The gate position is true side bend. Here’s how it helps you.

The Yoga Journal Archives Series is a curated collection of articles originally published in back issues beginning in 1975. This article first appeared in the 1985 issue of Yoga Journal.

Gate Pose (Pangnasana), is one of the few poses in yoga that gives a deep stretch to the sides of the body. Most poses focus on forward or backward movement or twisting rather than true side bending. For this reason, Gate Pose is a useful addition to a student’s practice.

The side bending stretch provided by this asana is beneficial for several reasons. First, it stretches the intercostal muscles, which are the muscles that connect the ribs. Increased mobility in this area allows greater freedom of movement in the lungs. As one progresses to practice Pranayama (conscious breathing exercises), the suppleness and sensitivity of the lungs and the structures surrounding them are of paramount importance.

Increased freedom in lateral bending is also important because it allows greater freedom in all torsional positions. One of the laws of spinal motion states that side bending and rotation go together. Thus, when the spine bends to the side, it rotates; When it is rotated, it bends to the side. This reciprocal action occurs in part because of the wedge shape of the discs between the vertebrae and the angle at which the posterior (posterior) surfaces of the vertebrae meet at the facet joints. Therefore, if a person wants to improve range of motion in side bending, practicing twisted poses is beneficial.

Finally, Gate Pose is a beneficial position for its effect on the abdominal muscles. Part of these muscles, the obliques, run in a crisscross pattern over the middle and lower abdomen. Gate Pose stretches and strengthens these muscles as well as stimulating the abdominal organs.

Portal placement requires a variety of skills. One needs balance and flexibility in the hip joints, thigh and leg muscles, and of course flexibility in side bending. But to understand the asana, one needs to understand its spirit as well as its form. Like all asanas, Gate Pose can teach one a lot about how the mind works.

Perfect execution is not the goal of asana practice. A very flexible student may be able to perform a seemingly perfect posture, but because the asana is performed and not expressed, its inner beauty is lost. Unless the mind is brought to stillness, the stillness of the body is incomplete. Without integration of body and mind, there is no asana.

Because the average yoga student has spent years with a mind that is constantly in motion, he or she often has difficulty understanding not only what a still mind is, but also how to allow it. Putting in too much effort to create stillness is counterproductive. As in trying to force a person to sleep, the effort itself prevents the desired result. How then can one create a still mind in asana?

The first step is to create distance between one’s thoughts and perceptions. When thoughts and perceptions cannot be distinguished, one tends to identify with one’s thoughts and mistakenly view them as “self.” To stay in Gate Pose, one can begin by creating a space between how one thinks about the pose and how one views it. Don’t let the intellectual understanding of the situation dominate the mental screen.

Instead, give preference to receiving the sensations of the moment without analyzing them or having a mental conversation about them. Gradually the mind will become calmer. Paradoxically, when one merely observes the pose, the clarity achieved allows one to correct the pose technique more easily than if one tried to analyze the technique and then correct it.

When this clarity occurs, the gate pose not only remains external, but also expresses the internal stillness that is the spirit of the asana. This ability to remain still, calm and yet completely aware – which is at once extremely difficult and surprisingly simple – is the essence of the practice of yoga. Without an understanding of inner stillness, Gate Pose or any other pose becomes merely an exercise, lacking the profound effects that yoga can create in the body and mind.

How to practice gate pose

To practice Gate Pose, kneel on a folded blanket. Extend the right leg out to the side, with the right foot facing outward, perpendicular to and in a straight line with the left knee.

Start with the weight on the heel but let the weight gradually roll toward the ball of the foot as the pose is completed. Raise your left arm toward the ceiling, and as you exhale bend to the right. The right arm should slide down the right leg. Remember that this pose is a side bend and that the stretch should be felt along the left side of the torso.

Make sure to keep your torso facing forward without rotating. Take several slow breaths into the pose, then slowly come up. Repeat to the other side.

A novice student can practice as in Figure 2, focusing on lifting and stretching more than bending. Be careful not to put undue pressure on the leg, as shown in Figure 2. This can be especially harmful to a student who has a tendency toward hyperextension of the knees.

The position may also be difficult for a student who has trouble kneeling, in which case additional padding below the supportive knee may be helpful. The student can also try placing weight on the front and inside of the kneecap (patella).