The Genuine Nature of Asana

By Nora Reda

Integration

The practice of yoga doesn’t necessarily start with asana (posture). Physical practice was originally a vehicle that carried the body to a level of agility that enabled the practitioner to sit in meditative posture for extended periods of time. Practice, as a whole, is intended for integrating the movements with the breath and focusing the mind on both of those actions. Instead of focusing merely on a physical performance, the inquisitive practitioner immerses him or herself in the quality of the breath and the qualities of the mind as he or she attempts and maintains the asanas. 

The Meaning of “Asana”

According to T.K.V. Desikachar, son of yoga guru Sri Krishnamacharya, the word asana translates as “to sit”, “to stay”, “to be established in a particular position”. Yet practice means to move in a flow-like sequence and, while doing so, be in the moment, moment to moment. This harmony of motion and mind gives yoga asana practice its meditative quality. In other words what we feel in asana is much more important than how we perceive or care how others might perceive what we do on the mat. 

Being a former competitive dancer I can tell you this: Whenever I was conscious about how the audience might view my performance on the competition floor, in my entanglement with their perceived emotions I was losing my grip on the emotions that I was bringing into the dance that, ironically, is supposed to depict deeply erotic, romantic emotions. (Smile) Did you get that? My outward focus actually hindered my ability to reach inward and bring out the best in me to be able to tell the audience a story they were there to see. So being a crowd-pleaser is never the initial aim of any form of art because you simply cannot, no matter how hard you try, be able to please everyone. But if you dare to look away from everyone’s critical mind and also from your own self-critique, the magic will automatically unfold (provided that you have put in the hours to hone your skill). 

However, yoga, unlike dance, is not a performance art. It is not exercise either (contrary to many modern lines of practice). Perhaps a fairly new term describes it the most accurately: yoga is innercise. Asanas, by their nature, are expressions of the inner self and they take deep inquiry and immersion to make it our own. In this light it is no wonder why yoga is considered both a devotional practice and a discipline that necessitates lifelong dedication. After 25 years of daily practice I couldn’t agree more. 

But let’s look at asana from the perspective of its qualities! What must it contain and what spaces does it have to occupy in our body to qualify as actual yoga:

The “Hard” and the “Soft” of Asana

The number one test, if you will, for self-checking as a novice practitioner, is where your “hard” and “soft” qualities are in any given asana. What I mean by this is a traditional concept that in Sanskrit (the official language of yoga) is called sthira and sukha. Sthira means steadiness, firmness, alertness and sukha means yielding, softness, and comfort. Both of these qualities are equally important for one to experience yoga asanas as they were intended. 

The qualities of sthira and sukha are not given but earned through dedicated practice. First, the body has to be softened enough to be able to move through the major joints with relative ease. Then, adequate strength has to be gained in the musculature to sustain us in the postures as we progress from fairly easy to more difficult asanas. 

To attain these qualities we must “meet ourselves” where we are. Rushing ahead as our ego would dictate us is foolish and takes us further away from the true meaning of yoga (yuj – unity, concentration, consciousness in focus for ultimate liberation*). If we stoke the inner fire too much, we get exhausted and strained; if we don’t tend to it, we get “cold” and uninterested because nothing is really changing in us. Accepting where we begin (over-all as well as day-to-day) is part of the practice. For if we push through tension, it only begets tension. First we have to lay down the foundations mentally and acknowledge what we are able to do and what needs more time and patience. Most of the time, at every level, the wise practitioner finds that he needs more patience and time and less zealousness. The breath has to sustain each posture and each transition, while our mind needs to remain focused and present. 

The Role of the Breath

This sense of “presentness” depends on the condition of our nervous system, the state of which depends on the effectiveness of the breath. (To describe what the breath should be like calls for more detailed articles, but you can begin reading about it here.) Broadly described the breath is the source by which movement is initiated and steadiness is sustained. But until we get deeper into a more technically sound, controlled breath (pranayama), we ought to approximate the length and energy of our movements by the length and energy of our breathing. Also, certain directions of movements necessitates the inhale, others the exhale. For example, we usually  extend the spine on an inhale and flex it on an exhale, however, there are always exceptions to that rule. Focused and correctly executed breathing is the most important aspect of our asana practice. If we fail on this front, we basically fail to practice yoga. Conversely, the more we practice with focused attention on the breath, the better we’ll become at moving through the sequence of postures and the more stable yet soft we’ll be in our held postures. Breathing feeds the sthira and sukha in asana. 

Further Connections between Breath and Asana

Before we make any other statement about breath, let’s establish that our breathing is uniquely ours. Our breath patterns are tied to our emotions, body posture, verbal and physical expressions, as well as our overall health. Our nervous-system and our breathing are intricately connected with one another and deeply affect one another’s condition. Yoga practice has more to do with nervous-system conditioning than most people know. (Find out more here.) Even yoga instructors tend to overlook this fact whether from ignorance or teaching from their own falsely conveyed  experience (may I point back to the issue with pleasing the crowd). So what are we really doing in asana practice? 

The Power of our Breath

As we move through space, we initiate that movement with our breath, our inhale or exhale. In order for our efforts to start paying off we must learn to systematically weave together breath and movement. The type of breath used in yoga asana practice is called ujjayi, “victorious” breath. Ujjayi is a breath with a sibilant (whispery) sound that is created and deliberately slowed down by gently constricting the glottis. This way our breath becomes more audible and we can begin to focus on this sound; we can even “feel” the breath more as it enters and exits the body. Moreover, using ujjayi increases our body’s ability to organize itself and be prepared for both increased strength and lightness. This organization creates energy locks in the body called bandhas without which we will be rendered unable to be strong and light at the same time. 

The Uniqueness of Yoga

Yoga is everyone’s own. It is an internal experience that changes and grows along with us. Although the asanas and flows can be a physically challenging experience, yoga’s goal is not aimed at the conditioning of the physical body alone. An authentic yoga practice harmonizes and integrates the vibrations of body, breath and mind. As one of the most often quoted phrase from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras says: “Yogah cittavrtti nirodhah”, “Yoga is the secession of movements in the consciousness”.  But that’s only the beginning.

Sources:

Feuerstein, Georg, The Yoga Tradition – Its History, Literature and Practice, 2008

T.K.V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga – Developing a Personal Practice, 1999

B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1993