5 Things You Can Learn From Buddhist Monks About What Is Yoga

Simply, an Asana is a seat, a pose, or a posture. It shows asana was at the very beginning of yoga used in the form of seated posture only. Yogi while practising asana transforms their body into a specific form of different species or objects. Our body is the most visible form of pure consciousness that lies within our Chitta (Chitta in yoga means mind). Alignment means maintaining the intended pose while respecting the body’s boundaries. It’s the steadiness of a pose. It’s because while we perform a yoga asana, our body consciously realizes it. Different Yoga Gurus in India accumulated information from Vedas and Upanishads and gathered these in yogic texts. In yoga, there are considered 84 number of classical asanas presented by Lord Shiva, according to several ancient texts. "There are overlaps, what is yoga but there also are key differences. Asana in Yoga is the key to get relief from all kind of body-mind ailments and so on, to increase the quality of life.

For over a decade, we’ve been honored with having a key role in helping our students change their own lives. In the history of the evolution of asana, hatha yoga plays a vital role. As the name suggests, hatha yoga is the branch of ‘physical postures’ in which emphasis is given to practice asana with force. While in modern yoga, often people are more concerned with the physical aspect of yoga, in Yoga Sutras only three verses out of 196 defined asana in the practice of yoga. Trauma is one of the most common experiences that people all over the world experience. The style’s attention to alignment and use of props to help students access or gain greater stability within poses means that it is ideal for beginners can be therapeutic for people with postural issues. It’s helpful to have a mirror and a small space heater, but by all means just do the best you can under any circumstances!

These poses are a very effective way to release the tension in the spine and so to relax the body - It’s a reason why an intense asana class ends with the supine pose (Savasana - Corpse Pose). It’s the reason standing poses are also called foundational yoga poses. These are called modern yoga asanas, barely has 200 years of history. Out of 84 stated asanas, Goraksha Samhita describes only two meditative sitting postures in detail. The body is just a tool used in asanas, and the tools are always used to achieve something big we can’t do by normal means. Repeating such mantras as Om over and over is a principal means by which yoga practitioners work their way into altered states of consciousness. Our primary yoga workshop, Sri Sri Yoga teaches a holistic way of life that integrates all elements of Yoga, making a prayerful discipline that unites the body, mind and soul. When after an intense yoga session we lay in savasana, our experience, the way of breathing, and thought patterns differ completely from sleeping. When you learn about yoga breathing, you raise your awareness about simple things we take for granted, such as our very own breathing.

For example, take a normal pose when we are sleeping vs. Now the same pose wouldn’t take that much effort as it was taking before. Narration - When you try to come into a pose, it takes time to stabilise the body, i.e., in the beginning, it seems hard to hold the body into a pose. Therefore headstand, one of the inverted pose, is considered the king of all asanas. At the beginner level, one can opt a slightly bend knee to go deeper in the pose. Are you aware of your pose when normally standing, sitting, or lay in bed, sleeping? It helps you follow a path of moderation daily, through eating a balanced diet, getting the right exercise, sleeping properly and helps keep your emotions in balance. This increase in GABA levels helps individuals to fight against depression and anxiety disorders. Holding the poses for longer helps to develop strength and increase flexibility, as well as encourage a deeper connection to the breath, the present moment and develops overall concentration. Once the body got a natural relaxation state, now mind can be merged into the infinite where you can experience overall joyfulness of an asana. Physically, asana is about the certain movement in our limbs which performed to stretch the body, makes it flexible, cures diseases, and enhances overall health.