Asana is the third limb to the eight limb path of Yoga according to the Yoga Sutras. Asana is associated with ascetic austerities that are practiced to result in the state of mind being stilled and awakened. In Yoga Sutra 2.46 it states, to practice Asana you just need two things, Sthira – Steadiness and Sukham – Comfort. Patanjali’s purpose of asana was to be steady and comfortable in the posture to meditate. Any posture. 

The next suggestion was from Yoga Sutra 2.47 which states how to master Asana. Be in a posture where there is structural integrity and a sense of ease. Then create effort by meditating on something specific, becoming more effortless. Pointing the practitioner to train the mind to rest it’s awareness on something, leading it to stillness. Stillness is the goal of the activity of practicing Yoga-Asana, stated in Yoga Sutra 1.2 Citta Vritti Nirodha, stilling the fluctuations of the mind to then enter the state of Yoga. Hatha Yogis figured out that if you created activity on the levels of the body, energy and mind, it increases one’s access to stillness, quietude and being motionless. So create effort to become effortless!

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