Parshvottanasana (Sanskrit: पार्श्वोत्तानासना, IAST: Pārśvottānāsana) or Intense Side Stretch Pose is a standing and forward bending
asana 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 ...
.
Etymology and origins
The name of the pose is 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 ...
प्रसव (parshva) meaning "side", ुत (ut) meaning "intense", तन (tan) meaning "to extend", and आस (asana), meaning "seat" or "pose".
The pose is unknown in medieval
hatha yoga, but is described in
Krishnamacharya's 1935 ''Yoga Makaranda'', and taken up by his pupils
Pattabhi Jois and
B. K. S. Iyengar in their respective schools of yoga.
A similar pose appears in
Niels Bukh
Niels Ebbesen Mortensen Bukh (15 June 1880 – 7 July 1950) was a Danish gymnast and educator who founded the first athletic folk high school in Ollerup in Funen, Denmark. He achieved international fame as a gymnastics trainer for the Danish te ...
's 1924 ''Primary Gymnastics'';
Mark Singleton suggests that Krishnamacharya, influenced by the general gymnastics culture of the time, adopted gymnastics poses into his flowing style of yoga.
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 te ...
. The hands are pressed palms together in prayer position behind the back, fingertips upwards. The feet are placed about a leg length apart, both legs remaining straight. The forward foot points directly forwards; the rear foot is turned forwards some 60 degrees. The hips are aligned at right angles to the feet, so that the body can move downwards in a forward bend straight over the front leg. The hands may be taken to the floor to intensify the stretch.
References
Sources
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{{Yoga as exercise
Standing asanas
Asymmetric asanas