Astavakrasana ( sa, अष्टावक्रासन; IAST: ''Aṣṭāvakrāsana'') or Eight-Angle Pose is a hand-balancing asana in modern

yoga as exercise Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation. Yoga in this form has ...

dedicated to the sage

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, the spiritual guru of King Janaka.

Etymology and origins

The name comes from the Sanskrit words अष्टा ''ashta'' meaning "eight", वक्र ''vakra'' meaning "bent, curved", and आसन ''asana'' meaning "posture" or "seat"; or alternatively from the myth of the sage

. The pose is unknown in hatha yoga until the 20th century '' Light on Yoga'', but the pose appears in the 1896 ''Vyayama Dipika'', a manual of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, so

Norman Sjoman Norman E. Sjoman (born July 6, 1944, Mission City) is known as author of the 1996 book ''The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace'', which contains an English translation of the yoga section of ''Sritattvanidhi'', a 19th-century treatise by the ...

suggests that it is one of the poses adopted into

modern yoga Modern yoga is a wide range of yoga practices with differing purposes, encompassing in its various forms yoga philosophy derived from the Vedas, physical postures derived from Hatha yoga, devotional and tantra-based practices, and Hindu nation- ...

in Mysore by Krishnamacharya. The pose would then have been taken up by his pupils Pattabhi Jois and B. K. S. Iyengar.

Mythology

According to B. K. S. Iyengar's '' Light on Yoga'',

was believed to be the spiritual guru of King Janaka, father of Sita. When he was in his mother's womb, his father Kagola recited the

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inaccurately, making the unborn child laugh. Kagola, furious, put a curse on the baby to be born bent in eight places, "Astavakra" meaning eight bends. Kagola was defeated in debate with the court scholar, Vandi. The young Astavakra beat Vandi in argument, and became Janaka's guru. His father blessed him for this, and his deformity vanished.

Description

Astavakrasana is a hand balance with lateral twist. The pose is entered from a squatting position, one arm between the feet, the other just outside the other foot, palms on the floor. Pushing up and lifting both legs from the floor gives a variant or preparatory position, with both legs bent, one leg over one forearm, the other leg crossed over the first at the ankle. Straightening the legs gives the full pose. Preparatory poses for astavakrasana include the plank pose, Parsva Bakasana (Side Crane pose), Paripurna Navasana and others. The pose may be practised with blocks laid flat under the hands.

References

{{Yoga as exercise Balancing asanas Meditation Twisting asanas Asymmetric asanas

Etymology and origins

Mythology

Description

See also

References