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E hoʻomaʻamaʻa yoga kākou!

The names for all yoga poses are of Sanskrit origin. When you do yoga in America, you might occasionally hear some of these names, but more often they are referred to by their English equivalent. Not all of the English, however, are exact translations. In the yoga series laid out below, I have translated the original Sanskrit names (instead of the English ones) into Hawaiian, so you can practice yoga and do it in Hawaiian!

Like the Sanskrit, the Hawaiian translations can be pretty long. I have included shorter variations for convenience! English does the same thing: Downward-Facing Dog → Down Dog, for example. Each of the Hawaiian names are broken down for you, so you can understand what you're saying, and even add to your vocabulary!

The two series labelled below are Sun Salutation A and Sun Salutation B ("Surya Namaskar A and B") and are performed as part of the Ashtanga Yoga practice. Breathing and intention are key to yoga, but are not explained here. If you're unfamiliar with all of these concepts, or would like to see the series in action, this (English) video shows a great practice (with a few extra stretches).

Ke Aloha i ka Lā A
Sun Salutation A

This looks like a lot of steps, but they all flow into each other into one easy routine. The last four steps are repeats!

SSA 1.png
SSA 2.png

"Posture" - Kū ʻana i...

Let's break down the main phrase common in each of these terms: Kū ʻana i-

 

Kū i [noun] -

You might recognize this verb kū meaning "To stand;" it has several other meanings as well, especially paired with the marker i :

1. In a state of, resembling, like
     → Kū nō i ka makuahine = having the character or appearance of the mother
     → Kū loa i ka leo = exactly like the voice or tune

2. To change into, transform
     → Kū a kanaka changed into a human
     → Kū a pōhaku to turn into stone

3. To stand, as a ship, i. e., to come to anchor.

 

All of these definitions fit perfectly for what we want to mean "Pose, posture, position" with regards to yoga. Many of the poses refer to the yogi "becoming" an inanimate object, like a mountain. We also "anchor" ourselves, rooted to the yoga mat.

The Hawaiian marker ʻana is a Nominalizer, meaning it makes a verb into a noun. So we can turn our verb kū i- 

(= To resemble) into the noun kū ʻana i- (= The resembling of, posing as). This is the word we use for "Pose."

Sanskrit-to-Hawaiian Translation

Tāḍāsana - Tāḍ = Mountain; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana i ka mauna = The resembling of/standing as a mountain

  • Ka mauna = The mountain

ūrdhva hāstāsana - ūrdhva = Upward; hāst = Hand; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana i ka lima i luna = The resembling of/Stance with hands above

  • Ka lima i luna = The hands above, going upward

uttānāsana - uttāna = Intense stretch; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana mālō = Tight, taut stance

  • Mālō = Tightness, taut

ardha uttānāsana - ardha = Half; uttāna = Intense stretch; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana mālō hapa = Half-tight, taut stance

  • Mālō hapa = Half-tightness, taut

caturaṅga daṇḍāsana - caturaṅga = Four-limb; daṇḍ = Staff; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana i ke koʻokoʻo me ʻehā lālā = The resembling of a staff with four limbs

  • Ke koʻokoʻo me ʻehā lālā = The staff with four limbs

  • Ke koʻokoʻo = The staff

ūrdhva mukha śvānāsana - ūrdhva = Upward; mukha = Face; śvān = Dog; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana i ka huli ʻana ko ʻīlio alo i luna = The resembling of a dog's facing upward

  • Ka huli ʻana ko ʻīlio alo i luna = The dog's facing upward

  • Ko ʻīlio alo i luna = The dog's upward face

  • Ka ʻīlio i luna = The upward dog, going up

adho mukha śvānāsana - adho = Downward; mukha = Face; śvān = Dog; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana i ka huli ʻana ko ʻīlio alo i lalo = The resembling of a dog's facing downward

  • Ka huli ʻana ko ʻīlio alo i lalo = The dog's facing downward

  • Ko ʻīlio alo i lalo = The dog's downward face

  • Ka ʻīlio i lalo = The downward dog, going down

Ke Aloha i ka Lā B
Sun Salutation B

Again, this looks like a lot - but really, we just added two extra poses (underlined in red) from Salutation A! The rest of the extra steps are to make it easier for you to get in and out of these new positions.

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Because of all the repeated poses, we'll be labelling most of these with one of the name variations.

See if you can recognize them!

SSB 1.png
SSB 2.png
SSB 3.png

Sanskrit-to-Hawaiian Translation

utkaṭāsana - utkaṭ = exceeding the usual measure, immense, gigantic, drunk, furious, proud, haughty; āsana = Pose

  • Kū ʻana i ka ʻoi = The resembling/stance of excess, sharpness, protuberance

  • Ka ʻoi = Excess, sharpness, protuberance

Vīrabhadrāsana I - Vīrabhadra = a mythological, fierce warrior
*Since this is a specific person, I've used the English "Warrior 1" as a base. This isn't far off from the Sanskrit, as they were invoking Vīrabhadra's warrior state in this pose

  • Kū ʻana i ke koa kaua ʻekahi = The resembling/stance of the warrior, 1

  • Ke koa kaua ʻekahi = The warrior, 1

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