I just came from class where I was instructing students to “take a seat” in Virabhadrasana I, and then a delivery of new yoga chairs arrived. I was immediately reminded of the meaning of the word āsana, that we commonly know as “posture”. It comes from the root word आस् (ās), which means to “sit, abide, stay”.
Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras, does not give description of particular asanas, however, he describes the qualities of an asana and the effects:
स्थिरसुखम् आसनम् ॥ २.४६ ॥
sthirasukham āsanam || 2.46 ||
Posture should be steady and comfortable
प्रयत्नशैथिल्यानन्तसमापत्तिभ्याम् ॥ २.४७ ॥
prayatnaśaithilyānantasamāpattibhyām || 2.47 ||
[such posture should be attained] by the relaxation of effort and by absorption in the infinite.
ततो द्वन्द्वानभिघातः ॥ २.४८ ॥
tato dvandvānabhighātaḥ || 2.48 ||
From this, one is not afflicted by the dualities of the opposites.
*sutra translation by Edwin F. Bryant, “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”. 2009, North Point Press. 287-289
How often do we find ourselves shaky, in great pain or discomfort in our āsana practice, trying to achieve a picture perfect pose? Or the mind whirling, pitching us into comparison with others? How often do we get nostalgic and discouraged by what we can “no longer do” because of injury, age or some other factor? How often do we embrace the moment NOW and find that balance between the effort and relaxation? What does it mean to get “absorbed in the infinite”? Is that even possible when I am thinking about stretching my arms straight in Virabhadrasana I?
I like to think of “taking a seat” in an āsana because it reminds me of that feeling of sitting down after a long day on my feet. In yoga practice it won’t be comparable to flopping on the couch, but a different kind of ease comes into the poses when you consider them as a “seat”. Each pose has its own level of relaxation. For example, a pose like supta baddha konasana is very conducive to peace and ease, and you can stay for 5-10 minutes; however, even in a very deep backbend like Kapotasana that you might only hold for 30 seconds, there is also the possibility of finding some sense of repose in the pose. Of course, with more practice and more familiarity, there is more ease.
“The physical body is not only a temple for our soul, but the means by which we embark on the inward journey toward the core.” ~ BKS Iyengar.
That journey towards the core, towards the infinite or eternal part of our being, I feel is the essence of yoga practice. Most of us are paying attention to the stretch in the hamstrings and whatnot, but to have the mind unified with the eternal in any āsana… BKS Iyengar would say that is to “touch the soul”. As long as you are absorbed in the infinite, you cannot be afflicted by the dualities, such as hot and cold, pleasure and pain etc. They simply will not disturb you, they will have lost their meaning and become inconsequential.
Finding the balance between the effort to perform the āsana while also having some relaxation in it (like sitting down even while you are standing or bending backwards), allows us to keep a mood of sustainability in any āsana. This approach to practice requires that we remain calm, alert and watchful in the present moment. It brings us to the now, where past and future cease to exist. It is one of the main reasons that people get such great stress relief from their yoga practice—they are abiding, or even “sitting”, in the present moment.
