The Lost Camel Posture

Ushtrasana, Camel Posture, Yoga Mimamsa 1956

Camel Posture, Ushtrasana, has at least 300 years of history in yoga texts. But the posture changed drastically in the mid-20th century from the traditional prone position (as pictured above) to the kneeling backbend that most modern yogis will recognize.

​This shift from prone to kneeling happened over the course of a few decades between 1920 and 1960. Prior, Camel Posture was a posture done on the belly. After 1960 it is done on the knees. In between, one might find instruction for either.

Below we have elaborated 8 versions of the posture that show its irregular progression through these decades.

Gheranda Samhita (1700):  
This is the oldest known instruction of the posture, pictured to the right. 

"Lie prone with both legs crossed, placed on the back, and held in the hands, and firmly draw the abdomen and the mouth at the same time. The sages call this Ushtrasana."

Camel Posture, Ushtrasana, as instructed in the Gheranda Samhita

Camel Posture, Ushtrasana, Sivananda, 1931 (picture is probably from later as it does not coincide with the description)

Sivananda (1931):
This example is a fascinating illustration of the two versions of the posture. The written instructions from 1931 are clearly the traditional prone position, echoing the Gheranda Samhita. But the picture in the back of the book (shown to the left), which was probably added decades later (our copy is the thirteenth edition from 2004), is of the kneeling backbend.

"Lie on the ground face downwards. Turn the legs and keep them over the thighs. Catch the toes or ankles with your hands. You can raise the head a bit above. This is similar to Dhanurasana, but the thighs are kept on the ground in this Asana."

Sita Devi (1934):
This is the single example we've found of the kneeling Camel in these early decades, though one assumes there must be others who taught the posture this way. It is possible that this technique came from Western feminine beauty exercises, but Devi says that her technique is the one "based upon the traditional teachings," which is unsupported by the texts cited above.

"Support the body on the toes and the knees and gradually bend backwards...Press the body upwards, throwing the neck down."

Camel Posture, Ushtrasana, Sita Devi 1934

Buddha Bose (1938):
Bose instructs the posture as in the Gheranda Samhita, lying on the belly. Like many of his other instructions, Bose draws directly from Sivananda, comparing the posture to Dhanurasana, Bow Posture. Sadly, Bose does not have a photo.

"Lie on the abdomen...bend the legs backward from the knees...with the hands firmly grasp the ankles. Now lift the head." The only difference between the two postures, he says, is "do not raise the knees and thighs off the floor" in Camel.

Ushtrasana, Camel Posture, Yoga Mimamsa 1956

Yoga Mimamsa (1956):
This periodical which was begun in 1924 is perhaps the most influential continuing work on yoga in the 20th century. It is impossible to overstate the impact it has had on Indian and Western teachers, who get much of their postural and medical information from its pages. This issue from 1956 instructs the posture as the Gheranda Samhita, lying on the belly.

"(The student) lies down (on his seat) with his mouth downwards, holds in his hands the crossed legs turned backwards and contracts his abdomen and mouth vigorously."

Vishnudevananda (1960):
​This publication, which is hugely influential on modern yoga, does not contain a posture called Camel. But it has a recognizable kneeling backbend called Chakrasana, Variation 5 (pictured to the right).

​"Assume a kneeling position and bend backward, raising the buttocks. Now grasp the ankles...this pose in considerably easier than the two previous variations."

Wheel Posture (Chakrasana) variation 5, Vishnudevananda, 1960

Camel Posture, Ushtrasana, Dr Gouri Shankar Mukerji, 1963

Dr GSM (1963): 
Dr. Gouri Shankar Mukerji (pictured to the left) instructs the kneeling version, stating that the posture is named because it "resembles a camel with its raised face."

"Bend the upper body  back until you reach the heels with your hands...Bring your hips fully forward. The head hangs loosely backwards."

Iyengar (1966): 
By the time Iyengar's pivotal Light On Yoga came out, Camel Posture seems to have been firmly set as a kneeling posture. And since his book was profoundly influential, there was no turning back.

"Kneel on the floor...press the feet with the palms, throw the head back...contract the buttocks...keeping the neck stretched back."

Camel Posture, Ushtrasana, BKS Iyengar, 1966

IN CONCLUSION
It is possible that these two positions are unrelated, connected only by their name. It is difficult to explain why the abdominal Camel Posture was phased out at the same time as the kneeling Camel Posture was phased in. Since about 1960, the kneeling version is ubiquitous. But the older texts including the Gheranda Samhita and those by Sivananda, Buddha Bose and Yoga Mimamsa clearly instruct the same position, lying on the belly  with crossed legs. Sita Devi's book from 1934 is the outlier here, with instruction of the kneeling version in such an early decade.

​Also difficult to explain is the divergence between Bose and Mukerji, who were both students of BC Ghosh in Kolkata. In the 1930s, Bose describes Camel as lying on the belly, while Mukerji does it kneeling only 30 years later in 1963.