Names for Yin Yoga Poses in Other Languages?

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Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Names for Yin Yoga Poses in Other Languages?

Post by Bernie »

There are times when I am asked what the name of a particular pose should be in another language. This recently came up again, raised by a French speaking Yin Yoga teacher. I polled some other French-speaking teachers and here are their replies.

The topic raised a more general point, "It would be very nice if we (the Yin community) define standard names for the yin poses in different languages. I would be ok on changing the names we are using at our association if we agree about the standards... maybe a little chart with the Yin Yoga poses in different languages at your website?"

This seems like a good idea, so I created a little table on the web site where I will list the names of the poses in English in one column, and then in the consensus view in other columns. I have just started it, so ... feel free to add to this post and let's hear what everyone thinks! I will edit the names as the consensus builds.

The table can be found here and here is what we have in French so far:

Dangling: Flexion avant suspendue (although someone prefers: Le cloche)
Happy Baby: Enfant heureux (although someone prefers: Posture du bébé)
Shoelace: Lacet (although someone prefers: La tête de vache tombé)
Square: Carré (although someone prefers: La posture bénéfique)

So - for our French Yinsters, do we keep the first names above, or go for the second one? Anyone want to offer names for all the other poses?

Folks who want to offer names in German, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, etc, feel free to start a new thread and let's collect a consensus for those languages.

Cheers
Bernie
Last edited by Bernie on Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
amala yoga
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 11:49 am

Re: French Names for Yin Yoga Poses

Post by amala yoga »

English Spanish
Anahatasana postura del corazon
Ankle Stretch - estiramiento del tobillo
Bananasana postura del platano
Butterfly mariposa
Half butterfly media mariposa
Camel camello
Cat pulling its Tail la cola de gato
Caterpillar oruga
Child's Pose postura del niño
Dangling colgante
Deer venado
Dragons dragones
Frog rana
Happy Baby bebe feliz
Reclining Twists raices torcidas
Saddle montura
Shavasana postura del muerto
Shoelace Lacet el lazo
Snail caracol
Sphinx and Seal la esfinge o la foca
Square cuadrado
Squat flexion de piernas
Straddle (aka Dragonfly) dragon volador
Swan & Sleeping Swan cisne y cisne dormido
Toe Squat flexion de dedos
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Spanish Names

Post by Bernie »

Thanks Amala - I have included your version in the table. If anyone disagrees with these names, we can take a vote on it!
Cheers!
rmello
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:48 am
Location: Paris / Levallois / France

Post by rmello »

English => Portuguese
Anahatasana => Pose do coração
Ankle Stretch => Alongamento do tornozelo
Bananasana => Pose da banana
Butterfly => Borboleta
Half butterfly => Meia Borboleta
Camel => Camelo
Cat pulling => Rabo de gato
Caterpillar => Pose da Lagarta
Child's Pose => Pose do Bêbê
Dangling => Pêndulo
Deer => Pose do veado (veado em portuguese is derogatory to the word gay, so, many teachers prefer Pose da Gazela)
Dragons => Pose do Dragão
Frog rana => Pose do Sapo
Happy Baby=> Pose do Bêbê Feliz
Reclining Twists => Pose do tronco torcido
Saddle => Pose da Sela
Shavasana => Pose do morto
Shoelace => Cadarço
Snail => Caracol
Sphinx and Seal => Esfinge e Foca
Square => Quadrado
Squat => Pose do Caipira
Straddle (aka Dragonfly) => Dragão voador
Swan & Sleeping Swan => Cisne e Cisne Dormindo
Toe Squat => Flexão dos dedos do pé
Ricardo Mello
Levallois Perret - Paris
www.kayoga.fr
cecileroubaud
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:36 pm
Location: France

French suggestion...

Post by cecileroubaud »

Dear all,
Here is how i translate the name of the poses in France...
If you have some suggestion to enhance the translation i be very happy to have new ideas!!
Love
Cecile

Anahatasana Posture d'ouverture du cœur
Ankle Stretch Etirement des chevilles
Bananasana Posture de la banane
Butterfly Papillon
Half butterfly Demi papillon
Half Straddle Demi selle
Camel Chameau
Cat pulling Le chat qui attrape sa queue
Caterpillar Chenille
Child's Pose Posture de l'enfant
Dangling Flexion avant suspendue
Deer Cerf
Dragons Dragons
Frog Rana Grenouille
Happy Baby Enfant heureux
Reclining Twists Torsion au sol
Saddle La selle
Shavasana Posture de relaxation finale
Shoelace Lacet
Snail Escargot
Sphinx and Seal Sphinx et Phoque
Square Carré
Squat Posture accroupie
Straddle / Dragonfly Libellule
Swan & Sleeping Swan Cygne et cygne endormi
Toe Squat Ouverture des orteils
rmello
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:48 am
Location: Paris / Levallois / France

Post by rmello »

Some poses in Italian as I know...

