Wanna know why gate pose should be in your daily movement?
Because it’s a sweet side bend that stretches all the right places, and you can get a glute burn to set a spicy fire in the bottom 🍑. Did you know Gate pose (parighasana) has so many options? (I’ll get to the details below)
It’s seemingly unassuming, but it can be used as a stretch or added to a workout. But, gate pose lives an unfortunately unexceptional life.
Why?
Not sure.
On the plus side, this means the pose is easily accessible. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll be honest I’ve never received a request for gate pose, and I’ve never requested it myself, but I do know how to make the most of this pose. Do you want to know how too?
Watch the video for some key variations and read on for even more, and find the one that either lights your fire or gets you afloat on cloud 9.
Gate pose has a few contraindications. If you’ve had a knee replacement or bursitis, make sure you pad your knees. If you’re otherwise healthy here’s what it should look like:
The Legs
One knee is directly underneath the hip and bent 90 degrees top of the foot to the floor
Opposite leg is extended out, knee is straight.
Extended knee is pointed in the same direction as your hips.
Extended leg big toe, heel, and blade of the foot touch the floor
Hips are stacked over supporting knee
Important Notes
If it’s painful to place the knees on the floor, pad your surface with a folded mat or flat pillows
Take any of these variations if when you place the ball of the foot of the extended leg on the floor you find it difficult or painful for any reason.
The Upper Body
Shoulders are in the same plane as the hips and the supporting knee
Spine is long and the crown of the head reaches away from the hips
Bend laterally from the hip and through the spine
Ribs are in the same plane as the hips and legs
Shoulder blades move down the back
Important Notes
You may need to think: rotate your ribs up towards the ceiling
Supported Leg Side Arm
Hand is on the floor
Elbow is extended (arm is straight)
Shoulder moves away front the ear
Important Notes
If you have an injury where supporting your upper body with this arm is difficult, engage the glutes to keep the weight off of the arm. The arm does not need to support the weight of your body.
Extended Leg Side Arm
Arm reaches up and over
Palm faces the floor
Shoulder moves away from the ear
Important Notes
Keep the shoulder moving away from the ear.
Gaze
Traditionally goes up toward the ceiling.
Key things to look for in Gate Pose
Don’t stick your booty back
Try to roll your sternum (breast bone) towards the ceiling to deepen the stretch in the side body and better align your gate.
1 min Anxiety Relief
Sign up for my newsletter and get my 1 min checklist to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain + guided audio.
Privacy is important. I won’t sell your info. I promise.
Let’s Get Into It: How to Move In and Out of Gate Pose
There are a few different ways to get into Gate pose, but the easiest and simplest way is to start on all 4s (quadruped or tabletop).
Start in tabletop
Kneel upright so your hips are stacked over your knees, and your shoulders are stacked over your hips
Place hands on the hips
Extend one leg out to the side
Inhale reach the supporting leg side out to the side and up as you lean towards the extended leg
Keep the torso over the leg and think about rolling the sternum up towards the ceiling to help keep the body in the same plane as the legs.
To come out of the pose, reverse the steps above.
** Reading Break ** This blog post DOES contain affiliate links of related products I love and they might even be pictured. If you click on a link and purchase a product (or service) it costs you nothing, you MIGHT even get a discount, and I MAY even receive a SMALL commission. This helps me to buy and drink coffee ☕️ in order to keep me awake and provide you with amazing free content 💗 Thank You for supporting my content 💋
Gate Pose Variations: Spicy and Sweet, and all things between
Below are a few variations. Many of them might make the pose 10% more comfortable, and some of them make the pose 110% more uncomfortable 😅.
Gaze
Reason: Your neck isn’t happy when you look up.
Options:
Turn your gaze forward
Turn your gaze down
Propped on a Blanket
Reason: You have bursitis, have had knee surgery, or have sensitive knees.
How to do it:
Grab a blanket or something soft like a zabuton and use that instead of your mat, or on top of your mat.
Knee on the soft surface and do gate pose as you normally would
Propped on a Block
Reason: When you bend laterally you want to place your hand on something other than your body.
Reason: Your arm or shoulder hurts, has been injured, has a decreased range of motion (ROM), or you want to enhance your bend.
Options:
Hand to hip
Hand to heart
Hand to shoulder
Resting on the leg
Let it hang
On your forearm (for a deeper side bend)
Arm Variations for the supporting leg side
Reason: Your arm or shoulder hurts, has been injured, or you want to work harder
Options:
Hand to hip
Arm extended out in front of you
Hand to heart center
Foot Variations for the supporting leg side
Reason: You have limited mobility of the foot or ankle. You want an added stretch to the lower leg and foot.
