The Sanskrit term ‘Hala’ denotes plough. This asana is so called because it resembles a plough in the final stage. Plough means not the modern one, but the traditional one which was pulled by bulls or oxen. Thus we can translate this asana in English as ‘the plough pose’.

The term ‘manduki’ denotes frog whereas ‘mudra’ refers to psychic attitude. Thus this Kriya can be translated into English as ‘frog psychic attitude’. This practice is also called as ‘manduki kriya’.

In Sanskrit ‘dwi’ means two, ‘pada’ means foot and ‘kandha’ denotes the shoulder. This asana can be translated in English as the ‘two feet shoulder pose’ as both the feet are folded over the two shoulders.

Poorna means ‘complete’ or ‘full’. The name Matsyendrasana came from the name of a yogi ‘Matsyendranath’. Thus this asana is a complete form of Matsyendranath’s asana.

The word koorma denotes ‘tortoise’. In English, this asana is called as the ‘tortoise pose’. This asana is named so because it resembles the shape of tortoise at the final pose.

According to Hindu mythology Hanuman is the name of a monkey god who symbolizes true devotion.

Gomukhasana is a cultural asana and the sitting pose of gomukhasana is veerasana. You have to fold your legs to perform this asana.

In Sanskrit mayura means peacock. This asana is called mayurasana because it resembles peacock in the final pose.

Simha means loin. Asana means pose. This posture looks like an imitation of a lion. That is the reason for calling it as simhasana.

The word charka means circle, wheel, spiral and so on. However the exact English translation of chakrasana is the wheel pose. It is called so, because the body will be in the shape of a wheel at the final pose.