Class Plan on Asana

Reminder  about  the  Memoir  2000 word paper response it is  due  two weeks from Thursday.  Get reading.   Remember you can also post four 500 word responses as you are reading if you prefer.  The links to  the   books you can choose from  are on line.

Nabi  asked a great question  doesn’t it seem strange that asana is hardly mentioned at all.

There are only three  sutras that directly deal with  asana.   Interesting side note, it occurs right after the sutra that says  “Surrender to God brings perfection in Samadhi.”

2.46	sthira sukham asanam
	Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit.
2.47	prayatna saithilya ananta samapattibhyam
	Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.
2.48	tatah dvandvah anabhighatah
	From then on, the sadhaka is undisturbed by dualities.

  It is mentioned as one of the eight limbs

2.29	yama niyama asana pranayama pratyahara dharana dhyana samadhayah astau angani
	Moral injunctions (yama), fixed observances (niyama), posture (asana), regulation of breath (pranayama), internalization of the senses towards their source (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana) and absorption of consciousness in the self (samadhi), are the eight constituents of yoga.

  and then referred to  in the pranayama sutras (of which there are five).  

2.49	tasmin sati svasa prasvasayoh gativicchedah pranayamah
	Pranayama is regulation of the incoming and outgoing flow of breath with retention. It is to be practised only after perfection in asana is attained.

So I thought we’d talk a bit about asana in the overall framework of the sutras.

Then some asana  AMS Utt, AMS supta I  AMS UPEP sirsasana,    M1   JS   Sarvangasana   M3   Savasana