Malasana

For the area of Madrid in Spain, see Malasaña.
Malasana II from the front
Malasana II from the side

The name Malasana is used for various squatting asanas in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise.[1][2]

Traditionally, and in B. K. S. Iyengar's Light on Yoga, Malasana, or Garland Pose, is used for a squatting pose with the feet together and the back rounded with multiple hand placement variations.[3] When the hands are bound around the back this pose is called Kanchyasana ("golden belt pose").[2]

In the West, the name Malasana is also used for the regular squat pose, Upaveshasana,[4] in which the hand palms are folded together in Anjali Mudra in front of the chest, and the feet are set wider apart.

  1. ^ Iyengar 1979, p. 261-267.
  2. ^ a b Ramaswami & Krishnamacharya 2005, p. 28.
  3. ^ Iyengar 1979, p. 266.
  4. ^ Kaminoff & Kaminoff 2013.