Tortoise · Sleeping Tortoise · Kurmasana · Supta Kurmasana

Kurmasana · Supta Kurmasana · 쿠르마사나 · 거북이 자세

Primary Series · Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy) — Seated Sequence

Breath: 5×2 · Drishti (gaze): nose tip

Legs wide, arms extended sideways beneath the knees, chest lowered flat like a tortoise. In supta kurmasana the hands clasp behind and the ankles cross behind the head — the deepest fold of Primary, where patience is the skill itself.

Alignment

Hands — arms threaded under the knees, reaching sideways palms-down (bound behind in Supta)
Feet — flexed and pressing forward; ankles cross in Supta Kurmasana
Knees — the thighs settle onto the shoulders as the legs slowly straighten
Gaze — the third eye, chest and chin sinking toward the floor

Entering the pose

Legs wide, knees soft
Slide the arms out beneath the thighs
Lower the chest, straighten the legs

Common mistakes

Cranking the shoulders under by force
Forcing the legs behind the head alone

Modifications & props

In Kurmasana, lingering long at the stage of knees bent, shoulders working under the legs, is the normal pace.
Substitute Supta's clasp with a towel passed behind the back, and leave the ankle crossing to a teacher's hands.
When the chest is far from the floor, a block under the forehead spares the neck its vigil in mid-air.

Benefits

Takes the back line and hips to their deepest range
Arms beneath the legs open upper back and shoulders
The deepest of folds — profoundly calming

Role in the sequence

The deepest point of the Primary series. Every seated fold before it could be called a warm-up for this one, and Supta Kurmasana's behind-the-back clasp and crossed ankles are the direct ancestor of Intermediate's leg-behind-head family. In the Mysore method it traditionally serves as one of the gates a student passes before receiving the rest of Primary.

Practice notes

Kurma means tortoise. The name recalls Vishnu taking a tortoise's form to hold up the world, and in yoga the tortoise also stands for pratyahara, the drawing in of the senses. Folding the limbs beneath the body like a creature retreating into its shell draws that meaning exactly. It is the deepest forward fold in the Primary Series and, for a great many practitioners, the gate that the whole series hinges on.

The two poses are two stages of one shape. First the legs spread and the arms thread under the knees to reach out sideways while the chest travels toward the floor for five breaths; then the hands clasp behind the back and the ankles cross behind the head for another five. If the shoulders have not slid far enough under the knees in the first stage, the bind of the second cannot exist at all — so what needs patience is the shoulders, not the feet.

This pose opens over years rather than months. In the meantime you fill the five breaths with bent knees and threaded arms, or with the feet simply drawn together instead of crossed. It is also, honestly, the pose where forcing the feet behind the neck injures the most necks and lower backs. Two checks: has the breath gone shallow or stopped, and is the chest moving toward the floor before the chin does? A stopped breath means you have already passed today's limit.

Take supta kurmasana with a teacher, not alone.

Written by Choi Seongjin — 20 years of Ashtanga practice, currently teaching three classes a week. Last updated: 2026-09-05.

This guide is for general information and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant, injured, or have a medical condition, consult a qualified teacher or physician before practising. Disclaimer & Legal Notice

Other poses in this sequence

Ashtanga Shala — Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga guide · Blog