Chakrasana


Chakrasana or Urdhva Dhanurasana is an asana in yoga as exercise. It is a backbend and is the first pose of the finishing sequence in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. It gives great flexibility to the spine. In acrobatics and gymnastics this body position is called a bridge.

Etymology and origins

The name Chakrasana comes from the Sanskrit words चक्र chakra, "wheel", and आसन āsana, "posture" or "seat". The name Urdhva Dhanurasana comes from the Sanskrit urdhva ऊर्ध्व, upwards, and dhanura धनु, a bow.
The pose is illustrated in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi as Paryaṇkāsana, Couch Pose.

Description

In the general form of the asana, the practitioner has hands and feet on the floor, and the abdomen arches up toward the sky. It may be entered from a supine position or through a less rigorous supine backbend, such as Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. Some advanced practitioners can move into Wheel Pose by "dropping back" from Tadasana, or by standing with the back to a wall, reaching arms overhead and walking hands down the wall toward the floor. Advanced practitioners may also follow wheel with any of its variations, or with other backbends, such as Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana, or by pushing back up to stand in Tadasana

Benefits

The stretching in Chakrasana helps to tone and strengthen muscles in the back and calves, and is also said to relieve tension and stress in people who sit for long times in front of a desk or computer.

Variations

Many variations of the pose are possible, including:
On its 40th anniversary, Yoga Journal recalled seven ways it had covered Urdhva Dhanurasana, including a cover of Iyengar Yoga teacher Rama Jyoti Vernon doing the pose in its first year, 1975 and Angela Farmer doing the one-legged variant in 1982.