Lalitha Invites Beauty and Play Through Sugarcane Pose
I’m sure at some point in your yoga journey you have unknowingly experienced Sugarcane Pose. Sugarcane pose’s English translation is rarely used. Instead, it is referred to as Ardha Chandra Chapasana, or just Chapasana. It is a standing backbend version of Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana). Ardha means ‘half,’ Chandra means ‘moon,’ Chap means ‘bow,’ and Asana means ‘pose’.
I’m half Filipina and I was lucky to have a father working for the U.S. government who was interested in working in Southeast Asia because he is Filipino, so I lived there until the age of 17. Whether we were in Taipei, Seoul, Manila or Jakarta, there would always be a street stand selling raw sugarcane.
As a result, I grew up gnawing on sugarcane husks, relishing in the flavor of the sugary sweet juice and the texture of the dense, fibrous cane. When I heard the name sugarcane pose and discovered that Lalitha was sometimes referred to as the Sugarcane Goddess, I felt very connected to both the pose and the goddess and wanted to know more.
Lalitha’s Depiction
One translation of Lalitha’s name is ‘she who plays.’ When we invite the essence of Lalitha into our lives, we are inviting spontaneity, playfulness, and joy into our lives. She is a form of Shakti Devi, the auspicious feminine energy relevant to the Universe or Source. She represents beauty, and her depiction conveys that.
Lalitha is usually seen seated on a lotus flower which guides us toward fulfilling our desires. She has long, black, gorgeous hair that smells like flowers, and a slight red tinge to her skin tone.
Her skin color is beautiful and represents the color of the first dawn or the hopefulness of new beginnings, and she is sometimes referred to as the Red Flower Goddess. She has four arms and a crescent moon adorns her forehead. In her hands, she holds a bow of sugarcane, five arrows made of flowers, a farming instrument for rounding up cattle (a goad), and a noose. The goad and noose represent our ability to develop an aversion (goad) to attachment (noose) and eventually find true joy.
Lalitha’s Sugarcane Bow and Arrows
Lalitha and her accouterments represent the energy that motivates our mind and how it interacts with all our senses. The sugarcane bow exemplifies the mind. Like sugarcane, sometimes we have to chew through the fibrous textures of our belief systems and thoughts to get to the sweetness. This is how we learn to experience spontaneity, joy, and happiness.
The five arrows are flowers. In esoteric terms, the arrows stand for the five elements of ether, air, fire, water, and earth. They also represent our various senses because the senses are consequences of the five elements. The sugarcane bow is used to discharge the arrows. Much like our mind has the ability to truly direct us towards fully experiencing sensations in the present moment. In this way, Lalitha is the power that enables us to feel and relish in sensations.
Experience Lalitha in Your Yoga Practice
If you’re like me and love using verbal callings (mantra), chant the following mantra out loud or silently to yourself as few or as many times as you feel compelled to. The mantra loosely translates to a simple way to call upon the mother goddess Lalitha.
MA AMBA LALITHA DEVI
NAMASTASYEY NAMO NAMAHA
I’ve personally found a combination of a long-held supine pose such as reclining butterfly, combined with a mudra (a hand gesture), and some breath work to be a quick and effective way to drop deeper into our internal world of consciousness and sensations. This is a potent way to relieve stress and feel more grounded within ourselves.
Lie on your back in reclining butterfly pose. Take a mudra called Pratyahara Mudra. This mudra means “withdrawal of the senses” and provides us with a way to filter what we experience from the outer world so we may focus on our inner world more keenly.
To form the mudra, hover your palms in front of your face, fingers pointing towards your nose jazz hands style:
-Lightly place your index fingers on the eyebrow (touch)
-Place your middle fingers on your eyelids (sight)
-Ring fingers rest on your nose, just above the nostril flares (smell)
-Pinky fingers lightly touch at the corners of your mouth (taste)
-Thumbs reach back to close the ears (hearing)
Once you have applied light pressure to close off all the senses, start taking deep full breaths. Hopefully, you will notice how all distractions from the outside take a back seat to what is actually happening in your body, mind, and heart.
The mudra, coupled with breathing is a way to give your brain a break. When the mudra is released, and the breathwork restores to normal, rhythmic breathing, we still maintain a deeper sense of self. This also translates into a deeper feeling of all the sensations we are experiencing in the present moment.
There are other ways to give our senses a break in our daily lives.
Monitor how much and what types of TV and social media you’re engaging in.
- Become discerning of loud noises and negative talk from certain people.
- Feel the soft fur of your pet or walk barefoot in the grass.
- Reevaluate your diet and opt to choose more whole foods.
- Fill your home with beautiful, even nostalgic scents.
On your yoga mat, after you’ve warmed up your hips, quads, shoulders, and hamstrings, you are ready to try Sugarcane Pose. It’s a balancing pose, so often I’ll use tree pose as a warm-up to help the body and mind prepare for balancing.
From triangle pose (or get more launched into it from warrior 2 or extended side angle), with the hips remaining open, balance on your front leg. First, take some time to feel Half Moon Pose with your top arm stretching to the sky and your top leg lifting towards parallel with the ground.
Once you feel stable and familiar with the pose, start to bend your top leg and practice reaching back to grab what you can. Remember, Lalitha is about not attaching to outcome and also relishing in the play of the pose!
In the Sugarcane Pose, your hand grabs your leg towards the ankle to create the sugarcane bow. Think of your side ribs and your heart as the arrows of the flowers. They blossom their petals with your breath and aim towards the front of your mat. Infuse your yoga pose with intentions that invoke sweetness and joy and non-attachment.
Remember to stay playful, and remember you are always beautiful!
About the Author
The Power of Lakshmi: Confronting Negativity in Your Life
My first encounter with the goddess Lakshmi was, as a child, watching my mother dress in her finest silks and taffeta dresses for parties and going to the symphony, as well as her financial contribution to the arts and education. While my mother modeled Lakshmi, at sixteen I dressed in oversized khakis and my father’s flannel shirts. I wore just about anything that would cover up my piston thighs and my discomfort as my body was changing.
While I was an avid athlete and modern dancer, it wasn’t until I started formal yoga practice in my twenties that I began to confront my negative body image and to have reverence for myself. Each inhale asked me to fill up with gratitude for breath, for life, for this body. Every exhale invited me to let go of my negative self-talk.
Each posture evokes positive attributes such as the strength and elegance of a mountain, the uprightness of a regal tree, and the wisdom of a sage. Through yoga practices, we begin to recalibrate our inner map and rewrite the story we wish to live, one of vibrant creativity, joy, and reverence for life. As one of my teachers Douglas Brooks teaches, “Turn your Klesha’s (pain) into Lakshmis ( jewels).” Take your negativity and pain and get creative with life. Make more beauty out of our pain.
It’s said that anytime Lakshmi is disrespected she leaves her human form and takes refuge and protection in nature. The way in which humans disconnect from the life force in themselves and consequently in everything else has caused us to be in a deep, heavy sleep and living in denial.
Environmental devastation, indecent treatment of animals, and catastrophe will persist until humans wake up to the feminine essence in themselves and in everything. This is what the word yoga insists upon, the integration of the masculine and feminine within every human being. We need the masculine to hold a boundary, to help us act in the world, but without the feminine, we lack the ability to reflect upon our actions and speech, and the ability to nurture and sustain. Without the feminine human beings very well could perish.
