When you are in the final posture, first the focus is on the physical stillness and second on the physical comfort – sthiram sukham asanam. An asana is not just a practice done by the physical body; it is a practice which engages the body, the mind and pranas. Hatha yogic practices are not physical. People consider them to be physical, yet in reality they are not physical, they are pranic. Hatha yoga is not the yoga of physical exercises, it is the yoga of ida and pingala to bring about a balance in the vital forces of the body and mind.
The word hatha yoga indicates the focus, purpose and intention of the practice, balancing the ida and pingala energies, the vital forces of the body. You may look at hatha yoga as physical, but yogis have looked at hatha yoga as pranic. That is the difference between the practice of yogis and the practice of common people. Yoga remains a physical gymnastic for the common people, whereas yogis can utilize the asana to change the flows of prana, to create a balance in pranas and utilize that energy for other purposes, like meditation or other inclinations that they may have in life. The asana should not be practised mechanically without awareness. In every pose, try to attain two things – stability and comfort.
To do all that will be difficult. So, we proceed in groups.
The first three rounds will be done with breath awareness. That will loosen up your body movement. Do not focus on stability and comfort in the first three rounds. Just allow the body, the joints and muscles to open up. I the next three rounds, focus on physical stillness in the final pose. If you are on your hand and one knee, you may wobble a bit but the intention should be to remain firm and stable. This will develop over a period of time. Then in the next three rounds your focus will be comfort. Take away your mind from those areas of tension and pain, which you can experience during the performance of the asana. Try to put a feeling of comfort in those areas which you are feeling stretched or tight. In this manner, create comfort in the whole physical body.
When people and yoga teachers are practising yoga, they generally say that whenever one feels tired, to lie down in shavasana and rest. This is for people who are doing yoga as an exercise. If we cannot practise ten to fifteen rounds of an asana, we are not practising yoga. It is an indication of the weak condition of the body. With each practice, the body becomes more fit and strong. Stamina and strength will be in your body. For that, you need to practise an asana, not for five times and then lie in shavasana; but ten times, eleven, up to twenty five times. Imagine yourself, doing vyaghrasana and majariasana twenty five times. What will be the condition of your back and spine after a month of that practice?
The trend in yoga teachers is to teach yoga as relaxation. More focus is given on relaxation, not on posture. The people who say yoga is relaxation are absolutely wrong and they have never studied yoga. Yoga is working with oneself to increase the capacity of the physical systems, the pranic system and therefore shavasana has to be done only when you are physically tired, not for the sake of resting but to rest when the body is tired. The lazy man’s yoga is shavasana. I am not negating shavasana, but when it comes to practice, it is only to be done in between asanas, when the body gets tired. If the body is not tired, do not do shavasana, continue with the asana practice. That is one rule which you have to remember.
5 November 2023, Munger Yoga Symposium II, Ganga Darshan, Munger