Yoga is a Practice for Living

Āsana is the part of yoga that uses poses. In the West we call it yoga. We can equate it to the tip of an iceberg that sits above the water, with the biggest part being below waterline keeping the top afloat. Out of 195-197 yoga sūtras only 3 are dedicated to āsana, three beautiful sutras that can change the way you view your practice.

The first of the three “āsana” sūtras, II.46, defines āsana as stability and ease (sthirasukham āsanam.) Stability and ease are the flip sides of a coin. You need stability to have ease and you need ease to have stability. Think of how you stand on a moving train to keep from falling over. You stand straight, probably your legs are a little wide for stability and your knees and hips are soft for ease. This allows you to move with the train to prevent from being tossed when the train takes a corner or stops. When sitting in meditation you need a strong stable spine that is also comfortable. If you don’t have that your attention will not be on your meditation, rather it will be on how to get comfortable.

If you listen you will hear āsana in most yoga poses such as: down dog - adho mukha śvānāsana; chair pose - ardha utkaṭāsana; warrior - vīrabhadrāsana. Poses have stability and ease built into their names, which indicates that yoga āsana is meant to be stable and comfortable throughout the whole practice. This however, does not mean effort is not required. Poses require effort but it’s knowing the right amount of effort so you don’t point the needle away from ease. In chapter I, Yogasūtra I.31 describes what it looks like when you are not in balance, that place where stability and ease meet. Your breath is short and shallow and unsteady, your body trembles and your attitude and outlook are negative. These are our warning signals. Focus on a long, smooth, steady breath. If you notice a pose causes you to shorten your breath, or hold it, or gasp for air, that pose, at that time, in that way, is not what you want to be practicing.

Yoga is not a synchronized activity. As a teacher I may call out some tips but the real work is internal. Listen to the tips and see if they work for you, see if your breath is long and smooth. Is your body steady and your mind able to focus? If it is not find the path that will create those things. It may mean stopping and resting, changing your orientation or body position, or moving faster or slower. This is your practice. It is a framework provided to give you time to practice being stable and at ease as well as the time to explore what you need to do to get there.

Yoga is meant to be a practice for living. You are practicing something more valuable than a fancy pose. Your yoga practice gives you time to evaluate what is happening in your system and the way you respond to it. When you organize your practice to prioritize the qualities of āsana it can have profound effects on how you approach life. It informs what you are willing to tolerate and what you are willing to give up.