ŚIVA NATARAJĀSANA (Lord of the Dance)
śiva (from śī “in whom all things lie,” perhaps connected with śvi “to swell, grow, increase,” compare
with śavas “strength, power, superiority, prowess, valor, heroism,” and śiśvi “swelling or growing
well [in the womb]): auspicious, propitious, gracious, favorable, benign, kind, benevolent,
friendly, dear
nata (from nat): to dance
rāja (from rāj “to rule,” the etymological root of English “royal”): a king, sovereign, chief or best of its
kind
NOTE: the accented ś in the name Śiva is what’s known in devanāgarī, the script commonly used to write
Sanskrit, as a palatal s, and is pronounced like sh.
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
W.B Yeats, Among School Children (1933)
The story of Śiva is very long and multifaceted, so much so that to go into any detail is unfortunately well beyond the scope of this blog, especially since the primary purpose here is āsana instruction. Let me quote briefly then about Śiva’s dance from German Indologist Heinrich Zimmer’s Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization (I highly recommend this book, along with his Artistic Form and Yoga in the Sacred Images of India). According to Herr Zimmer, Śiva is the “Cosmic Dancer” who “embodies in himself and simultaneously gives manifestation to Eternal Energy. The forces gathered and projected in his frantic, ever-enduring gyration, are the powers of the evolution, maintenance, and dissolution of the world. Nature and all its creatures are the effects of his eternal dance.”
It might seem that Natarajāsana is an ancient pose, traced back to some hoary yoga text produced countless centuries ago. But, alas, no, it’s origin is found the Yoga Rahasya (Secret of Yoga), written by the “father of modern yoga,” T. Krishnamacharya, probably in the late 1930's, but not published until 1998. The book mentions the name of the pose and includes an accompanying photo, but gives no instruction. For that we need to turn to Light on Yoga (LoY), by B.K.S. Iyengar, Mr. Krishnamacharya’s brother-in-law and longtime student.
Every pose in LoY has a “difficulty rating” (my phrase), except śavāsana, on a scale from 1 to 60, 1 being the easiest, like Mountain Pose (tādāsana), 60 being the most challenging, of which there’s only one in the book, Tiriang Mukhottānāsana (tiriang, reverse or upside down; mukha, face; uttāna, intense stretch, TM), i.e., Upside Down Reversed Face pose. All we have to do is, while standing upright, lean into a deep back bend and hold our ankles (LoY plate 586).
Natarajāsana has the second highest rating at 58, one of two with that rating, the other being the Reversed Locust pose (viparīta śalabhāsana, plate 584). Actually, we’re working here on a simplified version. In LoY, Mr Iyengar has his arms overhead, elbows bent, hands holding the raised foot, which to finish the pose, he draws to his crown. Most students can’t reasonably be expected to complete this particular pose. Mr Iyengar describes Śiva’s dance as a “difficult standing āsana,” a comment known as an “understatement.” In regard to its benefits, the pose “develops poise and a graceful carriage,” strengthens the legs, “expands the chest fully,” and benefits “all the vertebral joints.”
To be honest, this pose was never one of my strong points, and though I sort of, kind of could perform it on a good day maybe 30 years ago in my 40's, at my current age it’s now a moderately fond memory. But even this toned down pose is still a fairly interesting challenge. We’ll give it maybe a 20 or 25 rating.
PREPARATION
As you may be able to tell from the photo, you might not want to pop into the pose as a quick pick-me- upper break from your job or household chores. I recommend you first do some preparatory exercises. You’ll definitely need some thigh and front groin stretches. A bent knee lunge with the focus on the back leg thigh and groin would be a good starter. Be sure to always align the front knee over its heel, slide the back knee back as much as you like. A Half Hero(ine) pose (ardha virāsana) would be useful, especially if you can lean back on your hands or forearms, or even lay your torso on a bolster or the floor. Be sure now to keep the knee in line with the hip. You might also try full Hero(ine), but if you have to sit on a block to perform this pose, I recommend you don’t lie back. You’ll finally want some kind of back thigh/calf stretch, Reclined Big Toe pose (supta pādāngushthāsama) comes immediately to mind.
STAGE 1
1. Stand and face your yoga wall, about one arm’s length away. Brace your left palm against the wall opposite your shoulder.
2. Bend your right knee, bring your heel to your buttock and grip the ankle with your right hand. This is called Foot Restriction pose (pāda pīdāsana).
3. Bend your left elbow and lean forward slightly. As you do, draw your right heel away from the buttock, and raise your right leg to about 45 degrees to the floor.
THINGS TO CHECK ON
Check your standing leg and foot. Has the left knee buckled? Push back on the head of the left thigh bone (femur). Is your pelvis relatively parallel to the floor? It’s possible now that the right hip is slightly higher than the left. An imbalanced pelvis inevitably creates some degree of imbalance in your spine, something you always want to avoid as much as possible. See if you can maintain the angle of your leg while you more or less align the right hip with the left, so the front pelvis is parallel to the floor.
What’s going on with your standing foot? Be sure to keep the mound of the big toe pressed firmly to the floor. And your right shoulder? Your torso may twist slightly to the right as you hold the ankle. This isn’t a big deal, but you can increase the stretch across your right shoulder by firming that side’s shoulder blade into the back. This might turn your upper torso slightly left. Imagine then your right collar bone lengthening away from your sternum.
4. When all these yogi ducks are in a row, start to draw your thigh a bit higher. Keep an eye on that disobedient right hip (figuratively speaking, of course), try to keep it level with the left.
5. Raise the right leg to a comfortable height, parallel to the floor at most, hold for 20 to 30 seconds and release with an exhale. Your full time on this side may be a minute or more. Repeat for the same time and raise the left thigh to approximately the same height as you raised the right. Gradually over time, if possible without strain, increase the height of the raised thigh and the time you stay in the pose.
If you feel confident that you have a handle on the pose, turn around and face away from the wall. If you don’t, however, continue to face the wall and repeat the pose with support. If you’re not quite sure where you are on the confidence spectrum, continue to face the wall, except back away until the fingertips of your outstretched hand just barely touches the wall. Then do the pose as described in Stage 2 with no support, just knowing that it’s there to fingertip in a pinch.
STAGE 2
Now without the wall as a support, re-create the pose. To help with balance, you may not want to raise your free arm until you begin to raise the thigh. Lift the thigh slowly, if you can’t quite raise it parallel to the floor, be satisfied with whatever height you reach. Remember to press the mound of the standing foot’s big toe firm to the floor. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and release with an exhale, repeat on the second side.