Do you think that Yoga is all about postures?
During my time teaching Yoga, I have come across many Yoga practitioners who were under the impression that Yoga is all about the postures or, in Sanskrit, asanas. Which is true to a certain extent, however Yoga is sooo much more.
Let’s talk about the history of Yoga for a moment.
The history of Yoga is a little murky. Written evidence is not widely available.
Historically it is unclear how or to which extent postures featured in a Yoga practice. When we look at scriptures more familiar to us, like the Bhagavad Gita for example, postures are not featuring at all.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras mention asanas in a nonspecific way. The word asana means posture but also seat, and it features only in 3 of the 196 sutras.
At what point in history postures started to be an integral part of the Yoga practice is not quite clear yet. There has been an exciting research project by SOAS University in London, the Hatha Yoga Project, aimed to shed more light onto the history of Hatha Yoga by trying to find and translate historical scriptures relating to postural Yoga, so more will hopefully be revealed.
What are the main Yoga scriptures?
Going back to the history of Yoga, the philosophy of Yoga reaches a few thousand years back with the Vedas seen as the main sources, dated back about 5000 years.
They were a direct influence on the later Upanishads, but also the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita amongst others.
You might have heard these names, or even studied some of the scriptures. They are all different and can be challenging to read as the concepts presented are rather alien to the Western thoughts. All scriptures however have a common goal:
To attain a deep-seated state of harmony, balance, and happiness,
known as samadhi, nirvana, or moksha.
The goal is what makes Yoga different from other movement-based disciplines.
Let us have a brief look at what the older scriptures are about.
The Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is about 2500 years old and revolves around a conflict between two families which escalated into a war. When the warriors of both families faced each other, Arjuna, one of the main characters and a very skilled warrior prince, asked his charioteer, Lord Krishna, at the eve of the battle to pull up the chariot to the middle of the field. When looking at both sides, seeing his teachers, cousins, uncles on both sides, knowing that they might die in this battle, he broke down.
This nervous breakdown is the beginning of a dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna about the purpose of life, the importance of fulfilling ones own individual purpose, the eternal soul within us. Lord Krishna’s teaching focused on:
● Karma Yoga, acting without expecting anything back from our actions.
● Jnana Yoga, understanding our actions and acting accordingly.
● Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of devotion, seeing the divine in each and everyone.
● Raja Yoga, the Yoga of meditation.
These different ways to achieve the above-mentioned goal, reflects our different abilities and strengths which determine which path is the most suitable for us.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali have been dated about 1000 years after the Bhagavad Gita, around 1500 years ago.
Patanjali explains what Yoga is:
Yoga is the experience we have when all movement arising in our consciousness is stilled.
The Yoga Sutras are a practical guide. They explain the obstacles that we can encounter on our way and offer practices to overcome these obstacles. A roadmap of 8 different steps or limbs is laid out which help us to understand the reasons for our suffering, or unhappiness, and what to do to reach the above state.
The Yoga Sutras are one of my favourite books, they explain so wonderfully how our mind works and have easily accessible tips on what we can do to calm our mind.
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Later books which are well-known in the West are the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (about 500 old) and Gheranda Samhita. They talk about the concept of Hatha Yoga in a way more familiar to us.
The HYP (Hatha Yoga Pradipika) introduces 15 quintessential asanas out of 84.
These asanas are chosen for their health benefits, here are a few examples:
● Matsyendrasana, the spinal twist, stimulates gastric fire and is a weapon which destroys all the severe diseases of the body.
● Paschimottanasana, seated forward bend, again stimulates the gastric fire, makes the abdomen slim and removes all diseases.
● Mayurasana, peacock pose, cures diseases like enlarged glands, dropsy, other stomach diseases, kindles the gastric fire and digests even the strongest poison.
● Siddhasana, crossed leg seat, makes the spine tall and strong like a diamond. Out of the 84, this one should always be practiced, it cleanses the channels in our subtle body.
● Padmasana, lotus seat, which even the HYP acknowledges is hard to attain, but has the capacity to destroy all diseases.
Asanas are practiced preparing the body for more subtler practices, such as Pranayama, different breathing techniques. You notice the emphasis on a strong digestive capacity, interestingly Ayurveda sees all diseases to be starting through an imbalanced digestive fire.
Just as asanas prepare the body for Pranayama, or breathing techniques, Pranayama is introduced to rid the body of phlegm related illnesses (coughs and colds) through the practices of Kapalabhati (skull shining), which is great for all sinus related diseases and Nadi Shodhana which cleanses our subtle energy channels, the nadis, just as Siddhasana.
Only when health has been established and the body and mind are prepared, other Pranayama techniques and Mudras are recommended which will lead us towards Samadhi.
The HYP offers in addition to the above also diet and lifestyle related advice, which makes it a true allrounder for the serious Yoga practitioner.
My favourite verse is chapter 1, 64
Anyone who is not lazy in the pursuit of yoga, whether young, old, very old, ill, or weak, attains success through practice.
Isn’t that super encouraging?
How does it all related to us now?
For me the concept of the HYP makes sense.
Most people that come to my sessions are either stressed and would like to relax, or are ill or have back/shoulder/hip issues and can’t find remedies in our medical system.
In a way Yoga is know for its healing capacities. The HYP suggests asanas to heal the body, so students can move further in their journey, as illness is, also for Patanjali, a hindrance on our way. It slows us naturally down; aches and pains lead us to not getting on our mat and practice or not letting the breath flow deep and as a result we are getting weak.
To regain strength, we need to overcome those illnesses first.
Nowadays the joints can be added to the diseases, back issues from prolonged sitting, hip and shoulder stiffness and aches, as a result of our movement habits or the lack of, lead to ongoing, sometimes debilitating aches and pains.
Asanas help our body to heal. The deep and rhythmic breath used during the asana practice has a direct influence on our nervous system by shifting it into the parasympathetic rest and digest mode. Rest and digest induce relaxation which promotes circulation, which results in faster healing.
Yogis of old were acutely aware of the direct impact of our breath on our mind by calming and quieten it. It is this state of calm that we are naturally craving. Our body always tries to come into a state of balance, every cell in our body looks for balance.
Yoga sees our mind as naturally being calm and content and the stress and unhappiness as a result of the above-mentioned movements in our consciousness. Our deep-seated wish for peace, for rest, for “just not thinking for a moment” is an expression to reconnect to our natural state.
Each Yoga posture can offer us this state.
Try it out.
Viparita karani, a mudra (body gesture) from the HYP, now slightly adapted as legs up the wall. Bring your pelvis right close either to a wall or the seat of a sofa or chair. Place a thin cushion underneath your head, make sure the cushion reaches down to the base of the neck.
If you can’t lie down, you can try this as well seated. Press here for a short breathing guide.
How do you feel now? This is the potential of Yoga.
Conclusion
You might say, “I am still only interested in the postures” and I would reply “this is absolutely fine”.
What matters is that it works, these 5 minutes might have taken you from whatever state you have been in before, into a calmer state.
Even if you are mainly interested in the asana practice and find the philosophy boring, you will still experience a state of calm after your practice which will lead you to make different decisions than when stressed, better decisions than when stressed. You will still be more content and happier which in return affects your family, friends, and colleagues.
So even if Yoga is just about the postures it works.
If you dive all the way into the philosophy, you will gain understanding on how you can heal yourself and one where you might go wrong now. Which offers you more tools and a greater awareness, that is what the Yoga practice is all about.
Live inspired.
Katja
