Bidalasana
{{Short description|A kneeling posture in modern yoga}}
File:Yoga at Your Park - Bitilasana.jpg
File:Yoga at Your Park - Bidalasana.jpg
Bidalasana ({{langx|sa|बिडालासन}}; {{IAST-hi1|biḍālāsana}}) or Marjariasana ({{langx|sa|मार्जरीआसन}}; {{IAST-hi1|mārjārīāsana}}), both meaning Cat Pose in Sanskrit, is a kneeling asana in modern yoga as exercise.{{Cite web |author=Anon |title=Cat Pose - Marjaryasana |date=28 August 2007 |publisher=Yoga Journal |url=http://www.yogajournal.com/pose/cat-pose/}} A variant with one leg held up is Vyaghrasana ({{langx|sa|व्याघ्रासन}}; {{IAST-hi1|vyaghrāsana}}), Tiger Pose; a similar variant with one leg held straight out is Chakravakasana ({{langx|sa|चक्रवाकासन}}; {{IAST-hi1|cakravākāsana}}), Sunbird Pose. A variant with the back lowered is Bitilasana ({{langx|sa|बितिलासन}}; {{IAST-hi1|bitilāsana}}), Cow Pose; this is often used as the counter-posture, and a widely used exercise is to alternate between Cat and Cow Poses repeatedly.
Etymology and origins
The name Bidalasana, {{lang|sa|बिडालासन}}, is from the Sanskrit {{lang|sa|बिडाल}}, {{lang|sa-Latn|biḍāl}}, meaning "cat", and {{lang|sa-Latn|āsana}} meaning "posture" or "seat".{{cite book |last=Holstein |first=Barbara B. |title=Shaping Up for a Healthy Pregnancy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g_QLAQAAMAAJ |year=1988 |publisher=Life Enhancement Publications |isbn=978-0-87322-926-5 |page=76}} The alternative name Marjariasana (also written Marjaryasana), {{lang|sa|मार्जरीआसन}}, is similarly from {{lang|sa|मार्जरी}}, {{lang|sa-Latn|mārjārī}}, also meaning "cat".{{cite journal |title=Cat Pose |journal=Yoga Journal |date=7 January 2019 |orig-year=2007 |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/cat-pose}} A similar pose was described in Niels Bukh's early 20th century Danish text Primary Gymnastics as "prone-kneeling position",{{cite book |last1=Bukh |first1=Niels |author-link=Niels Bukh |title=Primary Gymnastics |date=2010 |orig-year=1924 |publisher=Tufts Press |isbn=978-1446527351 |page=42}} which in turn was derived from a 19th-century Scandinavian tradition of gymnastics.{{cite web |last=Singleton |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) |title=The Ancient & Modern Roots of Yoga |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/yoga-s-greater-truth |publisher=Yoga Journal |date=4 February 2011}}
A different asana, Marjarottanasana, meaning upside-down cat stretch pose, is illustrated in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi.{{cite book |last=Sjoman |first=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BU2WI8wMpcC |title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1999 |orig-year=1996 |isbn=81-7017-389-2 |pages=81 and plate 14 (pose 82) }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
A pose named Vyaghrasana or tiger pose is listed but not described in the 17th century Hatha Ratnavali.{{cite book |author=Srinivasa | first1=Narinder | editor1-last=Gharote | editor1-first=M. L. | editor2-last=Devnath |editor2-first=Parimal |editor3-last=Jha | editor3-first=Vijay Kant | title=Hatha Ratnavali Srinivasayogi {{!}} A Treatise On Hathayoga | year=2002 |publisher=The Lonavla Yoga Institute |isbn=81-901176-96 | pages=98–122 asanas listed; Figures of asanas in unnumbered pages between pages 153 and 154; asanas named but not described in text listed on pages 157–159 | edition=1 | url=https://archive.org/details/HathaRatnavaliSrinivasayogiATreatiseOnHathayogaEd.GharoteM.L.DevnathParimalDevNa/page/n191}}
Description
The practitioner kneels on all fours and slowly raises and lowers the back, transitioning in a gentle vinyasa between Cat and Cow Poses, and exercising the core muscles that support the spine.{{cite book |last=Schiffmann |first=Erich |title=Yoga The Spirit And Practice Of Moving Into Stillness |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiTgrTElpL0C&pg=PA89 |year=2013 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4767-3562-7 |pages=89–94}}
The pose is considered in Sivananda Yoga to be suitable for use during pregnancy.{{cite book | last1=Lidell | first1=Lucy | last2=The Sivananda Yoga Centre | author2-link=Sivananda Yoga | title=The book of yoga | publisher=Ebury | year=1983 | isbn=978-0-85223-297-2 | oclc=12457963 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofyoga0000lide/page/166 166] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/bookofyoga0000lide/page/166 }}
Variations
In variations of the pose, one leg is stretched out straight, and the knee of the stretched out leg may then be bent so the foot points straight up; the opposite hand may also be stretched out in Vyaghrasana, Tiger Pose{{cite web |title=Vyaghrasana – Tiger Pose |url=http://pranayoga.co.in/asana/vyaghrasana-tiger-pose/ |publisher=Pranayoga |access-date=4 February 2019 |date=27 July 2014}}{{cite web |title=Vyaghrasana: The Tiger |url=https://www.yogaindailylife.org/system/en/level-3/vyaghrasana |website=Yoga in Daily Life |access-date=29 March 2019}} The similar Chakravakasana, Sunbird Pose, has the leg and arm stretched out straight, horizontally.{{cite web |title=Sunbird Pose |url=https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/10333/sunbird-pose |website=Yogapedia |access-date=4 August 2022}}
Cat Pose is often alternated with Bitilasana, Cow Pose, where the belly and back are lowered and the hips and shoulders remain unmoved.{{cite web |title=Cow Pose |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/cow-pose |publisher=Yoga Journal |date=7 January 2019 |access-date=27 April 2019}}{{-}}