga for stress relief · Yoga for sleep and insomnia · Yoga for jet lag and travel fatigue · Yoga for shift work and night-shift sleep · Yoga for migraine and headache · Yoga for burnout and exhaustion · Yoga for restless legs syndrome · Yoga for chronic fatigue syndrome · Yoga for varicose veins

Where this practice is used

Chakras: Vishuddha (Throat Chakra) · Sahasrara (Crown 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.