How to Do Camel Pose: 3 Ways to Modify Camel Pose

Camel pose, or Ustrasana, is a deep yogic backbend. In Sanskrit, Ustrasana translates to camel (Ustra) pose (asana). The posture’s name comes from the shape the body makes in this asana, which resembles a camel’s hump. Typically, camel pose is practiced towards the end of a yoga class after yogis have warmed up their spines and bodies in other yoga poses.

Practicing camel pose can help relieve lower back pain while stretching the front of the body, including the hip flexors and psoas muscle (the muscle that connects the torso to the legs).

While camel pose can be physically and mentally challenging to master, there are a few practical benefits to adding the posture to your yoga practice, such as improved spinal flexibility and posture and emotional release.

Dramatically bending the spine backward in camel pose helps promote flexibility of the spine in the opposite direction and strengthens the back muscles, which helps counteract a sedentary lifestyle or slouchy posture.

As for mental benefits, camel pose encourages you to trust yourself to bend backward, which can lead to bigger backbending poses.

While experts recommend learning yoga poses under the direct guidance of a certified yoga teacher, here is a step-by-step guide to help you understand the necessary actions of the pose:

1. 1. Stand on your knees at the front of the mat. Ensure your knees are hip-width apart in a kneeling position with the tops of your feet on the mat. Sit up tall in the spine, tucking your tailbone slightly under you, towards the ground.
2. 2. Place your fingertips at the spine’s base. Cover your sacrum (bone at the spinal base) with your palms, supporting your lower back with your hands.
3. 3. Look up and back, slowly leaning backward. Inhale, lift your gaze, and begin to bend backward, expanding up and open through the sternum, looking as high as is comfortable for your neck.
4. 4. Reach for your heels. Exhale and push your glutes forward. Engage the front of your thighs as you begin to reach for one heel and then the other. Keep looking up and back.
5. 5. Lift, then pull up. Pull up onto your heels, continue shifting your weight forward, engage your quadriceps, and bend your back. Touch the shoulder blades together behind you.
6. 6. Breathe. Continue inhaling and exhaling through the nose as you hold this pose.
7. 7. Exit the pose. To exit, bring your hands back to your sacrum to support the lower back as you slowly and gently rise from your backbend. To counteract this deep stretch, rest in child’s pose for a few breaths and allow the sensations and feelings that have arisen to settle.

Since camel is such a deep backbend, consider modifying the pose, depending on your anatomy and flexibility:

1. 1. Tuck your toes. Tucking your toes underneath you lifts your heels, making them more reachable than if your toes were untucked. This modification also gives you a nice stretch in the balls of your feet.
2. 2. Keep your hands on your lower back. If bringing your hands to your heels is challenging, keep your hands on your low back to receive the benefits of this stretch.
3. 3. Use blocks. Place yoga blocks next to your feet at their tallest height to provide you with a little more lift than tucking your toes. Learn more about yoga props in our complete guide.

Proper form and technique are essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of a yoga practice. If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before practicing yoga. Yoga poses may be modified based on your individual needs.

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