Rishi Patanjali states that yoga begins with righteous conduct and discipline. Accordingly, yama and niyama are considered the first two limbs of ashtanga yoga. With this foundation in place—and under the guidance of a competent teacher—the practitioner can progress further on the path of sadhana.

In this article, revered Gurudev Anandmurti Gurumaa elucidates the journey from asana (posture) to samadhi (total absorption of the mind)—and calls upon each of us to walk this wondrous path of inner transformation.

 

The first article in this series introduced the principles of yama and niyama. Here, we continue from asana.

 

 

Asana—Stable and Comfortable Posture

Let’s understand what the practice of asana entails. It’s an effort to achieve:

  • right pose
  • right poise
  • right breathing
  • right alignment and contouring
  • and understanding your body in depth

 

If you’re sitting right now, check whether your shoulders are well aligned. Your right and left shoulders should be balanced, with the neck centred and the head straight. Your lower back (lumbar region) should be erect.

 

One who wishes to be a practitioner of yoga should keep the spine erect at all times. When sitting with my disciples, Swami Bua Ji would notice whenever someone sat improperly, and he would make a sound—“Hm!”—this means, “Sit erect.” Don’t sit misaligned or imbalanced.

 

Practising asana is like geometry. You need to learn about and understand the body’s anatomy. Furthermore, without observing yama and niyama, asana cannot be mastered. You may master physical postures, but not asana—they are two different things.

 

With regular practice, the posture becomes so stable that one won’t feel any pain or stiffness when sitting for spiritual practices. The sutra says, “sthira-sukham-asanam”—sthira means stable, and sukham means comfortable. That is the essence of asana.

 

Hatha Yoga Asanas

The practice of hatha yoga-asanas, often synonymous with the word yoga in today’s world, is a dynamic approach that includes a variety of postures performed in sequence. Their purpose is to make the body healthy and enable it to sit still for prolonged periods. Many say that they are too old or unfit to perform them, but the Hatha Yoga Pradipika states: 

 

yuva vrddho ativrddho vā vyādhito durbalo’pi vā |

abhyāsātsiddhimāpnoti sarva-yogeṣvatandritaḥ ||

 

“Whether young, old, very old, sick or feeble, one can attain perfection in yoga by practising.”

 

Even if you’re old or suffer from some disease, you can still practise. With regular practice, you can master your body and enjoy the prime of health. The only requirement is your will to learn and do. If you have these and access to a good teacher, it’s simple.

 

Asanas Vs. Exercise

Many people ask, “Why should I do asanas? I go to the gym every day.” Now, let’s understand the difference between asanas and exercise. 

 

In asana, you conserve and gain energy, whereas in exercise, you expend it. That’s why most gym-goers take energy drinks or protein shakes after their workout—many of which are harmful to health. Particularly, energy drinks harm your brain; make sure to teach your kids not to buy them.

 

Doing asana strengthens the anabolism (tissue build-up), thereby balancing metabolism. Exercise, however, speeds up catabolism (tissue breakdown). Furthermore, when you exercise with equipment like treadmills, you ruin your knees.

Among my disciples are some famous models. They are still young, tall and slim. But they told me, “We’ve lost our knees, they hurt so much. We had been running and running on the treadmill.”

 

One of my disciples, a lieutenant colonel, once stayed in the ashram. He had been trained to run 15 km at a stretch, a very sturdy person. Yet, when he was taught a simple Surya Namaskara, he couldn’t do it. All that running, exercising, and gymming stiffens up your muscles and damages your joints. With a worn-out body, you can’t continue your workouts.

 

Asana practice stimulates organs, thereby improving their functioning. But when you exercise, you build muscles alone. No gym machine can stimulate your internal organs. Is there an exercise that strengthens your brain, spine, pancreas, liver, or spleen? Asanas work on all those.

 

Note that when asanas are performed without awareness, they become mere physical exercise. An important aspect of the practice is to do it with awareness. When you thus do it attentively, it becomes a moving meditation.

 

Why Should We Do Asanas?

  • Performing asanas balances the body and renders it fit for sadhana by making it flexible, supple, and energetic. 
  • It removes blockages hindering the flow of vital energy in the body. It strengthens the biomagnetic forces, thereby reinforcing our immune system.
  • It works particularly on your spine and joints, and strengthens your glandular, muscular, circulatory, skeletal, neurological, and urogenital systems.

 

For example, as they age, many men have enlarged prostates; women often face a prolapsed uterus or urinary tract infections. Both cases may require surgery. But when you regularly do postures like supta padangushthasana and upavishta konasana, along with sarvangasana and shirshasana, you will never face such problems, as these systems are strengthened.