English => Italiano

Anahatasana => posizione della devozione
Bananasana => Posizione della banana
Butterfly => Farfalla
Half butterfly => Mezza Farfalla
Camel => Cammello
Cat pulling => La coda del gatto
Caterpillar => Pinza seduta
Child's Pose => Posizione del Bambino
Dragons => Posizione del drago
Frog => Rana
Happy Baby=> Posizione del Bambino Felice
Saddle => Sella
Shavasana => Posizione del cadavere
Shoelace => Stringa
Snail => Posizione dell’aratro
Sphinx and Seal => Sfinge e Foca
Square => Quadrato
Straddle (aka Dragonfly) => Il Drago volante
Squatting => posizione della ghirlanda
Ricardo Mello
Levallois Perret - Paris
www.kayoga.fr
rmello
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:48 am
Location: Paris / Levallois / France

Re: French suggestion...

Post by rmello »

cecileroubaud wrote:Dear all,
Here is how i translate the name of the poses in France...
If you have some suggestion to enhance the translation i be very happy to have new ideas!!
Love
Cecile

Anahatasana Posture d'ouverture du cœur
Ankle Stretch Etirement des chevilles
Bananasana Posture de la banane
Butterfly Papillon
Half butterfly Demi papillon
Half Straddle Demi selle
Camel Chameau
Cat pulling Le chat qui attrape sa queue
Caterpillar Chenille
Child's Pose Posture de l'enfant
Dangling Flexion avant suspendue
Deer Cerf
Dragons Dragons
Frog Rana Grenouille
Happy Baby Enfant heureux
Reclining Twists Torsion au sol
Saddle La selle
Shavasana Posture de relaxation finale
Shoelace Lacet
Snail Escargot
Sphinx and Seal Sphinx et Phoque
Square Carré
Squat Posture accroupie
Straddle / Dragonfly Libellule
Swan & Sleeping Swan Cygne et cygne endormi
Toe Squat Ouverture des orteils
Cecille bonjour,
Thank you for your list, this is a great work :)
As a side note, I am using some different names in few poses (I will be glad to standardize if we all agree, so we can promote a french yin standard :)
Alors,we are using the following names in our association:

Dangling: "La Cloche" (the bell)... I also heard "le pendule" for this pose.
Square : La Coquille (the shell .... also adding the image of a pearl in the forward folding)

As for the "Ankle Stretch", still looking for a better name...

Salut,
Ricardo
Ricardo Mello
Levallois Perret - Paris
www.kayoga.fr
nathaliekeiller
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:31 pm

Yin Yoga postures in French

Post by nathaliekeiller »

Here are the translations I would feel comfortable teaching with French canadians.
The ones I find the most difficult to translate are: Dangling, Shoelace (please Bernie give us the reason why this posture is called the shoelace), and Square.
Nathalie

Anahatasana La posture d'ouverture du cœur ou Anahatasana
Ankle Stretch Étirement des chevilles
Bananasana La banane ou Bananasana
Butterfly Le papillon
Half butterfly Le demi papillon
Camel Le Chameau
Cat pulling its tail Le chat qui attrape sa queue
Caterpillar La chenille
Child's Pose La posture de l'enfant
Dangling Se laisser pendre ou Flexion avant debout
Deer Le chevreuil
Dragon Le dragon
Other dragons: Le dragon qui vole bas, Le dragon qui vole haut, Le dragon ailé et le dragon en torsion, et le Split
Frog La grenouille
Happy Baby Bébé Krishna
Reclining Twists La torsion latérale au sol
Saddle La selle
Savasana Savasana ou La posture de relaxation finale
Shoelace Le lacet ou le lasso
Snail L'escargot
Sphinx Le sphinx
Seal Le phoque
Square Le carré
Squat Le squat
Straddle / Dragonfly La libellule
Swan & Sleeping Swan Le cygne et le cygne endormi
Toe Squat Étirements des orteils
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Why is the Shoelace called the shoelace?

