Asana

Āsana - What does it mean? What’s Important?

Asana means literally to sit with the breath.

This is the most commonly known and misunderstood limb or aspect of the Yogic system.

Asana is meant to be linked and synonymous with breath. The practice of conscious diaphragmatic breathing naturally lengthens the spine and regulates the nervous system. When this conscious breathing and certain Pranayama are paired with Asana, we are truly, safely and methodically practicing Yoga Asana.

The breath movement is the body movement and the body movement is the breath movement.

When this link between breath and body remains present. this is where the magic happens.

The Ujayi pranayama should be paired with Asana to safely regulate our efforts and lubricate the practice. Some teachers will actually ask the practitioner to be aware that if you feel a muscular stretch or physical sensation to visualize sending the breath to that sensation in the body. If we are not Ujayi breathing during Asana practice, we can be prone to injury; in other words, the breath keeps you safe and regulates the nervous system so that we do not come from a place of over-effort or athleticism.

Alignment = Balance = What we do the Left we do on the Right…

Yoga has been obsessed with the concept of perfect alignment, and in my first training, there were hours and hours of how to plant the foot or turn the hips. The concept of alignment is not mentioned in the sutras but is a fundamental part of yoga through the concept and idea of balance. From the way we live and move our bodies we can create imbalances that cause discomfort and pain in the body. Asana, in this respect, is described by Krishnamacharaya as “new body patterns”. Since our modern Western lives can be quite sedentary, we create muscular atrophy and skeletal deformity.

For example, I like to sit with my legs crossed, I tend to usually cross the right leg over the left. This stretches only one side of the body. The result over time is that one side is more open than the other. If I were incorporating the concept of alignment, I would cross the left over right for an equal amount of time.