Asana is the physical practice of yoga and relates to the body. Asana is also another name for the poses or postures of yoga. In Sanskrit, the word asana translates as “seat,” specifically for meditation. Today asana is synonymous with yoga, but it is only one component.
Why bother to explore asana? Because understanding what yoga asana is, where it comes from, and its history opens up the doors for a much richer practice. Yoga becomes less about trying to put your foot behind your head and becomes something more meaningful.
When we speak of asana, we are speaking of the physical practice of yoga. That might seem like a bit of redundancy because of the confusion on what yoga is. Most modern practitioners initially come to yoga by doing yoga postures or yoga asana. But yoga asana is not yoga. An asana is simply a physical shape that you do with your body.
We use yoga poses to do yoga. But the yoga poses themselves are not yoga. Yoga is biggest umbrella of pursuing spirituality to attain Maha Vishnu.
Asana is a way to practice yoga, but it is not the yoga itself. And there are other methods of exploring yoga, such as pranayama, breathing exercises. In other words, you can do yoga without doing asana.
The popularity of poses has more to do with marketing, which is about making the right offer at the right time.Yoga succeeds because it is a postural practice. People see it as another form of exercise. To try to market it as a breathing or meditative practice only would doom it.
Benefits of Yoga Asana
As a physical practice, yoga asana is highly effective at:
- Strengthening & Toning Your Body
- Increasing Your Flexibility and Endurance
- Lowering inflammation thus minimizing disease
- Injury rehabilitation
Yoga works from the inside out or the outside in. Asana is the outside in. It uses your body to explore the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that go on within you. How do you know yourself? Notice what you do. Of course, actions in yoga also include thoughts and words, so notice what you think and what you say.
You can also use the way yoga works to benefit your mental and emotional health. By moving deliberately, you can affect what you think and how you feel. Remember, our outward way of moving is a proxy for our mind. By changing the way, you move you affect your inner state.
Music to listen while performing Yoga Asanas.
Wake up early and complete all your morning rituals. Be ready with minimum cloths that covers your body. The goal is to expose early morning or evening sun to the body in a maximum way. You should be ready before sunrise and 1 hour before sunset to perform asanas. Shred all your problems, worries and issues. Body, soul and mind all be ready for the divine energy.
Let us not bogged down by the names of Asanas. The Goal is to perform them.
1. As Sun rises, close your eyes and do a big namaskaram. Stretch the hands as high as possible and the arms should close the ears. You can relax and stretch. Chant OM OM OM... breathing gently. It should be relaxing and soothing.
2. Slowly lift your left leg and keep it on the knees. Do the same stretches as shown below. Balancing is the key. Switch to left leg. Left and right part of the body is well balanced.
3. Pradikshna meaning rotating to the right. Stretching and relaxing, keep rotating right 9 times either eyes open or closed as per your comfort. Start with few rotations. Be careful you may feel dizziness and fall. Same left to right 9 times. Stop and close your eyes. Relax.
4. Hold your hands as if you are holding a huge ball and slowly move to right and left, twisting your body as much you can and tightening the ball with moving the hands. Imagine you are pressing the invisible ball harder.
5. No need to stand on one leg, if you like you can do with one leg standing. Stretch your hand for a minute. Next face the palm towards the sky and stay for 1 minute. Then face the palm towards earth for 30 seconds and up for the same. Gravity generates natural weights to strengthen your arms.
7. Hold one of your legs, arch your back. Lean forward as much as you can. Switch the leg.
8. Put right leg forward. Arch your back and stretch nicely. Hold. Switch the legs.
18. You can do side stretch as standing or stretching your hands parallel. Slowly you can make Namaskaram as well.
19. Lift a leg. Rotate(forming nice circle) slowly left to right and right to left. Switch.
21. Sit or Stand. Rotate your eyes, tongue and head 360 degrees as many times as you can. Stretch your tongue out as much as you can outside.
22. Hold the toes. Stretch.
24. Do like as if you are cycling.
26. Stand slowly bend down, touch your toes if you can.
30. Sit. With one hand, close one side of the nose. Inhale, Hold and Exhale. Switch to other side of the nose, perform the same.. Switch. Inhale through one and exhale through other. Same way other way around. Third, inhale and exhale on the other side. In hale on the other and exhale opposite side. Continue as long as you want.
31. Sit and Meditate calmly. OM OM OM...
32. Yoga Aasana Sessions
No comments:
Post a Comment