Malasana

{{Short description|Various squatting asanas in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise}}

The name Malasana is used for various squatting asanas in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=261-267}}{{sfn|Ramaswami|Krishnamacharya|2005|p=28}}

Traditionally, and in B. K. S. Iyengar's Light on Yoga, Malasana, or Garland Pose, is used for a squatting pose with the feet together and the back rounded with multiple hand placement variations.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=266}} When the hands are bound around the back this pose is called Kanchyasana ("golden belt pose").{{sfn|Ramaswami|Krishnamacharya|2005|p=28}}

In the West, the name Malasana is also used for the regular squat pose, Upaveshasana,{{sfn|Kaminoff|Kaminoff|2013}} in which the hand palms are folded together in Anjali Mudra in front of the chest, and the feet are set wider apart.

Etymology

The name Malasana is from the Sanskrit "माला" mālā, a garland, necklace, or rosary;{{Cite web |url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=mAlA&script=&direction=SE&link=yes |title=spokensanskrit.de, mAlA |access-date=2014-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503013956/http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=mAlA&script=&direction=SE&link=yes |archive-date=2017-05-03 |url-status=dead }} and "आसन" āsana, "seat" or "posture". According to Iyengar, the name derives from the arms "hanging from the neck like a garland".{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=267}} Under the name Malasana, the 19th-century Sritattvanidhi illustrates what is now called Bhujapidasana (the shoulder press), a pose in which the body is completely supported on the hands.{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|p=27}}{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=280-282}}{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|p=40}}{{refn|group=note|In this position, the arms are indeed "hanging from the neck like a garland,"{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=267}} in contrast to Iyengar's squatting Malasana and Upavesasana.}}

Description and variants

The name malasana is used for the following asanas:{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=261-267}}{{sfn|Ramaswami|Krishnamacharya|2005|p=28}}{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|p=27}}

= Upaveshasana =

File:Upaveśāsana.jpg]]

The name Malasana is sometimes used in the West for the regular squat pose, Upaveshasana (IAST:Upaveśāsana),{{sfn|Kaminoff|Kaminoff|2013}} in which the palms of the hands are folded together in Anjali Mudra (prayer posture) in front of the chest, and the feet are set apart. Yoga Journal states that Malasana stretches the ankles, groins and back, and tones the belly, but cautions about using the asana when there are lower back or knee injuries.{{cite web |url=http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2472 |title=Garland Pose |publisher=Yoga Journal |date=28 August 2007}} A variant of this pose, Prapadasana, has the heels together and the feet on tiptoe.{{cite web |title=Tiptoe Pose: Prapadasana |url=http://www.yogabasics.com/asana/tiptoe-pose/ |publisher=Yoga Basics |access-date=8 February 2019}}

= Malasana I/Kanchyasana =

In the first variant, also called Kanchyasana ("golden belt pose"),{{sfn|Ramaswami|Krishnamacharya|2005|p=28}} the feet are together with the arms wrapped around the back, while the chin touches the floor.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=262-266}}

= Malasana II =

In the second variant, the hands wrap around the heels, and the chin touches the floor.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=266}}{{refn|group=note|Iyengar mentions this as variant II.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|p=266}}}}

Notes

References

Sources

{{cite book | last=Iyengar | first=B. K. S. |author-link=B. K. S. Iyengar | year=1979 | title=Light on Yoga | publisher=Unwin Paperbacks}}
{{cite book | last1=Kaminoff | first1=Leslie |author1-link=Leslie Kaminoff | last2=Kaminoff | first2=Matthew | year=2013 | title=Yoga-Anatomie: Ihr Begleiter durch die Asanas, Bewegungen und Atemtechniken | publisher=Riva Verlag}}
{{cite book | last1=Ramaswami | first1=Srivatsa | author-link=Srivatsa Ramaswami | last2=Krishnamacharya | first2=T. | author2-link=Krishnamacharya | year=2005 | title=The complete book of vinyasa yoga: an authoritative presentation, based on 30 years of direct study under the legendary yoga teacher Krishnamacharya | publisher=Da Capo Press | isbn=978-1-56924-402-9 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/completebookofvi00rama }}
{{cite book | last=Sjoman | first=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman | year=1999 |orig-year=1996 | title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace | publisher=Abhinav Publications | isbn=978-81-7017-389-2 }}

Category:Standing asanas

Category:Forward bend asanas