 

A body honed and made supple through practice enables one to sit for long periods without movement or pain—which is the true objective. Maturity of asana is necessary before moving on to the next stage, pranayama. Without practising asana, you can’t avail the full benefit of pranayama. So, you can’t skip it.

 

Pranayama—Expanding and Understanding the Life Force

If you visit a park, you may sometimes see people engaging in some jerky, forceful breathing. Once, I asked one such fellow, “What are you doing?” He said, “Pranayama.” I was laughing inside—merely breathing in and out is not pranayama!

 

The word pranayama is a combination of two words: prana and ayama. Prana is the primal energy through which the atoms shaping up this world, including your body, are created and sustained. Ayama means giving a dimension to that life force. It’s not a mere breathing exercise.

 

Prana Is Life

To understand pranayama, it is essential to explore the cosmic life force that ties the body and mind together. The bridge between the two is prana; without prana, body and mind separate. This is what happens at the time of death. The body is still there, but it’s lifeless. 

 

Have you ever wondered what makes the body function? Is it oxygen? Well, if it is, then put an oxygen mask on a corpse. Will the person come alive again? They won’t; rather, the doctors will say, “No use now—nothing there.” What is that “nothing”?

 

Medical students fail to answer me when I ask them: “Please explain, what is life?” They say, “When the heart is beating, when the brain is working, that is life. When they don’t, it is death.” However, even if the heart stops beating, sometimes an electric shock can revive the person. So, what is life?

 

The great yogi Swami Rama would keep visiting hospitals and colleges in the West for more than 20 years to give a particular demonstration. With a panel of doctors monitoring his pulse and heartbeat, he would lie down and say, “Give me twenty minutes.” After some time, the doctors would notice the pulse and breathing stop—they even wrote a death certificate! But after some more time, the pulse and breathing reappear, and Swamiji would sit up and say, “Now tell me—was I dead? Am I a ghost now?”

He did this demonstration many times, recorded by scientists. They couldn’t understand what this Indian yogi was doing!

 

Swami Rama knew what prana is and how the body functions, and he had the power to control even those functions that are considered involuntary. A yogi knows how to take charge of them when desired.

 

Thus, to expand and gain command over this life-giving energy called prana is what pranayama means.

 

From Pranayama to Samadhi

When you master the practice of pranayama, you automatically move on to the next limb, pratyahara—withdrawal of the five senses from external sensory objects. 

 

In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says, “Like a tortoise brings all its organs into its shell and sits securely in it, similarly the yogi withdraws his senses into the mind, the mind into the intellect, and the intellect into the consciousness—and attains the state of perfect dhyana, meditation”.

 

Many people say, “I’m taking a course in meditation.” My dears, there is no way someone can teach you meditation until you have mastered your pranayama. Without yama, niyama, asana, and pranayama, you will never arrive at the withdrawal of the senses. Hence, you will never experience the perfect state of stillness and silence of the mind.

 

When pratyahara (withdrawal) matures, dharana begins (holding one thought to the exclusion of all others; concentration). When dharana thus ripens, it becomes dhyana, meditation.

 

And this dhyana culminates in the eighth and final rung of ashtanga yoga—samadhi. Only then does one finally attain the state of “chitta-vritti-nirodha” (total cessation of all thoughts). This is the second sutra of Patanjali, where he summarises the highest stage of yoga. Then, he goes on to explain the process of how to achieve it. 

 

 

This was a brief introduction to yoga. To recapitulate, these are the eight successive stages outlined by Patanjali:

1.   Yama (restraints, like non-violence)

2.    Niyama (observances, like purity)

3.   Asana (firm and comfortable posture)

4.   Pranayama (mastering one’s vital energies)

5.   Pratyahara (sense withdrawal)

6.    Dharana (holding one single thought)

7.   Dhyana (uninterrupted flow; meditation)

8.   Samadhi (total absorption of the mind)

 

 

Become a Yogi

I wish to inspire you and plant the seed of this thought in your mind: life is short, don’t waste it. This body is a valuable tool and a temple of the Lord. Use this body, train and discipline it to gain samadhi, and achieve the greatest heights of human possibilities.

 

As humans, we bloom and flourish only when we walk this path of yoga. It brings health to the body and balance to the mind; it gives us a heightened intellect and a beautifully evolved consciousness. It dignifies our personalities, allowing us to deal with others with great love and respect.

 

Don’t just listen or read about yoga—be a yogi. Come to me, or go to any master who knows their craft. Remember who the real yoga teacher is—”chitta-vritti-nirodhah”—one who has experienced samadhi. You may ask, “How would I know if a person has experienced samadhi?” True—but you can know one thing: if the person teaches with diligence, understanding and a scientific attitude; if they have patience, love, and great respect for you, then know that you are with the right person.

 

 Note:


The Master’s comprehensive commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is available as a video series, in book form, and digitally through the Amrit Varsha App.