The Many Names of Tree Posture

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.