The Story of Yogasana We tend to see Yogasana merely as a bodily activity, but it’s not just about physical exercise. In the truest sense, a sincere Yoga practice is to enable qualities to bloom from deep within. If contemplated upon, every asana has a story of its own. Every pose has a quality of its own, and speaks out to us! Practice each asana and breath, pause, breath again, just be, and watch the body flow, allow yourself to feel the asana and feel the strength of the quality or character behind it. Let us do a simple flow together, but this time, really try and feel each asana and imbibe strength of purpose in practicing each asana. From here, bring both hands together at the heart center into Namaskarasana, expressing humility, bowing down in deep gratitude for all that we’ve been blessed with. The Namaskara mudra is also a gesture in Eastern culture representing gratitude and respect to each soul and each being, putting aside the differences, respecting all around us and feeling deep gratitude for all that we have been blessed with. Spread the legs 4 feet apart as we exhale and extend sidewards and down into Trikonasana, experiencing the balance of the trinity of mind, body, and soul, energizing us with the forces of life and reminding us time and again of our final destination. We realize that experimenting with the mind and body are merely a few tools to experience the truth. From here, let us bend the right knee and spread our arms out parallel to the floor into Veerbhadrasana, representing power. In this inner quest, there are challenges that we may encounter through the journey. Breathe into this asana to experience strength, power, and serenity amidst the inner or outer chaos. Stay strong because you will make it through just like a peaceful and powerful warrior! Utthita Hasta Padangustasana enables us to have a single pointed focus and with utmost focus comes freedom. When we focus on our goal, no hurdles can stop us from reaching our goal and attaining the truth. Rooting ourselves through Vrikshasana, we are reminded time and again of the purpose of our existence. Only when we decide to live purposefully can we reach our goal and achieve what we want to. Take a moment here to reflect upon the purpose of your existence and realise that no matter what hurdles may come, you will remain rooted and stable. To live by our purpose, we learn the importance of awareness and perfection through Natarajasana. By forming the perfect posture and arch through this asana, we learn that perfection comes from awareness, which helps us remain stable and energized to give our best. Now, come down into Vajrasana, centering ourselves, feeling our breath, checking our state of mind and just giving ourselves a moment to be in the present moment. Feel the purity and simplicity of a baby’s heart as you release yourself into this asana. Vashishtasana blooms the quality of purity in our hearts. Forming a side plank and balancing on one hand, imbibe the feeling of purity just like a sage, who has committed himself to live spiritually and purposefully. Let us take inspiration from this asana to aspire to live on the path of purification. Flowing into Urdhva Mukha Shwanasana or upwards facing dog, open up the heart center and imbibe a sense of hope and worship, fueling ourselves with positive energy. Only when you open yourself up to the world and imbibe that positivity, can you be energized to give and grow. Get into downward dog and weave one leg through the other into Chamatkarasana, reminding us to be wild, be free, be ourselves. Chamatkara means miracle, and a life lived purposefully and joyfully feels just like a beautiful miracle! The beauty of this gift called life is to enjoy it completely and live wholeheartedly. Once again, open up your heart to the entire universe through Ustrasana, a deep backward bend. Let us be limitless and let our hearts be as vast as the ocean. Going into a deeper backward bend, let us not forget to backbend ourselves, or our ego’s in each situation to be more loving and giving. No matter what challenges are thrown at us, Eka Pada Setubadanasa gives us strength to remain untouched, strong and centered. Come onto the back, lifting the torso up, and lifting one leg into the sky, feel that revived sense of strength as we culminate this yogasana flow. And finally, Shavasana, what seems to be the easiest asana, but rather is the most challenging asana as we need not only refrain the body from movement, but rather want to refrain the mind from its constant chatter. Feeling the state of inner silence, stillness, bliss is the true meaning of shavasana. This state is the truth, the beautiful experience that we all aspire for. Let us go through this wonderful yoga flow to create meaning out of our daily Yoga practice. Try out each asana, feel each pose, see what it means to you. How can we imbibe these wonderful qualities into our character and daily lifestyle? Let us now bring a deeper meaning into our yoga practice, and touch the lesser known realm of bliss and peace.
