Yoganidrasana#Variations

File:Deogarh Dasavatara-Tempel Vishnu (1999).jpg asleep on Ananta. Deogarh Temple, Dasavatara]]

The name of this pose comes from {{lang|sa|योग}} {{lang|sa-Latn|yoga}} meaning "uniting", {{lang|sa|निद्र}} {{lang|sa-Latn|nidra}} meaning "sleep", and {{lang|sa|आसन}} {{lang|sa-Latn|āsana}} meaning "posture" or "seat".{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=304-307}} The asana's name derives from the yogic sleep mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata:{{cite web |title=Mahabharata Book 1 Section XXI |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01022.htm |publisher=Sacred Texts |access-date=12 April 2019}}

{{quote|[The Ocean] becomes the bed of the lotus-naveled Vishnu when at the termination of every Yuga that deity of immeasurable power enjoys yoga nidra, the deep sleep under the spell of spiritual meditation.|Mahabharata, Book 1, section XXI}}

Yoganidrasana is described in the 17th century Haṭha Ratnāvalī 3.70.{{cite web |last1=Birch |first1=Jason |author1-link=Jason Birch |last2=Hargreaves |first2=Jacqueline |title=Yoganidrā |url=http://www.embodiedphilosophy.com/yoganidra-understanding-history-context/?_ar_id_=9c7bea07666a7778509518bb67677b4f_9aa7e75174d70f5b31d509114ba7b96d |publisher=Embodied Philosophy |access-date=13 April 2019}} The pose is illustrated in an 18th-century painting of the eight yoga chakras in Mysore.{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|pp=80, 89, 96}} It is illustrated as "Pasini Mudra" (not an asana) in Theos Bernard's 1943 book Hatha Yoga: The Report of A Personal Experience.{{cite book | last=Bernard | first=Theos | author-link=Theos Casimir Bernard | title=Hatha yoga : the report of a personal experience | publisher=Harmony | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-9552412-2-2 | oclc=230987898 | page=128, plate 27}} Pasini Mudra is described in the Gheranda Samhita 3.84: "Throw the two legs on the neck towards the back, holding them strongly together like a noose (Paśa). This is called Paśini Mudra; it awakens the Shakti (Kundalini)."{{cite book|last=Bhatt|first=Govardhan P.|title=The Forceful Yoga: Being the Translation of Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā, Gheraṇḍa-saṁhitā and Śiva-saṁhitā|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Az8X37hnaWUC&pg=PA114|year=2004|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-2055-5|page=114}} In the 20th century, the pose appears as an asana in works such as the 1966 Light on Yoga.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=304-307}}

In Yoganidrasana, the back is on the ground, the feet are crossed behind the head, and the arms are wrapped around the legs and body, the hands clasped behind the lower back.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=304-307}}{{cite book |last=Maehle |first=Gregor |title=Ashtanga Yoga - The Intermediate Series: Mythology, Anatomy, and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OhYeGdNK0UoC&pg=PA144 |year=2012 |publisher=New World Library |isbn=978-1-57731-987-0 |page=144}} The effect is of a strong forward bend; B. K. S. Iyengar rates its difficulty as 18 out of 60.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=304-307}}{{cite web |last1=Doane |first1=Nicki |last2=Modestini |first2=Eddie |title=Get Wrapped Up in Yogic Sleep Pose |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/it-s-a-wrap |publisher=Yoga Journal |access-date=28 January 2019 |date=28 August 2007}} The practice is said to warm the body rapidly.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=304-307}}{{cite web |last1=Vasireddy |first1=Nishanth Babu |title=Yoganidrasana |publisher=Abhyasa Yoga |url=http://www.abhyasayoga.in/yoganidrasana/ |access-date=28 January 2019 |date=31 July 2015}}

In Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga, the pose is in the intermediate series.

File:Leon Eka Pada Sirsasana.jpeg

Dvi Pada Sirsasana ({{langx|sa|द्विपाद शीर्षासन}} {{lang|sa-Latn|dvi pāda śīrṣāsana}}, literally "two foot head pose" and in English "Both Feet Behind the Head pose"){{cite web |title=Dvi-Pada Shirshasana |url=https://www.ashtangayoga.info/practice/intermediate-series-nadi-shodhana/item/dvi-pada-shirshasana/ |publisher=Ashtanga Yoga |access-date=28 January 2019}} has the same limb positions, but the body is balanced upright. This is difficult, as there is a tendency to fall backwards.{{sfn|Iyengar|1979|pp=307-308}} A preparatory pose, also advanced, is Eka Pada Sirsasana, in which just one foot is placed behind the head. The names of the two poses are confused in literature. Light on Yoga uses the name Eka Pada Sirsasana both for the preparation for Dvi Pada Sirsasana, and for a headstand with one leg up, one leg down, a variation of Sirsasana. In Sivananda Yoga, as described by Vishnudevananda Saraswati, the pose with both feet behind the head is named "Dwipada Sirasan" (sic) or "head-knee pose". Other authors treat Dvi Pada Sirsasana (a Headstand variation) and Janusirsasana (Head to Knee Pose, a forward bend) as quite different poses.{{sfn|Vishnudevananda|1988|pp=plates 71, 74}} In the 19th century Sritattvanidhi, another pose named Aranyachatakasana, the Forest Sparrow Pose, was described and illustrated. It matches Light on Yoga{{'}}s description of Dvi Pada Sirsasana.{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|pp=82 and plate 15, pose 89}}

• Garbha Pindasana – another upright pose with a similar arrangement
• Uttana Kurmasana – a seated forward bending pose with a similar leg position
• Yoganidra – "yogic sleep", a meditative reclining practice

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book | last=Iyengar | first=B. K. S. |author-link=B. K. S. Iyengar | year=1979 | orig-year=1966 | title=Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika | publisher=Thorsons |isbn=978-1855381667 }}
• {{cite book |last=Sjoman |first=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN8170173892 |title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1999 |isbn=81-7017-389-2 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Vishnudevananda |first1=Swami |author-link=Vishnudevananda Saraswati |title=The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga |year=1988 |orig-year=1960 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |isbn=0-517-88431-3 }}

{{Asana}}

{{Yoga as exercise}}

{{Hatha yoga}}

Category:Reclining asanas

Category:Forward bend asanas

Category:Medieval Hatha Yoga asanas

Category:Asymmetric asanas