Setu bandhāsana, the bridge pose

3 min read · Updated October 16, 2026 · sources checked October 16, 2026

Sanskrit: सेतुबन्धासनSetu Bandhāsana
Meaning of the name: Bridge pose: setu, bridge or causeway, bandha, building or binding, and āsana, posture
Level: Beginner
Family: Backbend
In the texts: Modern posture; the name recalls the bridge built to Laṅkā in the Rāmāyaṇa (6.15)

In short

Setu bandhāsana, the bridge pose, is a gentle backbend done lying on the back: knees bent, feet flat and hip-width apart, you press into the feet and lift the hips, shoulders and head staying on the floor. Hold five breaths, roll down slowly. Its full name, setu bandha sarvāṅgāsana, recalls the bridge of the Rāmāyaṇa.

A setu is a bridge, a causeway, a dike across water. Most Indian listeners hear in setu-bandha, "the building of the bridge", the great episode of the Rāmāyaṇa: Rāma's army of monkeys builds a causeway across the ocean to reach Laṅkā, where Sītā is held captive. The book of the war says it plainly: "Nala built the great bridge in the middle of the ocean" (Rāmāyaṇa 6.15.20). In the posture, your body makes the arch, feet and shoulders anchored on the two shores.

Steps

Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor and hip-width apart, heels a hand's length from the buttocks.
Place the arms alongside the body, palms down. The back of the neck is long, the chin slightly lowered.
Inhaling, press into the feet and lift the hips, one vertebra after another, until the body forms a slope from the knees to the shoulders.
Keep the knees parallel, pointing forward over the ankles.
If it is comfortable, walk the shoulders slightly under you and interlace the fingers beneath the back, or keep the palms flat.
Hold three to five breaths, breathing calmly. Keep the head still.
Exhaling, release the hands and roll down slowly from the upper back to the tailbone. Rest with the knees bent, or hug them to the chest.

Alignment

The knees stay hip-width apart, neither falling out nor squeezing in.
The effort comes from the legs and buttocks pressing down through the feet, not from pushing the neck.
The weight rests on the shoulders and upper arms; the back of the neck keeps a small space under it.

Variations

Supported bridge (gentle version): lift the hips and slide a yoga block or a firm cushion under the sacrum, the flat bony area at the base of the spine. Rest there one to three minutes, arms relaxed. A good resting pose at the end of a session.
Dynamic bridge: lift on the inhalation, lower on the exhalation, six to eight times, to warm up the back.
One leg raised (intermediate): from the bridge, lift one leg towards the ceiling, hips level.
Toward the wheel: the bridge is the first stage of the wheel, learned later.

Contraindications

Neck injury or neck pain: use the supported version, low, or skip; never turn the head while the hips are lifted.
Second half of pregnancy: lying flat on the back is not advised; ask your midwife or doctor.
Acute low-back pain: keep the lift very small, or choose the supported version with your therapist's agreement.
Knee pain: move the feet slightly further from the buttocks.

In the texts

The bridge is a modern posture: neither the Hatha Yoga Pradipika nor the Gheranda Samhita describes it. Its full name in many schools, setu bandha sarvāṅgāsana, "the bridge-building pose of all the limbs" (sarvāṅga, the name of the shoulder stand), ties it to the shoulderstand family: in the more advanced form, practitioners come down into the bridge from the shoulderstand. The name, though, carries an epic. In the critical edition of the Rāmāyaṇa, the bridge is built by the monkey Nala, son of the divine architect Viśvakarman (6.15.8), ten yojanas wide and a hundred long (6.15.20), and "all beings saw the bridge being built across the ocean" (6.15.24).

Good to know

Place a block between the knees and keep it there: the legs learn to stay parallel without effort.

The bridge is a counter-pose and a preparation for the shoulderstand, the easiest step before the wheel, and a cousin of the cobra and the bow. Follow it with knees to chest and rest in śavāsana. Its name is one of many stories collected in the meaning of pose names. All the cards: the asanas chapter.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between bridge pose and wheel pose?

In the bridge, the head, neck and shoulders stay on the floor and only the hips lift. In the wheel, you press up onto the hands and feet and the whole trunk leaves the floor, which asks for much more strength and flexibility.

Can I do bridge pose every day?

Yes, in its gentle form. Many beginner sessions include two or three rounds, and the supported bridge on a block can be held longer as a resting pose.

Should I turn my head in bridge pose?

Never. Once the hips are up, part of your weight rests near the base of the neck: keep the head still, eyes on the ceiling.

Sources

Vālmīki, Rāmāyaṇa, Sanskrit text of the critical edition, book 6 (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 16, 2026
Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), entry setu, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries checked October 16, 2026
Svātmārāma, Haṭhayogapradīpikā, Sanskrit text (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 16, 2026

Practise gently and within your limits. Yoga is learnt best with a qualified teacher; this page does not replace one.