Koundinyasana


Koundinyasana, or Sage Kaundinya's pose, is a hand-balancing asana in modern yoga as exercise. It may be performed with both legs bent, or with one leg over the supporting arm, the other leg straight.
Eka Pada Galavasana has one leg bent, the foot hooked over the opposite arm under the body.

Etymology and origins

The pose is named after Kaundinya, an Indian sage, and āsana meaning "posture" or "seat". The variations for one and two legs include the Sanskrit words for one or two, and pada meaning "foot".
The pose is not described in medieval hatha yoga. It appears in the 20th century among the asanas described by B. K. S. Iyengar in his 1966 book Light on Yoga, and those taught by Pattabhi Jois in Mysore in his Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Both Iyengar and Jois were pupils of Krishnamacharya.

Description

Koundinyasana is traditionally entered from tripod headstand, a variant of Sirsasana, but one can also get into the asana from Parsva Bakasana. Get the knee far enough up the triceps of the opposite arm before bending the elbows so that the core is fully engaged and the leg is less likely to slide down, making more work for the arms.

Variations

Eka Pada Koundinyasana has one leg stretched out straight in line with the body.
Eka Pada Galavasana has one leg bent, the foot hooked over the opposite arm under the body. The full pose, Galavasana, has the legs crossed in Padmasana, one knee tucked between the arms.

Claims

Twentieth century advocates of some schools of yoga, such as B. K. S. Iyengar, made claims for the effects of yoga on specific organs, without adducing any evidence.
Iyengar claimed that Koundinyasana massages and "tones the abdominal organs", helps to eliminate "toxins" by encouraging movements in the colon, makes the spine more elastic, and strengthens the neck and arms.