Vajrasana (Sanskrit:वज्रासन,romanized: vajrāsana),Thunderbolt Pose, orDiamond Pose,^[1][2] is a kneelingasana inhatha yoga and modernyoga as exercise. Ancient texts describe a variety of poses under this name.

The name comes from the Sanskrit wordsvajra, a weapon whose name means "thunderbolt" or "diamond",^[1] andasana (आसन, āsana) meaning "posture" or "seat".^[3]

The name Vajrasana denotes a medievalmeditation seat, but its usage varied. The 15th centuryHatha Yoga Pradipika called it a synonym ofSiddhasana, where one of the heels presses the root of the penis; according toYoga-Mimamsa III.2 p. 135, this explains the reference to the vajra weapon.^[4]

The 17th centuryGheranda Samhita 2.12 describes whatLight on Yoga callsVirasana, with the feet beside the buttocks, while in other texts Vajrasana appears to mean the modern kneeling-down position, with the buttocks resting on the feet.^[4] The yoga scholarNorman Sjoman notes thatLight on Yoga is unclear here, as its account of Laghuvajrasana^[5] has the knees and feet together, but it does not describe the basic Vajrasana.^[4]

The practitioner sits on the heels with the calves beneath the thighs. There is a four finger gap between the kneecaps, and the first toe of both the feet touch each other and sit erect.

The reclining form of the pose, used inAshtanga (vinyasa) yoga,^[6] is Supta Vajrasana.^[7]

Laghuvajrasana, an advanced pose in Ashtanga yoga andIyengar Yoga, has the thighs raised halfway from the sitting position, the crown of the head on the floor and the hands grasping the ankles.^[8]

Someorthopaedic surgeons claim Vajrasana may be harmful to knees.^[9] The pose has been linked to damage to thecommon fibular nerve resulting infoot drop, wheredorsiflexion of the foot is compromised and the foot drags (the toe points) during walking; and in sensory loss to the surface of the foot and portions of the anterior, lower-lateral leg. In this context, one doctor has called it "yoga foot drop".^[10][11]

• List of asanas
• Seiza – Japanese traditional formal sitting posture
• Virasana – another kneeling asana, the name once also used for a cross-legged meditation asana

• Sitting asanas
• Meditation asanas
• Kneeling asanas
• Medieval Hatha Yoga asanas

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from September 2020
• Articles containing Sanskrit-language text