Viparita Karani ( sa, विपरीतकरणी; ) or legs up the wall pose is both 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 ...

and a mudra 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 commonly a fully supported pose using a wall and sometimes a pile of blankets, where it is considered a restful practice. As a mudra it was practised using any preferred inversion, such as a headstand or shoulderstand. The purpose of the mudra was to reverse the downward flow of vital fluid being lost from the head, using gravity.

Etymology and origins

The name comes from the Sanskrit words विपरीत ''viparīta'', "inverted" or "reversed", and करणी ''karaṇī'', "a particular type of practice". The practice is described in the 13th century ''

Vivekamārtaṇḍa The ''Vivekamārtaṇḍa'' is an early Hatha yoga text, the first to combine tantric and ascetic yoga. Attributed to Goraknath (also called Gorakshanath), it was probably written in the 13th century. It emphasises mudras as the most important pra ...

'' (verses 103-131) as a means of yogic withdrawal,

pratyahara Pratyahara () or the 'gathering towards' is the fifth element among the Eight stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in his classical work, ''Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'' composed in the 2nd century BCE. It is also the first stage of the ...

. The pose was practised from the 17th century onwards in hatha yoga under names such as Narakasana, Kapalasana and Viparitakaranasana; its purpose as a mudra was to reverse the downflow and loss of the life-giving substance ( Bindu) through the use of

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

. In the early Bindu Model of Hatha Yoga, as described in the ''Hatha Yoga Pradipika'' and other texts, the vital fluid is held in the head but constantly drips down and is lost. Mudras were thought to block the central sushumna nadi channel of the subtle body and work to force the flow back up, or in the case of Viparita Karani actually reverse the flow, using gravity. A headstand is described and illustrated in halftone as Viparita Karani in the 1905 '' Yogasopana Purvacatuska''. File:Early Bindu Model of Hatha Yoga.svg, Early Bindu Model of Hatha Yoga, as described in the ''

Hatha Yoga Pradipika The ''Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā'' ( or Light on Hatha Yoga) is a classic fifteenth-century Sanskrit manual on haṭha yoga, written by Svātmārāma, who connects the teaching's lineage to Matsyendranath of the Nathas. It is among the most inf ...

'' and other texts. Mudras such as Viparita Karani can reverse the flow, stopping the loss of vital fluid. File:Jogapradipika 29 Viparitakarana.jpg, Viparita Karani using a shoulderstand from an illustrated manuscript of the ''

Joga Pradipika Joga may refer to: *"Jóga "Jóga" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer, songwriter and actress Björk for her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). An electronic song, "Jóga" fuses these elements with baroque and classical styles. T ...

'', 1830 File:Headstand as Viparita Karani in Yogasopana.jpg, Viparita Karani using a

headstand The headstand, or sometimes head stand, is a pose that is an inversion posture of standing head down. The technique is used in different settings such as yoga, breakdancing, acrobatics and beginner gymnastics. Health risks If the headstand is no ...

in '' Yogasopana Purvacatuska'', 1905

Description

Viparita Karani can be any practice where one is upside down. This can include the asanas of shoulder stand (

Sarvangasana Sarvangasana ( sa, सर्वाङ्गासन, translit=sarvāṅgāsana), Shoulder stand, or more fully Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulder stand), is an inverted asana in modern yoga as exercise; similar poses were used in medieval ...

), headstand (

Sirsasana Shirshasana (Sanskrit: शीर्षासन, IAST: śīrṣāsana) Salamba Shirshasana, or Yoga Headstand is an inverted asana in modern yoga as exercise; it was described as both an asana and a mudra in classical hatha yoga, under differ ...

), or handstand (

Adho Mukha Vrksasana __NOTOC__ A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder- ...

). In the ''

'', as in most classical texts on

haṭha 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 ...

, Viparita Karani is listed as a mudra, meaning its purpose is for the directing of energy upwards within the body, using gravity's action on the inverted body, as opposed to asanas which are used in the ''Hatha Yoga Pradipika'' to create steadiness.''

'' I.19 In one popular expression of Viparita Karani as an asana in

modern postural yoga 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 resembles

Salamba Sarvāngāsana Sarvangasana ( sa, सर्वाङ्गासन, translit=sarvāṅgāsana), Shoulder stand, or more fully Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulder stand), is an inverted asana in modern yoga as exercise; similar poses were used in medieval ...

(supported shoulder stand) but with

extension Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that satisfy the predicate * E ...

in the

thoracic spine In vertebrates, thoracic vertebrae compose the middle segment of the vertebral column, between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae. In humans, there are twelve thoracic vertebrae and they are intermediate in size between the cervical ...

(rather than the

cervical spine In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In sau ...

, elbows on the floor and hands supporting hips or lower back.

Variations

In Iyengar Yoga, the pose, also called "Legs-up-the-Wall Pose", is described as "a restful practice, where the body is inverted without effort", and the lower back and buttocks are supported with a pile of blankets, while the legs are rested against a wall, either together or allowed to fall outwards into a straddle. In Uttanapadasana, meaning "feet up pose", the back rests on the floor and the legs point straight up, either against a wall, supported with a strap, or free. In Urdhva Prasarita Padasana, the back is on the ground, the arms are stretched out on the floor above the head, and the legs are raised either partly or to the vertical. In

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ca ...

, the pose can be practised as "Wall Butterfly", with the buttocks and feet against a wall, feet together as in Baddha Konasana, the knees falling to the sides. The hands can be used to press the knees. File:Balancing bear-posture.jpg, Uttanapadasana

References

Sources

* * {{Hatha yoga Alternative medicine Inverted asanas Meditation Medieval Hatha Yoga asanas Mudras ru:Перевёрнутые асаны#Випарита Карани