Options:
Toes curled under (stretch the bottoms of the feet)
Toes pointed (to stretch the top of the feet)
Foot Variations for the extended leg side
Reason: You have limited mobility of the foot, ankle, or knee. You want added stability or to try something different.
Options:
Toes point to the long edge of the mat but the blade of the foot does not touch the mat
Toes point toward the top short edge of the mat and toes touch the floor
Toes point toward the top short edge of the mat and toes do not touch the mat
Toes are somewhere between the options listed above
Leg Variations for the extended leg side
These variations are tricky! You may want to do this facing the wall, or holding on to a chair in front of you. If you’ve got incredible balance on your shins you can go for it without any support 🙌
Reason: You want an added workout
Options:
Top leg lifted (and hold)
Top leg lifted (and tap the ground, lift, repeat)
Top leg lifted (and pulse)
Top leg lifted (and do circles)
Top leg lifted (and do forward/backward straight leg kicks)
Am I doing this right? What you should feel in Gate Pose
Gate pose hits a lot of areas in the body, so it could be hard to determine if you feel that sweet sensation in all the right spots, or if you are stuck in a bland version of something similar. Depending on your anatomy you may not feel some of the points below, and that is ok too.
Lower Body:
Outside of the butt/hips (glute meds) are engaged to move the supporting leg outward from the midline of the body (abducted), the knee is bent (flexed) 90 degrees. There may be some sensation (stretch) in the internal thighs (adductors) due to the abduction of the leg.
The butt (glute max and glute meds) is engaged to prevent folding forward (hip flexion).
Extended leg is straight (knee extension) and moves away from the midline of the body (abduction). There may be a stretch of the internal thighs (adductors) due to the abduction of the leg.
Extended leg blade of the foot, heel, and big toe are connected to the mat (supination) there may be a stretch on the outside of the leg (Peroneus Brevis, Peroneus Longus, Iliotibial band (IT band), Tensor Fascia Latae)
Trunk of the Body:
The torso is in a lateral bend from the hips and a stretch is felt in the muscles of the side body: obliques (side muscles of the abs) and latissimus dorsi (muscles alongside the ribs & back, and end in the armpit).
Engagement of the sides of the core (obliques) helps with the slight rotation of the trunk towards the ceiling to keep the torso in the same plane as the supporting leg.
You’ll feel the core muscles (transverse and rectus abdominis) engaged to keep the spine/torso long.
Upper Body:
The mid-back muscles (lower trapezius) engage to draw the shoulders away from the ears.
With the arm straight and alongside the ear in traditional gate pose a stretch is felt in the chest (pectoralis major and minor), the sides of the ribs (latissimis dorsi), and the backs of the shoulders (posterior deltoid).
With the upper arm alongside the ear, the muscles in the front of the shoulder (anterior deltoid) are engaged.
The supporting arm shouldn’t be holding too much of your upper body weight, but the middle back muscles (middle trapezius and rhomboids) work to draw the shoulder blade toward the spine and keep the chest open.
Gaze
Traditionally the gaze goes up toward the ceiling, and the neck muscles (erectors) work to support the head to keep it in line with the rest of the spine.
Let’s Nerd Out: The Anatomical breakdown of Gate Pose
Want some nerdy information? Well, you can get it right here!
Muscles Worked
Gluteus Medius: Used to abduct (move away from the midline) the front leg
Gluteus Maximus: Used (a little bit) to prevent hip flexion (hinging of the torso forward)
Lower trapezius: To lower the shoulder blades down the back (scapular depression)
Middle trapezius: To draw shoulder blades toward the spine
Rhomboids: To draw shoulder blades toward the spine
Anterior deltoid: To draw the arm alongside the ear (shoulder flexion)
Triceps: to keep the extended arm straight (elbow extension)
Cervical neck extensors: to keep the neck straight
Muscles Stretched
Peroneus Brevis
Peroneus Longus
Iliotibial band (IT band)
Tensor Fascia Latae (maybe)
Adductors
Quadratus Lumborum
Obliques
Latisimus dorsi
Psoas
Posterior deltoid
Well, there you go. Hopefully, you saw beyond the mediocrities of gate pose. And perhaps you found a new way to sweeten your side bend or spice up your glute workout. Sign up for my newsletter and discover more ways to enhance your practice on and off the mat.
1 min Anxiety Relief
Sign up for my newsletter and get my 1 min checklist to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain + guided audio.
Privacy is important. I won’t sell your info. I promise.
