KNOWLEDGE OF THE MONTH
Excerpts from a discourse by
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The Purpose
Of Yoga
The definition for ‘asana’ is ‘Sthiram sukham
asanam’, that which is stable and pleasant.
You should feel comfortable when doing
yogasanas. Yoga is that which gives you
pleasure and comfort.
So, how do get into a posture? ‘Prayatna
shaithilya’! Get into a position and let go
of the effort, then what happens? Ananta
samapathibhyam - infinity abides in you. So,
each asana should be done keeping in mind
that the goal is not the correctness of the
posture but to experience infinity.
What is the definition of comfort? When
you don’t feel the body. If you are sitting
in some odd position then you feel those
parts of the body. Your focus is more on the
discomfort. When you do any asana, first you
feel discomfort. But, if you take your mind
through it, you will find that in just a few
minutes, the discomfort has disappeared
and you don’t feel the body, only a feeling
of lightness. You feel an expansion or infinity
in the postures. This is the most important
thing in yoga asana.
The purpose of yoga is not only
to retain a good physical shape
but also to experience infinity
and timeless expansion. And
that starts happening to you
with a little practice.