Natarajasana — Lord of the Dance Pose or King Dancer Pose

Natarajasana

Nata: dance

Raja: king, royal, highest, lord

Āsana: seat, posture

Just about every yoga teacher or practitioner, including myself, has posted a photo of themselves in natarajasana on their social media platform at some point.  And why not?  It’s become one of the most recognized yoga postures in modern time.  It’s beautiful, graceful and powerful in appearance, while also quite difficult in practice.  

This visually stunning posture is named after King Natarāja who, in Indian mythology, is a depiction of Lord Shiva — the god of destruction.  Destruction in this sense means that with birth there is death, and from death there is rebirth; there is a new beginning with every ending, and thus from destruction there is creation.  Shiva is ultimately symbolic of change — he creates, transforms, and protects the universe.

Representations of Shiva as Lord of the Dance show him dancing inside a ring of fire.  This ring of fire represents samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, or reincarnation.  He has four arms and each of his hands have or hold something symbolic:

1. The first the hand is in abhaya mudra and the arm it belongs to is wrapped with a cobra.  The cobra’s venom symbolizes avidya, the veil of ignorance or poison of illusion which restricts us from connecting with our divine knowing or True Self.   The hand in abhaya mudra means fearlessness, instructing his followers to not fear the poison of illusion, avidya.

2. The second holds agni (fire), which symbolizes both transformation and enlightened knowledge.  The flame of knowledge burns away avidya, the veil of illusion.

3. The third hand holds a damaru, a drum which represents the rhythm of time, music, and the universe.

4. The fourth hand aims down toward his dancing feet, symbolizing uplifting energy, constant movement, and the power of dance to help reinvigorate our emotions as we navigate through the obstacles and difficulties in life.

King Natarāja balances on one leg on top of a dwarf.  The dwarf also represents avidya and Lord Shiva’s mastery over it.  Additionally, by balancing atop ignorance, Lord Shiva’s gaze is elevated; this represents a higher level of consciousness that allows him to see clearly between illusion and Truth.

Physically speaking, natarājāsana is a challenging posture to perform for two reasons:  It is both a back-bending and balancing pose.   

Many people have an aversion to back-bending postures out of fear.  This fear is of opening the heart and chest area, which energetically means fear of exposing our emotions or vulnerability.  Balancing postures require great strength and focus to remain stable due to the constant physical and mental shifts happening in the body and mind.

The practice of natarājāsana is ultimately a metaphor for relinquishing the fear of change, opening our hearts to the beauty of transformation, and learning to stand firmly during the peaks and valleys of our lives.  How we navigate the performance of this pose on the mat is also how we should try to navigate our lives during the difficulties of life off the mat.   It reminds us that with every ending comes a new beginning and that we should not fear this; instead we should learn to embrace it with confidence and try to maintain balance —dancing through the ebbs and flows of life with clarity, strength, and grace.