Utthita-Parshvakonasana Yoga-Asana Nina-Mel

Utthita Parshvakonasana (Sanskrit: उत्थित पार्श्वकोणासन;

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: ''utthita pārśvakoṇāsana''),"Extended Side Angle Pose." Yoga Journal. Cruz Bay Publishing, 2013. Web. 10 Aug. 2013. Extended Side Angle Pose, is an

asana An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...

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 ...

. It is first described in 20th century texts.

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 ''utthita'' meaning "extended", ''parsva'' meaning "side or flank", ''kona'' meaning "angle", and ''asana'' meaning "posture or seat". The pose is not mentioned in medieval

hatha yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

texts. It appears in the 20th century in

Krishnamacharya Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (18 November 1888 – 28 February 1989) was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. He is seen as one of the most important gurus of modern yoga, and is often called "the father of modern yoga" for h ...

's school of yoga in Mysore, and in the teaching of his pupils

Pattabhi Jois K. Pattabhi Jois (26 July 1915 – 18 May 2009) was an Indian yoga guru who developed and popularized the flowing style of yoga as exercise known as Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. In 1948, Jois established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mys ...

and B. K. S. Iyengar, along with other asanas with names that describe the position of the body and its limbs.

Description

The pose is entered from

Tadasana Tadasana ( sa , ताड़ासन, translit=Tāḍāsana), Mountain pose or Samasthiti ( sa, समस्थिति; IAST: ''samasthitiḥ'') is a standing asana in modern yoga as exercise; it is not described in medieval hatha yoga text ...

; the legs are spread wide apart, the feet are turned out as for

Trikonasana Trikonasana or Utthita Trikonasana ( sa, उत्थित त्रिकोणासन; IAST: ''utthita trikoṇāsana''), xtendedTriangle Pose is a standing asana in modern yoga as exercise. Variations include Baddha Trikonasana (bound tri ...

and the arms are stretched out sideways. One knee is bent to a right angle and the hand on that side is placed on the floor just behind the foot. The upper arm is then stretched in line with the body straight out, above the ear.

Variations

A twisting asana, Parivritta Parshvakonasana (reversed side angle pose), is obtained by reversing the direction of turn of the thorax. The opposite elbow is brought to the forward knee; this is a useful preparatory pose. In the full pose, the hand is brought to the floor on the outside of the front foot, and the other hand is stretched forwards in line with the body over the head, with the gaze directed upwards.

References

Sources

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Etymology and origins

Description

Variations

References

Sources

Further reading