Āsana: The Third Limb of the Eight Limbs of Yoga
Āsana
II.46 Sthira sukham āsanam
We have finally arrived at the most well-known and popular limb in the West, āsana, II.46 Sthira sukham āsanam, the third of the Eight Limbs of Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga. When translated, this limb means, “Āsana is steady and comfortable/pleasant,” or “Āsana must have the dual qualities of alertness and relaxation.”
Āsana is defined by the qualities of its practice, sthira and sukha, steady and pleasant. In yoga āsana practice, your body should remain relatively comfortable at all times. If it does not remain comfortable, it is no longer yoga.
At some point in western culture, we developed the idea that we must torture and push our bodies if we want them to function (no pain, no gain!). This influence on yoga āsana has spawned new western styles or methods of “yoga,” many of which have very little to do with Yoga or āsana at all, and ethically should not even bear its name. Sadly, this is a common theme: Once an eastern wellness technique becomes popular in the West, it is commonly stripped of its authentic principles and spirituality, repackaged, rebranded, and monetized with little, if any, true essence of the tradition. When this happens to yoga āsana in the West, it typically results in some form of exercise class which looks like a mixture of gymnastics and aerobics, with no attention to the breath, the practitioner, or the philosophical principle of āhimsa — this is not Yoga or āsana!
As stated before, in yoga āsana, your body should remain comfortable at all times. If it does not remain comfortable, it is no longer yoga. Krishnamacharya would say if your heart rate goes up too much in a particular posture, or at any point in āsana practice, you should take a break, allow it to recover, and then continue. This is another reason āsana (in a Krishnamacharya lineage) is coordinated with breathing (prānāyāma). Your breath will be affected if your heart rate increases too much. In yoga āsana, your breath should remain long and smooth.
Therefore, the idea of sukha (pleasant and comfortable) is critically important! This does not mean that we should not exert some sort of effort, and it does not mean that the practice is not intense; certain āsana and prānāyāma practices require a great deal of effort and are very intense. However, if you are practicing properly, you are able to keep the breath long and smooth, and the heart rate controlled.
We should practice āsana not only for how we want our system operate during the practice, but also after it. We want our bodies to be operating steadily and comfortably all day long.
Patañjali expands upon āsana (and the beginning of the next limb, prānāyāma) in the following two sūtras: II.47. Prayatna-śaithilya ananta-samāpattibhyām and II.48. Tato dvamdva-anabhighātah. These sūtras discuss in greater detail the appropriate effort for āsana, the importance and reasons for incorporating the breath (prānāyāma) in one’s āsana practice, and the results from developing these processes in the body.
Essentially, āsana is a metaphor (in the form of a physical practice) for what we want to accomplish with Yoga as a whole. We learn to connect deeper through our system (the gross) to connect with spirit (the subtle) and allow spirit (or Knowing) to guide us and take the lead — this is āsana.
A note for context: My perspective is based in the Viniyoga/Desikachar lineage. Viniyoga is a traditional Indian lineage of Yoga taught by TKV Desikachar, who was the son of Krishnamacharya. My teacher, Chase Bossart, was a 20+ year private student of Mr. Desikachar. I have studied this text with Chase, word for Sanskrit word, consistently for the past four years.
Namaste,
Kelly