Want to Practice Bird of Paradise? How to Work Up to This Challenging Pose

Just like in life, a yoga practice requires balance in order to feel strong and empowered to take on any challenge. Of course, achieving balance requires effort and patience… especially when you’re trying to work your way into peak poses like Bird of Paradise (Svarga Dvidasana). If you’ve yet to achieve the full expression of this pose and it’s on your bucket list, you’ll want to keep reading.

Ahead, Peloton instructor Aditi Shah guides us on the ins and outs of Bird of Paradise. Discover its primary benefits, and how to work up to this pose.

What Is the Bird of Paradise Pose?

In yoga, Bird of Paradise pose is a standing balancing pose. It entails folding forward, binding your hands behind one leg, and slowly working your way up to a standing position while maintaining that bind. In its full expression, you’ll straighten the bent leg angled towards the sky.

Why Bird of Paradise Is So Challenging

Bird of Paradise is an intermediate-to-advanced pose. It’s often cued as a peak pose in a vinyasa yoga class, meaning you’ll need to work your way up to it with the right prep poses.

“In my opinion, Bird of Paradise is a posture that requires a lot of warm-up and a lot of practice,” Aditi says. “In my classes, I always say we're building something, so we're going to do a little bit of that movement and then a little bit more and then a little bit more. Then we're going to build up to whatever that posture is.” In other words, both newbies and advanced practitioners alike should take the time to practice poses that will help you build up to Bird of Paradise (which we’ll cover shortly), instead of trying to nail it the minute you step onto your mat.

Some find Bird of Paradise challenging since there’s a lot involved in expressing it. The pose requires a mixture of strength, flexibility, and balance—some areas in which you may excel, and others you may still need to work on. For instance, even if your legs are strong and solid, your hips might be tight. And if your hips are pretty open, your shoulders might hunch forward while trying to keep the bind. Moreover, you might struggle to balance upright if your mind is wandering and you’re unable to focus.

With these considerations in mind, you shouldn’t let Bird of Paradise intimidate you. “For a lot of people, it's going to get easier with practice,” Aditi says.

To help you work on the fundamentals of this challenging pose, you can always:

The Benefits of Bird of Paradise

The benefits of Bird of Paradise include but aren’t limited to:

It’s worth remembering that all yoga postures—from more challenging poses like Bird of Paradise to even the silent and still Corpse Pose (Savasana)—have inherent benefits. In a 2023 study of 40 female college students published in the journal PLoS One, a 16-week yoga intervention improved the participants’:

The yoga sequence used in this study was well-rounded—incorporating standing, sitting, kneeling, prone, and supine postures, as well as breathing and deep relaxation techniques. That said, these results of a comprehensive yoga practice could stand to benefit those hoping to land Bird of Paradise, as each of these markers are involved in holding and maintaining the pose.

How to Do Bird of Paradise 

To practice Bird of Paradise, heed Aditi’s how-to below.

1. Get into Starting Position

Stand at the top of your mat with your feet wider than your hips. Fold forward.

2. Bend, Tuck, and Bind

Bend your right knee and snuggle your right shoulder underneath it. Bring your left arm behind you and secure the bind with your right hand.

3. Return to Standing

Shift your weight evenly into your left foot. Slowly work your way up to a standing position, keeping your right knee bent and your bind secure. Keep an upright position and avoid hunching your shoulders forward. Maintain even inhales and exhales. Find your drishti to help maintain your focus and balance.

4. Extend the Bent Leg (Optional)

If you’re ready to work up to the full expression, slowly begin to straighten the right leg towards the sky.

5. Work Your Way Out of the Pose

Slowly come out of the pose by reversing the steps you took to get into it (i.e., bending the top knee if you extended it, folding forward, and releasing your bind).

6. Repeat On the Other Side

Start from step one and continue the same sequence with your right standing leg.

Bird of Paradise Pose Modifications and Variations

Need to modify Bird of Paradise? If you can’t yet clasp your hands, you can use a strap or towel to maintain your bind.

Moreover, Aditi says that extending your bent leg—as impressive as it looks—isn’t totally necessary. You’ll still be able to reap the benefits of Bird of Paradise if you’re not quite there yet. Any modification of the pose still means you are practicing it. “Don't worry about extending the leg,” she shares. Rather, “think about finding the building blocks of Bird of Paradise and work on that.”

She recommends modifying as needed and taking things one step (or even body part) at a time, especially to nail the basics like binding and balance. In the latter case, “If you want to take a Tree Pose, [it works on] holding that leg but not having the full bind in the balance or extending that leg."

How to Work Up to Bird of Paradise

“Often, I like to think about [peak] postures as a direction in which we're moving. So a lot of times when I instruct or cue Bird of Paradise, we work up to it,” Aditi shares. “That's going to include binding, hip and hamstring opening, and balance.”

Here, she shares some of her go-to poses to prepare for Bird of Paradise:

Bound Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana)

“I love the idea of doing Bound Side Angle for the bind and for a little bit of a hip opener,” Aditi shares.

Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana)

Half Moon is a moderately challenging standing balancing pose that works on opening the hips and hamstrings, Aditi explains.

Extended Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana)

“I love the idea of doing something like a Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose out to the side,” Aditi shares. “It's actually a quite similar movement and direction that we're moving in with Bird of Paradise.”

Additional Prep Poses for Bird of Paradise

Aditi says there’s really no shortage of options to prepare for Bird of Paradise. She also recommends:

The Takeaway

While it’s among the more challenging yoga poses, Bird of Paradise will be more accessible if you focus on building up the different components required for it—including balance, flexibility, strength, and focus. Whether you work on the basics step by step, practice expert-vetted prep poses, or stream a Bird of Paradise Focus Flow on the Peloton App, practice makes perfect. With perfection meaning giving your best effort (without compromising the integrity of your movements) on any given day.