NATARAJASANA

Lord Shiva's Dance or "Dancer"

Ardha Chandra Chaprasana Iyengar Tradition Bikram Style Kamasana Krishnasana Parivrtta Natarajasana Parsva Natarajasana Variations

Natarajasana
Lord Shiva's Dance or "Dancer"

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The Ashtanga Practice considers this to be Natajarasana II

The Ashtanga Practice considers this to be Natajarasana I

Natarajasana

Demonstrated by Desiree Rumbaugh

Arizona Yoga & Art Desire Rumbaugh & Angie Rupiper, Founders 7501 E. Oak St. #101 Scottsdale, AZ 85257 Tel. 480-3810413

Demonstrated by David Photograph by Martin Brading

Life

Natarajasana under the Big Top!

Yogi Unknown

Demonstrated Jonathan Nosan

by

This interesting photo is from the Contortionists Gallery (eMail me if you know the Yogi's name!)

Found on Acroback.com

Natarajasan a
</TD< TR> Lord of the Cosmic Dance Pose John Friend on Anusara.com

This balancing back bend cultivates openheartedness and poise and helps you uncover your inner balance According to tradition, hatha yoga postures were first practiced spontaneously by sages during meditation. They named some poses for their resemblance to animals or natural phenomena such as trees or mountains. Other poses, suggesting more esoteric and symbolic meaning were named after sages and Hindu deities.

Natarajasana is of the latter type its named after Nataraja, the mythological royal dancer depicted in Indian iconography as a graceful figure with one leg lifted in dance, surrounded by a circle of flames. In Indian philosophy, Nataraja represents the dancing form of Lord Shiva, the all-pervasive Supreme Consciousness, who playfully and blissfully dances the entire universe into existence. Natarajasana is a standing pose, a back bend, and a balancing pose all in one, so it has great physical benefits. The beginners version builds leg strength, opens the shoulders and chest, and enhances inner steadiness and poise. Natarajasana also provides a wonderful psychological lift. The name Shiva literally means benign or noble. Shiva, who is supreme goodness itself, is

the reality that underlies all creation. So each time you practice Natarajasana, the pose can remind you of your own innate goodness. To perform Natarajasana, first stand tall with your feet close together. Take a breath and soften your skin and muscles. Relax your face and tongue, so you begin your posture with a lessening of self-will. Keeping a quality of soft inner expansion, hug the muscles of your legs and hips to the bones. With your legs strong and stable, balance on your right leg and bend your left knee behind you. Take hold of the left foot with your left hand. If this is difficult, hook a belt around your foot. Square your hips to the front, and slowly bend forward from the top of the right leg. Lift your chest and draw your shoulders back. Stretch your right arm out in front of you, parallel to the floor. Looking straight ahead, stretch your left leg up behind you, so the foot is raised to the height of the right hand. Turn the top of the left thigh in and roll the pelvis down to level the hips. Then draw the tailbone down and in. Keeping the pelvis and legs steady, turn the chest to the right until it is square to the front. Take five slow breaths. With each inhalation draw the heart forward and up and extend the back foot up and away from the pelvis. With each exhalation soften your inner organs and melt into a quiet, soothing state of mind. At the end of the fifth exhalation, bring your torso more upright, then slowly release the left foot. Mindfully reset the feet close to each other. Then balance on the other leg and do the pose again for five slow breaths. After performing Natarajasana on both sides, pause and contemplate the symbolism reflected in the form of the pose. In traditional Indian iconography, the dancing Nataraja symbolizes the five creative functions of Supreme Consciousness creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment, and revelation which play throughout the universe in every moment. Each gesture of the limbs represents part of this fivefold creative dance. The same symbolism can be extended to the yoga pose. Traditionally, the front arm of Natarajasana represents creative action in the world, the back arm, dissolution and reabsorption of the creation back into the original Absolute. In Indian philosophy, the light of creation and the darkness of dissolution are considered equally valuable. To reflect this truth while performing Natarajasana, attempt to bring the hands to the same height.

The front arm also represents the power that sustains and maintains creation. Classically this power is symbolized by changing the position of the front hand, so that the wrist flexes back and the palm of the hand shines forward. This hand position is called abhyaya mudra, or the gesture of fearlessness, whispering to us Dont worry, its all just a cosmic dance. The back arm, which is difficult to see when performing the pose, also represents the concealing nature of Shiva. Shiva conceals and limits his omnipotent and eternal nature by veiling universal divine consciousness in an endless variety of physical bodies. In every hatha yoga posture, we experience some physical limits in flexibility, strength, stamina, or balance. Cloaked in our

Natarajasana Demonstrated by Lois Nesbitt

Blue Sky Yoga Lois Nesbitt, Director Phone: 212-989-9874 or 917-975-8009

physical body, we forget our divine heritage. The standing leg of Natarajasana represents the power of constant remembrance that keeps the demon of forgetfulness underfoot. The pose teaches us to be grounded in the knowledge that, as supreme consciousness, we are essentially pure, worthy, and complete.The uplifted or dancing leg represents the divine grace of supreme consciousness, which descends to lift the veil of ignorance from our inner vision. In the pose, we may feel tremendous inner expansion of power, radiance, and freedom. This is the magic of divine grace revealing your true unlimited inner Self.

