Yogic postures for health & harmony

Dr Satish K Kapoor

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It is traditionally believed that Lord Shiva demonstrated as many as 8.4 million asanas, bodily postures, after the number of species on the earth. Yogic texts like Goraksha Shataka, Shiva Samhita, Hathayoga Pradipika , Hatha Ratnavali and Gheranda Samhita, refer to classical asanas ‘useful for humans’, as ranging from two to eighty-four. Due to the emergence of new yogic schools, some of which have deviated from the orthodox tradition, the number of asanas, in different variations, has gone beyond two hundred.

Third limb of yoga

Asana is the third step in Ashtanga Yoga of sage Patanjali, first two being, yama and niyama — moral restraints and rules of self discipline, respectively. It differs from fitness exercises in that, their ultimate purpose is not to promote physical culture, but to foster a sense of spirituality.

Literally, asana means both a seat on which a person sits and the manner in which he sits. Patanjali says (Yoga Sutra II. 46): sthira sukham asanam — asana is posture which is steady and easy. Combined with pranayama, mudra and kriya – breath control, hand gestures and yogic actions respectively, different types of asanas help one to gain extraordinary powers on the physical, mental and psychic planes, by regulating the flow of energy.

Types and benefits

There are two types of asana – those that ward off diseases and make the body a fit instrument for day-to-day activities and those that help in meditation. At physical level, asanas strengthen the body’s respiratory, circulatory, digestive and nervous systems, restoring life to the cells rendered inactive by an unhealthy style of living. They help to balance the tridosha, three humours; strengthen saptadhatu, seven types of tissues; purify srota, channels and increase ojas, vital essence in the body. Specific asanas are employed to stretch, tone and relax muscles and ligaments, build stamina, increase blood circulation, and eliminate toxins.

Broadly speaking, standing and balancing poses, like tadasana (mountain pose), utkatasana (chair pose), virabhadrasana (warrior pose), trikonasana (triangalar pose), vrikshasana (tree pose), garudasana (eagle pose), natarajasana (dancer pose) and hastapadasana, (hand-under-foot pose), render elasticity to the spine, strengthen muscles of legs and thighs and give a sense of rooting and balancing. Surya Namaskara, a set of 12 exercises in salutation to the sun, is excellent for physical and mental fitness.

Back bends like bhujangasana (serpent pose), shalabhasana (locust pose), dhanurasana (bow pose) and matsyasana (fish pose) fortify the arms, shoulders and back muscles. Forward bends like pashchimottanasana and padahastasana, remove disorders of abdominal organs.

There are specific asanas for various illnesses like mandukasana and ardha-matesyendrasana for diabetes; mahamudrasana and ramabanasana for stomach ailments, mayurasana for bringing the body into equilibrium, sarvangasana for physical vitality and optimum functioning of brain, and so on.

Asanas for meditation

Sitting postures like siddhasana, padmasana and swastikasana, are most appropriate for meditation. During practice, body and spine should remain erect, head and neck in harmony with spine; and the eyes open, closed or half-closed, as required. Asanas should be practiced slowly and with full concentration by either sex irrespective of age, as per one’s physical and mental capacity. They should be performed in clean, quiet, pollution-free environment, in morning or evening hours, on an empty stomach. One should wear loose, seasonal clothes and breathe correctly according to the requirement of an asana. One should preferably use the same seat and place for practice facing the east. After the course of asanas is complete, one should relax in shavasana (corpse pose), close one’s eyes and be a witness to waves of ideas that surface in the mind, which one can transcend gradually. Asanas help in a steady flow of prana shakti, vital power, in the body, and bring about inner harmony.

(Dr Kapoor is a noted educationist,

historian and spiritualist)