Fish · Matsyasana

Matsyasana · 마츠야사나 · 물고기 자세

Primary Series · Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy) — Finishing Sequence

Breath: 8 · Drishti (gaze): third eye

Slide the hands beneath the hips, press the elbows to lift the chest, and rest the crown lightly back. The precise counter to shoulderstand's long neck flexion; with the legs in lotus and hands to the feet it becomes the full form.

Alignment

Hands — holding the lotus feet, elbows lifting off the floor
Feet — the lotus insteps stay on the thighs
Knees — lowering toward the floor as the chest arches higher
Gaze — the third eye, the crown resting lightly on the mat

Entering the pose

Slide the hands beneath the hips
Press the elbows, lift the chest
Rest the crown lightly on the floor

Common mistakes

All the weight on the head
Jaw open, neck simply cranked

Modifications & props

Simply lying over a bolster or rolled blanket placed lengthwise under the spine gives most of this pose's chest opening.
Straight legs, not lotus, is the common starting form — press the elbows down to build the arch.
If the crown doesn't reach the floor, pad beneath it so the neck never holds the gap on its own.

Benefits

Frees the neck in the opposite direction after shoulderstand
Chest and throat open, widening the breath
Eases stiffness in the upper back

Role in the sequence

The pose that returns the neck — held in deep forward flexion all through the shoulderstand block — to exactly the opposite direction. Shoulderstand and fish are traditionally treated as a pair: as much of one, then as much of the other, and the neck finds its balance again. The wide-open arch of chest and throat is completed in the next pose, Uttana Padasana, where the legs' strength joins in.

Practice notes

Matsya means fish. The name recalls Vishnu taking the form of a fish to save the scriptures and humankind from the flood, and an old saying holds that a body in this shape will float. Its place in the finishing sequence explains its function better than the name does: it returns the neck and chest, held folded for so long by the shoulderstand and the plough, in precisely the opposite direction.

So this pose has to be read as a pair with the inversions before it. Through Sarvangasana, Halasana, Karnapidasana and Pindasana the neck has been continuously flexed forward, and the longer that lasted, the more the opening here matters. During the eight breaths the crown touches the floor, but most of the weight belongs on the elbows and the hips; the neck is a place that lengthens, not one that gets compressed.

The full form holds a lotus, yet if the lotus is not there, straight legs or a comfortable cross-leg give the chest exactly the same opening. Slide the palms under the hips, press the elbows into the floor to lift the chest first, and send the head back only once that arch already exists. Reverse the order and all you get is a hinged neck.

Two checks: does the front of the neck feel long rather than the back of it feel pinched, and is the chest opening toward the ceiling with the shoulder blades drawing toward each other? On a day the neck is unhappy, lying lengthwise on a folded blanket with the head resting on the floor gives the same direction of opening with none of the load.

Back of the head down with a small lift is fine.

Written by Choi Seongjin — 20 years of Ashtanga practice, currently teaching three classes a week. Last updated: 2026-09-05.

This guide is for general information and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant, injured, or have a medical condition, consult a qualified teacher or physician before practising. Disclaimer & Legal Notice

Other poses in this sequence

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