Yoga

MOTTO

Many people associate asana with gymnastic exercises or body building techniques. This is a totally wrong concept, for asana are neither designed specifically to allow a person to ‘throw his body about’ or develop huge, unnecessary muscles.

Yoga means the experience of oneness or unity with your inner being. This unity comes after dissolving the duality of mind and matter into the supreme reality. Asana means a state of being in which you can remain steady, calm, quiet and comfortable, physically and mentally.

In the ancient text on yoga by patanjali, called the yoga sutras, there is a concise definition of yogasanas: Sthiram suham asanam meaning ‘that position which is comfortable and steady’. So we can see that yogasanas in this context are practiced to develop the person’s ability to sit in one position without discomfort for extended lengths of time, as this is necessary during menditation.

Asana can also be performed for curative or health reasons. By gently stretching the muscles, massaging the internal organs and toning the nerves throughout the body, the health of the practitioner can be wonderfully improved and many diseases, even the so-called ‘incurable’ ones can be eliminated or eased.