From Natarajasana we learn directly that we are a microcosmic expression of the fivefold creative power of universal consciousness. When getting into the pose, we create; when balancing, we maintain our creation; when coming out of it, we dissolve our creation. While struggling in the pose, we feel how our omnipotent nature is concealed. And yet when we have a breakthrough, we experience the revelation of our true nature expansive, scintillating supreme consciousness full of goodness.

Natarajasana
Lord Shiva's Dance or "Dancer" Traditional Variation

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In the Bikram style, this is actually called Dandayamana Dhanurasana or Bow Pulling Pose.

Natarajasana Demonstrated Owner/Director

by

Jimmy

Barkan,

2000 Yoga College of India, Ft. Lauderdale 1119 N. Federal Highway Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 Tel: (954) 563-0488

Natarajasana Demonstrated by Summer Cooke

Bikram Yoga College of India 1054 North 34th Street Seattle, WA 98103 Tel. 206.547.0188

Natarajasana
Lord Shiva's Dance or "Dancer"

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Natarajasana or Shiva's Demonstrated by Kathleen Knipp

Global Yoga Journeys 1913 E Walnut Street, #11 Columbia, MO 65201 Tel. 888-242-9642

II Dance

Kathleen says: An illustration of this posture, Natarajasana II or Shiva's Dance, can be found in Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. The book is published by the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger, Bihar, India. They publish a lot of great books. I don't know if they are available anywhere in the US or Canada. We purchased quite a few at the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India. This standing, balancing spinal twisting posture is fun to lead in a yoga class! It certainly requires a lot of practice beforehand, especially if you mirror postures as you are leading them. The hand mudra is called the Jnana Mudra (in some sources it is referred to as the Chin Mudra).

Krishnasana or Krishna's Demonstrated by Kathleen Knipp

Global Yoga Journeys 1913 E Walnut Street, #11 Columbia, MO 65201 Tel. 888-242-9642

Pose

Kathleen says: This posture, Krishnasana or Krishna's Pose is also found in Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha. (They call it Natavara asana). It is a great balancing postures for beginners. Everyone can do a version of the posture!! I encourage folks to keep the toe of the crossed over foot on the floor if they require a little extra support. The mudra is called the Apana Mudra. Of course, an important detail of the posture is the smile... Krishna is a happy, playful fellow!!

Parsva Natarajasana or Dandayamana Parsva Dhanurasana

Side or Standing Side Lord Shiva's Dance or "Dancer"
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This asana is called Ardha Chandra Chaprasana or "sugar cane pose" in the Anusara community.

Parsva Leena Patel

Natarajasana

Leena's Site Caesars Palace Colosseum 3570 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas, NV 89109 Tel. 702 425 6162 John Friend of Anusara fame has provided this asana with a new name: Ardha Chandra Chaprosana or Sugar Cane Pose. Since this isn't remotely a translation, I have written to ask if this name is coming from the origins of Laxmi or Kama, because I have found this asana to be named Kamasana in other places As of yet, no response. Here is a blurb:

...with Laxmi's appearance from the ocean of milk came Kama the delightful God of pleasure. Riding his parrot surrounded by bees and butterflies, this handsome God raised his sugarcane bow and shot arrows dripping with desire into the heart of every being. He roused the senses, excited the mind and inspired the heart.

Parsva Natarajasana Assist Demonstrated by Raji Thron

Mr. Thron is assisting Thiemba

Parivrtta Natajarasana
Revolved Lord Shiva's Dance or "Dancer" Traditional

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Parivrtta Natajarasana

Demonstrated Zenchenko

by

Anatoly

Demonstrated by Andr Sidersky

Hatha Yoga by Andr Sidersky of Kiev, Ukraine

Keiv, Ukraine Tel.: (+38044) 516 37 85 or (+38067) 969 18 71

Created on ... September 2, 2001 by Yoga Dancer Designs. This page was last updated on Tuesday, 24-Apr-2007 10:07:22 EDT, and today is Wednesday, 28-May-2008 14:39:08 EDT. We've been blessed with visitors since April, 2002.

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