“Sthira Sukham Asanam.” Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 2.46. In this article, I explore the phrase through the qualities of steadiness and ease in a pose. Text and commentary at the Centre for Yoga Studies.
Many people first meet yoga through asana, the practice of poses. They may come to work on flexibility or strength, or to make time for a quieter kind of attention. The experience and benefits vary from person to person.
Beyond Physical Culture
Breath awareness and reflection can add another dimension to a physical practice. A familiar pose becomes a place to notice your effort, attention, and response to challenge.
I agree with those who observe that when the deeper aspects of awareness and breath are not included, yoga practice naturally emphasizes its physical side. When those elements are woven in, the same poses become a way to uncover clarity and mindfulness in action on and off the yoga mat. Critically, this allows the brain and body to learn and adapt in an organic way that supports their natural processes of change and integration. In this way, movement becomes you.
Effort, Ease, and Awareness
This gift can be the possibility of self-discovery and more profound growth. We can discover on the yoga mat how releasing unnecessary struggle and self-judgment is the foundation of higher development. Learning to meet our limits with compassion rather than force can be the catalyst that leads to greater growth in our skills and comfort in yoga poses.
When the measure of our attainment of the yoga poses is no longer some external physical form seen in a magazine or demonstrated by the person next to us in class, a new process can begin. Your sense of being able to accept how your body can safely and comfortably be in each pose or movement begins to be your measure of success. There can become a balance of effort and ease that enhances the ability to be present amidst the changes and challenges that all yoga poses bring.
A Broader Understanding of Practice
In the ancient yogic text, the Yoga Sutra, the sage Patanjali called this attainment sthira sukham asanam (comfortable, steady pose). Though this concept specifically relates to cultivating the seated poses of meditation, I believe it can be a metaphor for how you can approach the physical practices of yoga to expand their scope and power to bring healthful growth. For the adventurous student, this new mode of exploration can be taken from the narrow confines of the yoga mat.
Learning From What We Feel
Steadiness and ease do not mean avoiding every challenge. We can work toward strength and flexibility while choosing demands that suit us and leaving room to adjust or rest.
A comfortable, steady pose may look different from one person to another and from one day to the next. Exploring that difference can help us choose how to practice, without treating every limitation as something to overcome.
To work through these experiences, yogis do not throw on music headphones or other distractions to ignore or blast through these parts of themselves to “get their yoga done.” Instead, I believe that intrinsic to the practice of yoga asana is the process of incorporating a growing faculty of open-hearted awareness within each pose. This allows the student the ability to gain the compassion and consciousness needed to translate asana instruction into an invitation to explore ever more deeply all that is revealed.
Noticing what we feel gives us information for practice: we can change a position, reduce effort, rest, or ask for help. Awareness is a tool for learning, not a promise of healing. That distinction leaves room to explore the steadiness and ease of sthira sukham asanam in our own experience.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a major yogic text given over 2,000 years ago by the yogic sage Patanjali. It codifies, in four chapters of aphorisms (threads or sutures), the essence of the eight limbs of Classical Raja Yoga. The third of these limbs is yoga asana, and the above quotation refers simply to the yogic embodiment of this practice.
Disclaimer
Results may vary. This information is for educational purposes only. Please remember that when practicing yoga, movement, and/or meditation techniques, you accept responsibility for all you do. It is not a treatment or substitute for medical care. Consult your doctor or mental health professional and work in accordance with your medical needs and limitations. I encourage you to seek out instruction and guidance from a qualified teacher to answer any questions and ensure the most positive experience. Please read our full disclaimer for more information.
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