The Postures of Ghosh Yoga

This is an attempt at a comprehensive list of postures in the Ghosh Lineage. Because the tradition is a living thing, postures are constantly being added, subtracted, modified and moved around. For that reason, numbering the postures is very challenging. You may have noticed that every yoga system, even every teacher counts differently. Also, the naming of postures and sequences is tricky business. A posture may have several different names according to different sources, and some of the "postures" contain several movements. I use the names that I consider to be the clearest. I prefer the use of English language names for their clarity. If you want to see a detailed list of the traditional Ghosh series along with details about Bikram's series and Tony's additions, look here.

BREATHING
  • Standing Deep Breathing 
  • Anatomical Breating

SALUTES
  • Lunging Series (High Lunge Backbend, Kneeling Forehead to Knee, Kneeling Backbend)
  • Salute To the Sun (Standing backbend, Standing Forehead to Knee, Kneeling Forehead to Knee, High Lunge Forehead to Knee, High Lunge Look Forward, High Plank, [Side Plank] Low Plank, Upward Facing Dog, Downward Facing Dog, High Lunge Look Forward, High Lunge Forehead to Knee, Kneeling Forehead to Knee, Standing Forehead to Knee, Standing Backbend)

HALF MOON SERIES
  • Lateral Half Moon 
  • Half Moon Backbend
  • Hands to Feet Pose (variations: with rounded back, with flattened back)

TRIANGLE SERIES
  • Standing Separate Legs Head to Knee Pose
  • [Pyramid] (not in the Ghosh lineage)
  • Revolving Triangle (added to the series by Tony Sanchez)
  • [Triangle (straight leg)] (not in the Ghosh lineage)
  • Triangle (bent leg)

STANDING SERIES
  • Chair Pose (3 parts - Chair, Chair on Toes, Chair on Heels)
  • Eagle Pose
  • Standing Head to Knee
  • Standing Bow Pose
  • Balancing Stick Pose
  • Separate Arms Balancing Stick Pose
  • [Balancing Half Moon] (not in the Ghosh Lineage. Placed here as a standing balancing hip rotation.)
  • Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose (3 variations - Hands gripping heels, Hands in reverse prayer, Fingers interlaced, elbows locked and stretching shoulders)
  • Guillotine
  • Tree (2 variations - Upward and Half Lotus)
  • Toe Stand (variation with Leg extended)
  • Short Man Pose
  • Finger Stand
  • Crow (variations: Side Crow, Straight Legs Side Crow, Crow to Handstand)
  • Crane (variation Side Crane)

LOTUS PREPARATION SERIES
  • Lotus Warm-Ups (20 count of big circles repeated 3 times)
  • Life Pose (variation: Hand pushing knee while other hand pulls toes up)
  • Easy Pose
  • Plain Pose
  • Success in Meditation Pose
  • Gentle Pose (with Gentle Pose preparations)
  • Good Luck Pose
  • Half-Lotus

LOTUS SERIES
  • Lotus
  • Lifting Lotus
  • Bound Lotus
  • Lotus in L shape
  • Pregnancy Pose
  • Fish Pose
  • Spider Pose
  • Mountain Pose
  • Lion Pose
  • Cock Pose (variations: Cock to Lotus in Handstand)

  • Savasana

  • Gas Removing

COBRA SERIES
  • Cobra Pose
  • Locust Pose
  • Full Locust Pose
  • Bow Pose

FIXED-FIRM SERIES
  • Fixed-Firm Pose (variation: Fish in Fixed-Firm)
  • Half Tortoise Pose
  • Camel Pose
  • Rabbit Pose

STRETCHING SERIES
  • Separate Legs Head to Knee Pose
  • Stretching Pose
  • Separate Legs Stretching
  • Frog Pose
  • Upward Stretching (one leg at a time, then both legs together)
  • [Lunging Bow Leg Splits Preparation] (Not in the Ghosh Lineage. I added it to improve the Splits.)
  • Splits
  • Pigeon (variations: Pigeon with backbend, King Pigeon with foot on head, Dead Pigeon) (this pose was added by Tony Sanchez)
  • Splits In the Air
  • Dancer

DOUBLED-SIDED SERIES
  •  Archer
  • Four Angle Pose (variations: Both arms under leg, One arm overhead and bound)
  • Cow Face
  • Half Spinal Twist
  • Full Spine Twist
  • Stretching Spinal Twist (legs straight forward)
  • Lateral Spinal Twist (legs separate)
  • Abdominal Twist 

BOW-LEG SERIES
  • Bow Leg Warm-Up (bring heel near butt, push hip down toward floor)
  • Bow Leg Posture
  • Both Legs in Bow Leg Pose
  • Bow Leg in Peacock Pose
  • Bow Leg in Mountain Pose

TORTOISE SERIES
  • One Leg Over Head Pose
  • Two Legs over Head Pose
  • Upward Tortoise
  • Tortoise
  • Yogi in Sleep Pose
  • Om Pose
  • Goodbye Pose 

PLOUGH SERIES
  • Plough Warm-Up (legs over head 5 times, a little farther each time)
  • Plough Pose
  • Knees to Ears Pose (variation: Both knees to one side)
  • Supported Shoulder Stand Pose
  • Lotus in Shoulder Stand
  • Leaning Lotus in Shoulder Stand (hand under sacrum)
  • Folding Lotus in Shoulder Stand
  • Free Standing Shoulder Stand

FULL SERIES
  • Full Cobra
  • Full Locust
  • Scorpion in Locust
  • Full Bow (variations: Feet touch head, Feet extend straight up)
  • Full Camel
  • Bridge (variations: One legged, No hands one leg)
  • Wheel (variations: One legged, Tiger from wheel)
  • Full Wheel (head between ankles)

PEACOCK SERIES
  • Peacock
  • Lotus Peacock
  • One Leg Peacock 
  • One Arm Peacock

HEADSTAND SERIES
  • Half Headstand
  • Headstand
  • Splits in Headstand
  • Eagle in Headstand 
  • Lotus in Headstand
  • Folding Lotus in Headstand

TIGER SERIES
  • Tiger Pose
  • Lotus in Tiger
  • Scorpion in Tiger
  • Tiger with Hands on Elbows
  • Elbow Stand (hands on face)

HANDSTAND SERIES
  • Handstand
  • Splits in Handstand
  • Eagle in Handstand
  • Lotus in Handstand
  • Folding Handstand to Cock Pose
  • Scorpion in Handstand
  • One-Hand Handstand
  • Palm Tree (head down)
 
PRANAYAMA
  • Blowing in Firm Pose
  • Happy Cow Face Meditation Breathing