Post by Bernie »

The Shoelace pose was named by Paulie Zink: he said "while in this pose you can easily tie up your shoelaces." Okay, maybe not such a great name (because we don't wear shoes while doing Yin Yoga) but just as good as Cowface! Other possible names? Le Grande Opener du Hips! Pretzel Pose, Crazy Legs....?

I don't mean to imply that we will ever change the English name for this pose: it is pretty standardized right now, but in another language, we don't have to keep it. We could even go back to the Sanskrit and modify Gomuksana - the simple cow? the easy cow? The sleeping cow?

As to the French names: we now have 3 versions - how do we decide which names to choose as the "standard"? I don't know enough French to feel comfortable choosing the names to post in the table.
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Another suggested name for Squat in Spanish

Post by Bernie »

My name is Adriana I am in the yin yoga teachers training with Amala, soon to be a yin yoga teacher. I don't disagree with any of the name I just have a suggestion for the squat (Posicion de primate) or just primate.

---- Do our Spanish speakers feel that we should replace "Flexion de piernas" with "Posicion de primate"?
Stefanie Arend
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:40 am

German names for Yin Yoga poses

Post by Stefanie Arend »

Hi,

these are the names I used in my German yin yoga book which just came out:

Anahatasana - Oeffnende Herzstellung
Ankle Stretch - Fersensitz
Bananansana - Liegender Halbmond
Butterfly - Schmetterling
Half Butterfly - Halber Schmetterling
Camel - Kamel
Cat Pulling Its Tail - Liegende Katze
Caterpillar - Raupe
Child's Pose - Stellung des Kindes
Dangling - Stehende Vorbeuge
Deer - Reh
Dragons - Drache, Sprinterposition
Frog - Frosch
Happy Baby - Glueckliches Baby
Reclining Twists - Liegende Drehungen
Saddle - Sattel
Shavasana - Entspannte Rueckenlage
Shoelace - Schnuersenkel
Snail - Schnecke
Sphinx and Seal - Kleine Kobra und Grosse Kobra
Square - Quadrat
Squat - Hocke
Straddle - Libelle
Swan and Sleeping Swan - Schwan und Schlafender Schwan, Taube
Toe Squat - Zehensitz

Blessings from Germany and Namasté
Stefanie
talleresdeyoga-om
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:04 am
Location: Buenos Aires

Re: French Names for Yin Yoga Poses

Post by talleresdeyoga-om »

Algunas variantes de nombres en español (marqué en color las que son diferentes a las publicadas por Amala) Namasté, María Eugenia

English Spanish
Anahatasana postura del corazon
Ankle Stretch - estiramiento del tobillo
Bananasana postura de la banana
Butterfly mariposa
Half butterfly media mariposa
Camel camello
Cat pulling its Tail la cola de gato
Caterpillar pinza
Child's Pose postura del niño
Dangling colgar
Deer ciervo

Dragons dragones
Frog rana
Happy Baby bebe feliz
Reclining Twists torsión
Saddle montura
Shavasana postura del muerto
Shoelace el lazo
Snail caracol
Sphinx and Seal la esfinge y cobra
Square cuadrado
Squat flexion de piernas
Straddle (aka Dragonfly) líbelula
Swan & Sleeping Swan cisne y cisne dormido
Toe Squat flexion de dedos
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Which name to use in Spanish

Post by Bernie »

Where there are two possible choices, I will show both choices for now, but it would be great if everyone could decide to adopt just one name, if that is possible. If the Spanish speaking teachers could discuss this among themselves and decide, then I will go with the consensus name.

Cheers!
Bernie
caterina.allegra
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2018 3:42 pm
Location: Sicily

Yin Yoga Asana - Italian Names

Post by caterina.allegra »

Hello,

I wanted to add the names that are missing in Italian, plus suggesting some corrections:

ankle stretch: stiramento delle caviglie
caterpillar: bruco
dangling: piegamento in avanti
deer: cervo
reclining twists: torsioni da sdraiati
straddle: libellula
toe squat: stiramento dei piedi
swan and reclining swan: cigno e cigno sdraiato

Ciao! Caterina
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by Bernie »

Thank you, Caterina! I have updated the list. Cheers, Bernie
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