Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An asana is a body posture, used in both medieval hatha yoga and modern yoga. [1] The term is derived from the Sanskrit word for 'seat'. While many of the oldest mentioned asanas are indeed seated postures for meditation, asanas may be standing, seated, arm-balances, twists, inversions, forward bends, backbends, or reclining in prone or supine ...
Asanas, along with the breathing exercises of pranayama, are the physical movements of hatha yoga and of modern yoga. [17] [18] Patanjali describes asanas as a "steady and comfortable posture", [19] referring to the seated postures used for pranayama and for meditation, where meditation is the path to samadhi, transpersonal self-realization ...
Once a peaceful stable location has been chosen, the yogi begins the posture exercises called asanas. These postures come in numerous forms. For a beginner, states the historian of religion Mircea Eliade, the asanas are uncomfortable, typically difficult, cause the body to shake, and are typically unbearable to hold for extended periods of time ...
Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning. [1] Position is a general term for a configuration of the human body. Posture means an intentionally or habitually assumed ...
Different asanas focus on different organ groups. [67] Of the eight asanas, the text discusses two variations each for the Swastikasana and the Mukta Sirsasana in verses 3.3–5 and 3.13–14 respectively, with claims that each asana helps cleanse the body when these are practiced with Yamas and Niyamas. [66] [68]
The asana is entered from a lunge, with the back knee lowered to the ground, the back arched and the arms raised and stretched over the head. The toes of the back foot are pointed back in styles such as Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and other styles, the top of the foot on the floor, though in other styles such as Sivananda Yoga the toes are tucked under.
In the Supported Headstand (Salamba Shirshasana), the body is completely inverted, and held upright supported by the forearms and the crown of the head. [9] In his Light on Yoga, B. K. S. Iyengar uses a forearm support, with the fingers interlocked around the head, for the basic posture Shirshasana I and its variations; he demonstrates a Western-style tripod headstand, the palms of the hands ...
[4] [5] For instance, it is listed and described within the 84 asanas in the 17th-century Haṭha Ratnāvalī (3.7–20). [5] [6] However, the current form of Gomukhasana with the hands behind the back is mentioned only in such ancient tantric texts as the Ahirbudhnya Samhita. [5] It is sometimes used for meditation and pranayama. [7]