A pose by any other name …

by Jnânasundarî (Janita Stenhouse)

There are 84 lacs (hundreds of thousands) of âsanas described

by Siva. The postures are as many in number as there are

numbers of species of living creatures in this universe.

(Gheranda Samhita, lesson 2, v.1)

You may have noticed that, among these 84 lacs of âsanas, several of them

have the same name but are in fact different postures, and there are those

that are simply variations on a theme. Vîrabhadrâsana, the Warrior, is a

well-known example; one name covers three postures – a back bend, a twist,

and a balance.

But that is only three variants – there are others with five or six. Have you

ever been confused by Ardha Chandrâsana, the Half Moon pose? This can be

a balance, a couple of lateral stretches, even a back bend, and I’ve also come

across it as a forward bend. Furthermore Anjaneyâsana the Monkey pose is

often called the Crescent Moon, which is another back bend.

How about Mandukâsana, the Frog Posture? This name covers a variety of

âsanas which include a back bend, a forward bend, a couple of balances,

and a wonderful stretch for the spine in a modified squat. What a

marvellously amenable âsana this is! Illustrated are three frogs, all looking

remarkably froggy.

One thing all these âsanas have in common is that none of them is a

classical posture, and perhaps herein lies the secret of the nomenclature. It

would appear that the body is (in general) flexible enough to discover

8,400,000 nuances of posture, but the intellect is apparently not equal to

inventing 8,400,000 names. But is this entirely fair? As if it’s not enough to

have several postures under one name, we also have to contend with several

names referring to the same posture.

In many Yoga schools, the teacher never uses Sanskrit names; if you attend

any of these schools, you may find some seriously imaginative naming. I

once saw a teacher’s list of postures (I hesitate to call them âsanas) which

included such exotics as the Platform, the Rolling Ball, the Giraffe, the

Maltese Cross, and the “Posture with No Name” (inspiration must have

deserted her at this point). Scanning the Internet you can easily find âsanas

with such unSanskrit names as Happy Baby, Wild Thing, Downhill Skier,

Dead Fly, Legs up the Wall (alas! this is the United States version of Viparîta

Karanâ), the Cat-Cow (is this a cat metamorphosing into a cow? - the mind

boggles) and plenty more, enough to satisfy the most fervid imagination (but

not the sensibilities of the Sanskritist).

Anyone who has had more than one teacher will have come across different

names for the same âsana. What one person calls the Wheel, another calls

the Crab. The Sanskrit for wheel is chakra (thus chakrâsana) but it is also

known in some schools as Utthita Dhanurâsana (stretched bow) and even

Urdhva Dhanurâsana (upward-facing Bow).

I find it fascinating that an âsana can have several names depending upon

what angle or plane it is practiced in. You can have one basic shape and

perform it vertically, horizontally, in an inverted or a seated position. Let’s

take Upavistha Konâsana as an example.

Upavistha means seated, kona means angle. If you move this shape through

45 degrees so that you balance on the coccyx, you have Sarvâsana, the

Scales. Inverting that to a standing posture gives Prasârita Pâdottânâsana,

and roll it over another 45 degrees puts you into Supta Konâsana.

Or take Ushtrâsana, the Camel Pose. Roll it one way and you have

Dhanurâsana, the Bow; the other way and you have Sethu Bandhâsana, the

Bridge (if you catch your ankles, which gives stimulates several acupressure

points).

Jânusirshâsana, the head to knee pose, standing becomes the Stork (and

that’s easier to say than Ardha Baddha Padmottânâsana). The other way up

it becomes Kraunchâsana, the Heron – although admittedly purists will

insist that the knee is turned the other way, foot outside the hip, in which

case it is simply Triangmukhaipâda Paschimottânâsana at a 45 degree angle.

In fact very many postures have other angles with other names. Obvious

ones are Paschimottânâsana becoming Pâdahastâsana when standing, and

Vajrolî Mudrâ when balancing on the coccyx.

Trikonâsana on its side makes Anantâsana, Vishnu’s Couch; Dandâsana at

45° becomes Meruâsana; Supta Vîrâsana inverted is Bhekâsana, the Frog …

I could go on and on, but I think I’ll leave that to you. Try some out and

you’ll see what I mean. Happy investigating!