Bending The Spine Sideways, A History

Side-bending exercises are pretty new to the yoga world. There are none in the pre-modern texts of hathayoga. They seem to have entered the canon in the early years of the 20th century.

In the early 1900s, Danish calisthenics leader JP Muller described the side bend, pictured to the right. Muller wrote several popular books that circulated widely, including in India. His publications and instruction had a profound impact on what has become modern yoga.

About two decades later, in the 1920s, the ground breaking Indian teacher Yogendra included the side-bend in his first book Yoga Asanas Simplified. He called the exercise Konasana, Angle Pose, and instructed one breath to accompany each movement. Like Muller, Yogendra instructed the spinal bend with both arms down by the sides. 

After another ten or so years, in 1938, Buddha Bose photographed and instructed the side-bending Ardha-chandrasana, Half Moon Pose, with his arms stretched overhead. This undoubtedly makes the position more difficult and photogenic. Bose was a student of Bishnu Charan Ghosh, a physical culture teacher who specialized in spectacular displays and demonstrations.

By the 1970s, the posture had become integrated into the greater culture. The central yoga publication Yoga Mimamsa published a version of the exercise, pictured above. They called it Cakrasana, Wheel Posture, and instructed it with one arm overhead and the other down by the side.

Kaivalyadhama, the research center that publishes Yoga Mimamsa, claims that their founder Swami Kuvalayananda invented the position “in order to provide lateral bending to the spine.” (1) 

The claim doesn’t seem to be true, as evidenced by the earlier instructions of Muller and Yogendra. Swami Kuvalayananda did write a popular book Yoga Asanas in 1931 which did not include a standing, side-bending posture. Swami K was more of a traditionalist, often insisting on older hathayoga postures over newer calisthenic additions. It seems that after his death in 1966, Kaivalyadhama took a notable turn toward the modern and popular.

​This posture seems to have come to yoga from calisthenics in the early 1900s via JP Muller and Yogendra. Over the following decades, it became more integrated into the culture, developing at least 3 distinct variations in the arms. 

​1. Sahay, G.S. and Tiwari, Subidh (ed.). Yoga Modules for Institutions of Higher Learning. Kaivalyadhama, 2009, p21