Dr. Sahil Gupta (B.A.M.S., M.H.A.)

It is a wind relieving or wind removing pose. Pawan Mukta Asana is a supine pose. The Sanskrit word Pavan means ‘wind’ and the word Mukta means “release’ or “free’. 

In Sanskrit the word Matsya means fish. Therefore, this Asana can be translated as the fish pose. At first this may seem a strange name for an Asan that seems to bear no resemblance whatsoever to any kind of fish.

The Sanskrit word Hala means ‘plough’. Halasana is so called because in its final pose it resembles a plow not the modern mechanized plow, but the wooden plough pulled by oxen or bulls that have been used in India since ancient time and is still in use.

The Sanskrit word Dhanu means a bow. Therefore, this is called “the bow pose’, because in the final pose the body resembles a bow.

The word Chakra has many meanings: circle, wheel, vortex, whirlpool, spiral, and so on. In the context of Chakra Asana, the best English translation is wheel pose.

Bhujangasana also known as Cobra stretch Asana. In Hath Yoga and modern Yoga, this Asana is mentioned under reclining back bending Asana.