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The Many Names of Tree Posture

3/23/2020

Ardha Chandrasana, Half Moon Posture, 1896

Standing postures are rare in Hatha yoga. Most asanas are seated, lying down or upside down. (Of course, by Hatha yoga I am referring to pre-modern practices and texts. This was before practices of health and exercise made their way into yoga in the 19-20th centuries.) One of the few exceptions is Vrikshasana, the Tree Posture, which appeared relatively late, probably the 18th century in the Gheranda Samhita. Earlier texts including the Hathapradipika don't contain any standing postures.

Let's start with the earliest known version of this posture in a yoga text, in the 18th century Gheranda Samhita. Here the posture is named Vrikshasana, the Tree Posture, for obvious reasons. One stands tall like a tree. It is very different from all the other postures of Hatha yoga at the time. It is possible that the posture is related to practices of asceticism and penance, where the practitioner stands on one leg for a period of years, forsaking the body and building good merit.

Very little detail is given about how or why to do it. Its instruction is in chapter 2, verse 36: "Place the right foot at the top of the left thigh and stand on the ground like a tree. This is called Vrikshasana."

Ardha Chandrasana, Half Moon Posture, 1896

In 1896, the same posture is in the Sritattvanidhi, a text from South India that probably had a significant influence on Krishnamacharya. Here, pictured to the left, it is called Ardha Chandrasana, or Half Moon Posture. This name is sometimes used to refer to the god Shiva, though it is unclear if that meaning is intended here.

Three of the most formative early modern yoga asana texts do not include this standing posture: Yogendra's 1928 Yoga Asanas Simplified; Swami Kuvalayananda's 1931 Popular Yoga Asanas; Swami Sivananda's 1931 Yoga Asanas. It is also absent from Swami Vishnudevananda's substantial 1960 The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, leading one to wonder if this posture was entirely absent from Sivananda's teaching (as Vishnu. was a student of Siv.).

Krishnamacharya's 1934 Yoga Makaranda does not include this simple standing posture. It does have a position called Ardhabaddha Padmottanasana, Bound Half Lotus Stretching, which begins similarly but is merely a preparation for a forward bending position, pictured to the right. We will see this transfer into Krish.'s students Iyengar and Jois, who both have the forward bending posture but not the simple standing one.

Krishnamacharya, 1934

Buddha Bose, Ardha Padasana, Half Leg Posture, 1938

In 1938, Buddha Bose instructs this posture, pictured to the left. He calls the posture Ardha Padasana, Half Leg Posture. The name of the position clearly comes from the bent position of the leg, which makes it look half as long.

It is possible that the use of Ardha in the name is influenced by the Sritattvanidhi above, though it is questionable whether the text was known in Kolkata at the time. Also, Bose uses the name Ardha Chandrasana for a different position: a backward bend done standing.

In many other aspects Bose shows influence from the Gheranda Samhita and Swami Sivananda. Given the absence of the posture from both Sivananda's and Krishnamacharya's lineages, it seems most likely that Bose learned the posture from the Gheranda Samhita or a lineage extending from it. It is unclear then why the name is not Vrikshasana.

In 1963, Dr Gouri Shankar Mukerji instructs the posture and calls it Tadasana, Mountain Posture, pictured to the right. Because he comes from the same lineage as Bose, it is unclear why he has a different name for this position. His teacher's instruction book from around this time (Yoga Cure by Bishnu Ghosh) does not include the posture at all.

It is difficult to ignore Iyengar's 1966 Light On Yoga, which was profoundly influential on all that followed it. Notably, Iyengar does not instruct this posture. There is a Vrikshasana that is similar, done balancing with the foot on the inner thigh. The closest he comes to our 'traditional' posture is a preparation for a forward bend, pictured below. In this way, he follows his teacher Krishnamacharya, as discussed above. The full posture (not pictured) is called Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana, Bound Half Lotus Stretching Posture. This same stretching posture is found in K. Pattabhi Jois's 1962 Yoga Mala.

Dr. Gouri Shankar Mukerji, Tadasana, Mountain Posture, 1963

BKS Iyengar, 1966

This posture, then, has an odd and varied history. It is one of the earliest standing postures to make its way into Hatha yoga, but it is clearly not universally practiced or accepted.

It seems that the Krishnamacharya and Sivananda lineages are not strong proponents of the posture. Only the Ghosh lineage includes it in nearly every iteration, including the most recent: Bikram Choudhury.

Why the posture keeps changing names is unclear.

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Make the Men Strong & the Women Beautiful

3/9/2020

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Over the last few months I’ve been compiling materials to research the forgotten women of yoga. Through work in Kolkata, I came to know of a few names of women, some quite famous, who today are completely forgotten. The questions started piling up— why do so many women do yoga when it was thrust into the modern age largely (at least publicly) by men.

Through gathering texts and doing interviews, the layers of complexity grew.

One unanticipated layer is the talk of beauty when it comes to women and yoga. This isn't found in posture manuals for men, and isn’t about “radiance” or something that could be referenced in Haṭha texts. This is talk of things like “perfect breasts” and “thin waists”.

This made me think of my own journey in the yoga studio so far. The "no food is good food" was certainly a part of the community. I remember being complimented the most in class when I was incredibly sick with pneumonia and hadn't been able to keep any food but applesauce down.

Around that same time I was also injured. My hamstring was tearing but I was locking out my standing bow. (Worth it? No.)

Since then I stopped wanting to be injured and took up weight training. When my new trainer gave me 15 pushups as a warm up I balked! I couldn’t do one, yet I was one of the strongest at my yoga studio.

I have since gained 15lbs. And with it, the strength to run many miles, move hundreds of pounds, do pull-ups, (more than 15) pushups and most importantly, have the strength to stay injury free.

Since talking about injuries in yoga studios around the world, we've gotten a variety of responses. Some burst into tears and ask, “So it shouldn’t hurt? I’ve spent a decade thinking it was supposed to.” Some just shake their heads, acknowledge how obvious it is that a "healing" practice shouldn’t injure the body. Others though, respond with the predictable, yet disappointing response of, “Well I’m not injured. You weren’t doing it right.” Denial is powerful.

All of this combined has me thinking. Are we trying to be healthy or beautiful? Who is deciding this? Do we actually know what we’re doing?

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The Many Names of Tree Posture

Make the Men Strong & the Women Beautiful

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