Asana

More Than a Pose

Asana means posture. It is what most people in the Western world associate with Yoga — the shapes, the stretches, the flowing sequences photographed in beautiful light. But posture is only one thread in a much larger weave.

The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj — to yoke, to unite. Yoga is union. Union of body and breath. Of breath and mind. Of mind and something beyond itself. Asana is where many of us begin, and it is a worthy beginning. But it is one part of an eight-limbed path.

One Eighth of the Whole

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras describe eight limbs of Yoga. Asana is the third. It sits between the ethical practices of Yama and Niyama, and the breath awareness of Pranayama. In that position, it has a specific and beautiful role: to prepare the body for stillness.

Asana readies you for meditation — creating a body that can be at rest long enough for the mind to follow. And it prepares you for Pranayama (breathwork) by strengthening and opening the structures breath moves through: the diaphragm, the length of the spine, the expansion of the ribcage.

Beyond those deeper purposes, a regular asana practice offers gifts of its own — balancing the central nervous system, improving blood flow, building functional mobility and balance that serves us long after we step off the mat.

What Yoga Actually Is

“You cannot do Yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are Yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.”

— Sharon Gannon

This is one of my favourite reminders. Yoga is not something you achieve. It is something you return to. The practice — including Asana — is simply a way of getting out of your own way.

Sthira Sukham Asanam

There is a guiding principle in the Yoga Sutras that I return to constantly, both in my own practice and in my teaching: Sthira Sukham Asanam. Steady, comfortable posture. The place where you could rest all day. Where breath comes easily. Where effort and ease find their balance.

It is not the most extreme version of a pose. It is not the version someone else holds. It is the version where your body is both alert and at rest, where nothing is forced, and where the breath remains your companion.

When you find that place, you have found your asana.

Principles to Carry With You

Your Yoga is yours. It does not look like anyone else’s practice — not even your own practice on a different day. The body changes. Energy shifts. Some mornings a pose flows; others it simply doesn’t. None of that is failure. It is the truth of the moment. Meet it without judgement.

Santosa — acceptance. Accept what is. Accept yourself. This is not resignation; it is the quiet wisdom of meeting reality as it is, rather than as we wish it were. In practice, Santosa means releasing the comparison, the frustration, the reaching. It creates space for something real to happen.

Karuna — compassion. When you encounter a tight muscle, a stubborn joint, a place that resists — send compassion there. Not force. Not impatience. Breathe into it gently. The body responds to kindness far more readily than it responds to will.

Let the Breath Lead

Breathe through every pose. If you cannot, back off. This is not negotiable, and it is not weakness. The breath is your clearest guide. When it becomes strained or held, the body is telling you something important. Listen.

The moment you ease back just enough to breathe freely, you will often find the pose begins to open in ways that effort never could.

Dynamic Movement — Learning Through Flow

Not every pose arrives immediately, and that is completely fine. Sometimes the most effective way to help your body become comfortable in a new posture is to move in and out of it — gently, rhythmically, following the breath.

Moving between Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward-facing dog) and a forward-facing Virasana (hero pose), for example, helps the body gradually find ease in both shapes. The movement warms the relevant muscles and joints, builds familiarity, and often achieves more openness than holding a static pose alone would.

Dynamic movement is not a lesser practice. For many bodies, it is the most intelligent one.

Taking Your Practice Deeper

Once the basic shapes feel familiar and your practice feels settled, there are several pathways that can deepen your experience considerably.

Understanding the five sheaths — the Pancha Koshas — offers a map for exploring what Yoga actually touches. Asana works most directly at the level of the physical body, but its effects ripple inward through every layer.

Bandha — the body locks — are another powerful layer. Mula Bandha is a wonderful starting point: a gentle engagement at the root of the pelvis that helps contain and direct energy through the body. Once you have a sense of it, it can quietly transform the quality of your entire practice.

And Mudra — which can be a hand gesture, a body posture, or a full energetic seal — is a vast and beautiful territory. Even simple mudras can change how a pose feels from the inside out.

These are not things to rush toward. They will arrive naturally as your practice deepens and matures.

If you have questions, or would like to explore any of this in a supported setting, I would love to hear from you.

Namaste, Penelope