ASTAVAKRASANA HATHA

Astavakrasana, the eight curvature posture.

In the kingdom of Videha lived an extremely wise man, renowned for his common sense and knowledge. His name was Ashtavakra, meaning “one whose body is deformed in 8 places”. The wise man was indeed born malformed, the consequence of a curse launched by his own father, of which here is the legend.

While still a fetus in his mother's womb, Ashtavakra heard his father Kahoda reciting sacred mantras. But Kahoda got their pronunciation wrong, scratching the extremely precocious child's ears. From his mother's womb and in an astonishingly loud voice, the wise child one day apostrophized his father: "Father, thanks to your devotion, I have learned all the Vedas, whereas I have not yet seen the day light. But I'm sorry to tell you that you often make mistakes while reciting them. Allow me to correct your Sanskrit”.

Ashtavakra thought he was doing well, but his father didn't hear it that way: “Not even born yet, and already cheeky… Since that's how it is, he will be born deformed! ". When Kahoda's son was born, his body was oddly curved in 8 places. Note that there is a happy ending to this story. One day, Ashtavakra's intelligence rescued his father from a bad situation. Kahoda, using her yogic powers, then put her child's deformed limbs back in place.

Keeping in mind the story of this child who was too wise for his age, the yogi will be able to try the posture with 8 curvatures named… ashtavakrasana.

This asana strengthens the wrists and arms and develops the abdominal muscles.

The key to this posture is to curl the legs from the groins inwards as in garudasana, as if the legs are endless…