Ashtanga Namaskara ( sa, अष्टाङ्ग नमस्कार), Ashtanga Dandavat Pranam (अष्टाङ्ग दण्डवत् प्रणाम्), Eight Limbed pose, Caterpillar pose, or Chest, Knees and Chin pose is a asana sometimes used in the

Surya Namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar(a) or Salute to the Sun (), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve gracefully linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th centu ...

sequence 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 ...

, where the body is balanced on eight points of contact with the floor:

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

knees In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

chest The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...

, chin and hands.

Etymology and origins

The name comes from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

words अष्ट ''asht'', eight, अङ्ग ''anga'', limb, and नमस्कार ''

namaskar ''Namaste'' (, Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called ''namaskar'' and ''namaskaram'', is a customary Hindu non-contact manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is found on the In ...

'', bowing or greeting. The asana is unknown in medieval hatha yoga. It forms part of

Pant Pratinidhi Pant Pratinidhi family is a prominent aristocratic noble family of India, who served as Pratinidhis to Chhatrapatis of Maratha Empire and later became rulers of the Princely states of Aundh and Vishalgad. The Pant Pratinidhi's were officer' ...

's 1929

exercise sequence, not then considered to be yoga. The yoga researcher Mark Singleton argues that the postures forming the sequence of

derive from the Indian gymnastic exercises called dands (''dand'' meaning a stick or staff). He notes that in the Bombay Physical Education syllabus of 1940, Surya Namaskar is named Ashtang Dand, he supposes from this central posture, Ashtanga Namaskara. Singleton suggests further that this also gave its name to Krishnamacharya's and later his pupil K. Pattabhi Jois's system of Ashtanga Yoga, rather than supposing that the name of the system somehow came from the 2,000 year old Ashtanga, the Eight Limbs of Patanjali's system of

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

Description

Ashtanga Namaskara is a prone posture with eight parts of the body in contact with the ground: both feet, both knees, both hands, the chest, and either the chin or the forehead. The hands are below the shoulders, the elbows bent. The pose has been used as an alternative to

Chaturanga Dandasana Chaturanga Dandasana ( sa, चतुरङ्ग दण्डासन; IAST: ''Caturaṅga Daṇḍāsana'') or Four-Limbed Staff pose, also known as Low Plank, is an asana in modern yoga as exercise and in some forms of Surya Namaskar (Salute ...

in the

sequence, considered suitable for practitioners lacking the strength to do the usual pose; arguments against this usage include compression of the lower back and stress on the shoulder joint. It was used in the early Surya Namaskar of Pant Pratinidhi, with the forehead touching the ground.

References

Sources

* * * * {{Yoga as exercise Reclining asanas Surya Namaskar