Summer Challenge 2011 - The Eight Limbs of Yoga - Asana

Week three has passed us very fast. With lots of heat, sweat and hopefully yoga. You come to the mat day in and day out and experience that you have muscles you did not even know existed. You develop strength, flexibility, realize changes in your body... Many people do start practicing yoga because of the physical benefits that they have seen on other practitioners or in the media on "yogalibrities" (yes, we have them, yoga-celebrities :)), the trimmed arms, tight buttocks, and flat bellies. And there is nothing wrong with it. Whatever brings you to the mat is good as you will realize all the other benefits as well... being interested or not... But lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Asanas are the third limbs according to Patanjali, after the yamas and the niyamas. An easy explanation is to say that asana practice is to prepare our bodies to be able to practice pranayama, breath (the fourth limb) and dhyana, meditation (the seventh limb). While this explanation is true there is more involved in asana. In asana we are burning our inner fire creating sweat and excreting toxins from the body which is an essential part of asana resulting in purification. We are able to achieve a healthy body through our yoga posture practice which is hard work but the rewards are far reaching.

In the Yoga Sutras there are not much more reference to the Asanas. Patanjali only talks about the way the posture should be practiced in Sutra 2.46: "Sthira sukham asanam," meaning that asana should be both firm as well as comfortable. The old sages' main concern for the asanas were not much to do with the muscular benefits, it was more about the preparation of the body for inward looking, for meditation. So asanas are very important on your yogic road as they are part of you keeping your body healthy and strong.

As you go through your asanas, you move, you breath and you focus. All three together helps with creating an inward looking perspective. To further help you in experiencing the benefits of the asana practice, the yoga postures also have a drishti, or point of focus for the eyes. It encourages the meditative state in the posture and deepens the meaning and effect of the posture on all levels. Practicing asana with focus on the breath and drishti invokes a sense of calm to the mind. This week as you go through your practice, breath and find your drishti and notice what happens by the time you are in savasana.

Finally, asanas are named in Sanskrit after insects, various types of animals, and legendary heroes and Gods. Think of Hanuman-asana, Monkey King Pose for example (one of my favorites). The pose is in which the legs are split forward and back, mimics Hanuman's famous leap from the southern tip of India to the island of Sri Lanka.

During mythological times, Rama, a king of ancient India, had a problem. The demon king who presided in Sri Lanka, Ravana, had abducted Rama's wife, Sita. Rama and his troops set out to rescue her from the vile demon. In the ensuing battle Rama's brother, Laksmana, was severely wounded, and the only way to save him was with an herb that grew exclusively in the Himalayas. It appeared that he would be lost, for who could possibly travel to the Himalayas and back in time to save him?

Hanuman, Rama's greatest devotee, said he would accomplish this impossible task. He then took one mighty leap that stretched all the way from the south of India to the Himalayas. At that point, he wasn't sure which herb to pick, and so he carried the entire mountain with him as he made another massive leap back to the battlefield. The healers found the herb in question, and Laksmana's life was saved.

In that giant leap Hanuman embodied his love for Rama. His intense devotion allowed him to do the impossible, and this is the lesson of Hanuman: Power comes from devotion. (source: Yoga Journal)

What is your favorite asana and why? Do you know the story behind it? Share it here and ask about them in classes as well.... :)

Namaste.