In short: in both big toes pose you balance on the sitting bones with both legs straight up in a V, holding the big toes with both hands, the arms and back straight and the chest lifted. It combines the core strength of boat pose with the hamstring length of a seated forward bend. Bent knees are the honest way to start.
The pose belongs to the Ashtanga primary series, where you roll up into it from lying on your back with the feet behind the head, and it is a common seated balance in other styles, often entered simply from sitting. Below we explain the name, both ways in and the precautions.
What the name means
Ubhaya Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana joins ubhaya (both), pāda (foot), aṅguṣṭha (big toe) and āsana (posture): the posture holding both big toes. It is related by name to standing big-toe pose (Padangusthasana) and reclining hand-to-big-toe pose (Supta Padangusthasana), which use the same grip. The hand position is the “yogi toe lock”: the first two fingers hook around the big toe and the thumb presses from the other side.
Two ways in
From sitting (easier). Sit, bend the knees and hold the big toes. Lean back until you balance just behind the sitting bones, lift the chest, then straighten the legs only as far as the back stays long. Most people stay with bent knees for a while; that is the right version until the hamstrings allow more.
The Ashtanga roll-up. Lie on your back, swing the straight legs overhead until the toes touch the floor behind you, take the big toes, then roll up on an inhalation to balance on the sitting bones, keeping the grip and the legs and arms straight. Yoga Journal’s step-by-step and AshtangaYoga.info describe the same sequence. The roll asks for control: AshtangaYoga.info suggests pressing the heels back to build elastic tension in the back of the legs and braking at the top by lifting the chest. Because it starts with the legs over the head, the neck carries some load; anyone with a neck problem should use the seated entry instead.
Once balanced, firm the thighs, lift the chest without pushing the ribs forward, draw the shoulders away from the ears and look up gently. Stay for five breaths, as both Ashtanga sources suggest.
Precautions in plain words
Rolling onto the back of the neck and balancing on the sitting bones are both demanding. Avoid the roll-up with neck problems, and avoid the pose with a tailbone injury, lower-back problems that flare with sitting balances, or during pregnancy. Pad the floor behind you with a folded blanket for the roll. If the lower back rounds and you sink onto the tailbone, bend the knees. This page is general information, not individual advice.
Preparation and what comes next
Boat pose builds the balance and core strength; reclining hand-to-big-toe pose and seated forward bend build the hamstring length. In the Ashtanga primary series the next pose is upward-facing intense stretch, which uses the same roll-up with a different grip and folds the legs to the chest.
A simple way to practise it. Build the balance and the hamstring length separately. Practise boat pose for a few breaths with bent knees to find the balance point behind the sitting bones, and practise reclining hand-to-big-toe pose with a strap for the hamstrings. Then try the seated entry: hold the big toes with bent knees, find the balance, and straighten the legs a little at a time. Learn the Ashtanga roll-up only after that feels steady, ideally with a teacher watching the first attempts.
You will meet both big toes pose in Ashtanga and in vinyasa classes as a core-focused balance.
