page_title: Halasana
section_title: Etymology and origins
hierarchical_section_title: Halasana / Etymology and origins
caption_attribution_description: Marguerite Agniel posing in Halasana, plough posture, wearing a revealing silver (&#63;) two-piece costume and matching turban, on a rug, in a photographic studio. Photograph by J. de Mirjian, 1928 at latest. Iconographic Collections Keywords: de Mirjian Studios; Marguerite Agniel; Gymnastics; Exercise; Women
context_page_description: Halasana, or Plough pose, is an inverted asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise. Its variations include Karnapidasana with the knees by the ears, and Supta Konasana with the feet wide apart.
context_section_description: The name comes from Sanskrit हला hala, "plough" and आसन āsana, "posture" or "seat". The pose is described and illustrated in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi as Lāṇgalāsana, which also means plough pose in Sanskrit.
  Karnapidasana is not found in the medieval hatha yoga texts. It is described independently in Swami Vishnudevananda's 1960 Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga in the Sivananda Yoga tradition, and by B. K. S. Iyengar in his 1966 Light on Yoga, implying that it may have older origins. The name comes from the Sanskrit words karṇa (कर्ण) meaning "ears", pīḍ (पीड्) meaning "to squeeze", and āsana (आसन) meaning "posture" or "seat".
caption: The health and beauty guru Marguerite Agniel in plough pose, c. 1928. Photograph by John de Mirjian
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