Posture: Simha-asana - The Lion Pose Translation: The Sanskrit word simha which literally means "the powerful one" is the word for "lion." This, therefore is known as the lion posture, and one performing it can be said to resemble a roaring lion about to attack. Pronunciation: sin-gha-sa-na Difficulty: (2) The Lion Pose (Simhaa-asana) Instruction: 1 Sit up on the knees with the heels of the feet pressed against the buttocks and the calves of the legs flat on the floor. 2 Place the balls of the hands on the knees, straighten the arms and keep the back erect and the head straight (not tilted forward, back, to the left or the right). 3 Inhale while leaning forward slightly, stretching the mouth the jaws as wide as possible, extend the tongue out and downward as much as possible, fix your gaze either at the tip of the nose or between the eyebrows and stretch the fingers straight out from the knees. 4 Hold the posture for the duration of the inhaled breath then exhale, relaxing the forward stretch, dropping the fingers to the knees and closing the mouth and eyes.