Extend both legs and lean back on your hands to let the hips settle. · A gentle seated twist in each direction. · Rest in Corpse pose once both sides are complete.
Time your hold
Three soft ticks and a bell when you're done, so you can close your eyes and stop
watching the clock.
How to do it
Come to sitting with your knees bent. Take one shin out in front of you and swing the other shin around behind you, so both knees rest at roughly a right angle — front leg externally rotated, back leg internally rotated.
Settle both sit bones down. If the back-leg hip lifts, slide a cushion under the front-leg sit bone so you feel level.
You can simply stay upright here, tall through the spine, feeling both hips. That alone is a complete pose.
To add more, turn toward the front shin and fold gently forward over it, or twist away from it — let your body choose which direction has something to release.
Find your edge — about 60–80% of your capacity, a real stretch but never forcing. Be still and let the shape do the work.
Come out slowly and switch the legs for the second side.
Why practice it
Opens both sides of the hip at once — one thigh in external rotation, the other in internal rotation — in a shape that is remarkably kind to the knees.
A gentle way to explore internal hip rotation, which many Yin poses don't reach, so it balances the deeper outer-hip work.
Stimulates the liver and gall bladder lines through the inner and outer thighs, and the kidney and spleen lines through the hips.
Makes a soothing counter after a strong outer-hip pose like Shoelace or Swan, or a resting place between sides.
Before you go
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Take care
This shape is usually gentle on the knees, but if either knee feels any twist or pinch, widen the angle of the legs or slip a cushion under the tender knee.
Sit up on a folded blanket if the lower back rounds uncomfortably or one hip won't reach the floor.
If you fold forward, let the spine round softly — but with disc trouble or sciatica, stay upright and simply enjoy the rotation.
Keep sensation in the hips, not the knee joints. Ease back if a knee objects.
Coming in & out
Into the pose
From a cross-legged seat, sweep one shin forward and the other behind you.
From Shoelace, unstack the knees and bring the shins into the front-and-back Deer position.
Out of the pose
Come out slowly. Bring the back shin around to the front and extend both legs forward to release.
Pause, then reverse the shins for the other side.
Common questions
How long do you hold Deer in Yin Yoga?
Around 1–3 minutes per side. Deer is often used as a shorter, soothing counterpose between deeper hip openers, so it doesn't need the long hold of a main pose — settle in, soften, and come out a little sooner if you ever need to.
Is Deer suitable for beginners?
Yes. Deer is a beginner-friendly Yin pose — approachable and easy to support. Work at about 60–80% of your edge, breathe, and read the cues and cautions on this page before you begin.
What does Deer stretch?
Deer mainly works the hips, outer hips, inner thighs and lower back. Opens both sides of the hip at once — one thigh in external rotation, the other in internal rotation — in a shape that is remarkably kind to the knees.
Do you need props for Deer?
You don't have to, but a cushion or blanket can make Deer more comfortable and help you relax into the hold. Props in Yin aren't a shortcut — they let you stay longer and soften more deeply.
What's the difference between Deer and Shoelace?
Shoelace stacks both knees and rotates both hips outward, which many people feel strongly in the knees. Deer opens the front shin forward and the back shin behind, so one hip rotates outward and the other inward — a gentler, more balanced shape that many find kinder on the knees. That's why Deer makes such a good counterpose after Shoelace or Swan.
Deer is one shape among many. When you'd like to put a whole sequence together into one long, slow practice, pop your email in and I'll send you my free two-hour Yin, restorative and Yoga Nidra retreat. Yours to keep.
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