Perfection in asanas (Asana Siddhi)

 

There are three signs of perfection in Asana Siddhi:

 

1)       During the time of asana, the body should be in a state of perfect repose and relaxation, with no movement in any part thereof.

2)      Again, one should rise above body-consciousness, and have no knowledge even of sensory and motor currents, which are to be left to themselves with no thought about them.

3)      Last, but not the least, one should feel and actually enjoy happiness and bliss within him.

 

One can acquire Asana Siddhi or discipline in a year by practicing it regularly for one to six hours every day.

 

However, before proceeding further in our survey of Patanjali’s Ashtang Yoga, we must remind ourselves that a mastery of the asanas and temperance in living are to be looked upon as a means and not as the end.  The sadhak must not forget that physical culture is a preparation.  Just as he used ethics with its yamas and niyamas to purify his mind for the inner journey, so too he must discipline his body and daily living, and then work toward his ultimate goal: at-one-ment with Brahman.  This point needs emphasizing because human nature is such that in pursuing an arduous course, it often forgets the final end, setting up the means as the goal.  Many a yogin takes to the development of physical culture as though that were the be-all and end-all of yoga.  In such cases, success in practice of asanas and in moderation of needs, instead of preparing the way for further progress, brings with it a sense of pride and vanity resulting in complacency and spiritual inertia.  The discriminating sadhak will learn the basic essentials from this branch of yoga—the secret of health and the best posture for mediation—but he will not attempt to specialize in it or to master all its refinements, for he will know that to get absorbed in the means is to forget the end.