Friday Q&A: To Roar or Not To Roar (Lion Pose)

Q: I am a devoted Swedish yogini and also a physiotherapist, and I am following your posts with great interest. I was searching for the "roaring lion pose" but did not find any on your site. I understand that there are a lot of benefits to this yoga exercise and I am interested to know how you think about it. I am really into yoga "as medicine" and I am very devoted learning about yoga so I can inspire and help people. So what do you think about the pose? When would you apply it in a sequence? What are the contraindications?

A: Thanks for such a great question! We have not yet talked about Lion pose (Simhasana) on our blog, but your inquiry gives us the perfect opportunity to tackle this interesting and somewhat whimsical pose. I personally like this pose, but I keep in mind that it is the modern version, with its roar, that I particularly like. In its earliest form, in the first books on hatha yoga (the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda Samhita), the roar is not mentioned. And, unlike the two versions of the pose found in B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga (version 1 has the ankles and shins crossed underneath the thighs and version 2 has the legs in Lotus pose, then rolling onto the tops of the knees into a backbend), the original texts are not so clear on the leg position.

To give you a bit more historical context, the author of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika considers Simhasana to be in his top four of the fifteen poses he mentions in this text. According to Richard Rosen’s Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga (my top pick for Christmas yoga books this year!), the Hatha Yoga Pradipika author “praises the pose by saying its honored, even worshiped by the “best yogis.”” In addition to the lack of the roar being mentioned in our two old texts, neither one mentions sticking the tongue out either. The mouth is to be open wide, and one of the books mentions tipping chin to chest in the Jalandhara Banda chin lock or Net-Bearing Bond.

Richard cites another text that may explain the absence of the tongue and roar of modern times.This text suggests:

 “the traditional pose represents a condition of alert readiness often seen in cats, in which the “lion is sitting quietly, waiting for something to happen. This is the mental attitude the mind has to adopt in order to enter deep meditative states.””

In Light on Yoga, Iyengar shares a colorful myth regarding Vishnu helping out a devotee being tortured by a demon by appearing as a creature half lion on the upper half and man on the lower half. This modern teacher claims the benefits of the pose to include curing foul breath and cleaning the tongue. With regular continued practice, speech becomes clearer, so he recommends it for stammerers. It is also supposed to help master the three bandhas, even though they are not described as being activated in his instructions. However, he is pictured with his head tipped in Jalandhara Bandha in the book.

I tend to include the pose in a sequence if I am using a theme that it would work nicely with, such as finding one’s voice or working with power or anger or some such focus. I also include it in practices where sound is being utilized. I usually sequence the pose in the middle of a practice.  Or, I will put it at the start of group of sitting poses that could be placed near the end of a full practice.

As far as contraindications, they would be mostly regarding keeping the knees, ankles and feet safe as you try the first and second variations from Light on Yoga, especially the second, which utilizes Lotus (Padmasana—quite a challenge for most adult’s knees. As an alternative to both legs options, you can do the pose in Vajrasana legs, with the shins under the thighs without crossing the ankles. A blanket is always a welcome addition for comfort under the shins. 

Be sure to read more in both Original Yoga and Light on Yoga. And have fun cattin’ around!

—Baxter