Caterpillar Pose (Yin shape)

Pronunciation and meaning

Yin shape: Said as in English. Caterpillar is the Yin yoga name for this shape, and it has no traditional Sanskrit name.

Caterpillar is what Yin yoga calls a seated forward fold with the legs out straight, held passively. The spine is allowed to round like a curled caterpillar, and you stay for minutes instead of reaching for your toes.

How to do Caterpillar Pose

1. Sit on a folded blanket or a cushion with your legs stretched out in front of you, together or about hip-width apart.
2. Bend your knees as much as you need to, and slide a rolled blanket or a bolster under them if the backs of the legs feel tight.
3. Fold forward from the hips, then let the whole spine round and your head hang toward your legs.
4. Rest your hands on your shins, on the floor beside your legs or on a bolster laid along your thighs. Do not reach for your feet.
5. Stay for three to five minutes, letting the belly and the neck soften with each breath out.
6. To come out, place your hands behind you and roll up slowly, lifting the head last, then lean back on your hands for a moment.

Make it easier

• Lay a bolster along the legs and rest your chest and head on it, with blocks underneath for more height.
• Keep the knees generously bent over a rolled blanket if the backs of the knees or the lower back complain.
• Sit higher, on one or two folded blankets, so the pelvis can tip forward more easily.

Pregnancy and after birth

Pregnancy. Adapt. Take the legs wide so the belly has space between them, sit up high on a blanket and rest your chest on a tall stack of bolster and blocks, so you fold only a little and nothing presses on the belly. If any folding feels uncomfortable, sit upright instead. Check with your OB or midwife before you start.

After birth. Adapt. Once your OB or midwife has cleared you to exercise, begin with a short hold and the bolster stacked high. After a caesarean birth, keep the fold small until the scar feels comfortable when you lean forward.

Expecting or postpartum? See joahnnalee.com for the stage-by-stage guides.

Common mistakes

• Pulling on the feet or shins to go deeper. The pose is passive, so the hands only rest.
• Locking the knees straight when the backs of the legs are tight, which moves the strain into the lower back.
• Sitting up quickly at the end. After minutes in a fold, roll up slowly so you do not feel light-headed.

Caterpillar is a quiet forward fold, and in a Yin practice it often follows a backbend such as Sphinx. There is no goal of touching the toes. The practice is in letting go of the effort to get anywhere.

In Yin yoga, with a bolster under the chest or a blanket under the knees, the fold can be held for several minutes without strain.

On your feet, the same fold becomes Uttanasana, the standing forward fold, held for breaths rather than minutes.

Caterpillar is the usual counterpose after Saddle Pose, a Yin backbend.