The room is quiet, except for the gentle sound of breath. You step onto your mat. Your feet find the ground, your spine rises, your gaze softens. For a moment, nothing else matters—no deadlines, no phone notifications, no unfinished to-do list.
This is asana.
This is not a performance. Not an Instagram-perfect pose. Not the chase for flexibility or toned muscles or a bikini-season body. Asana, in its truest form, is an invitation to inhabit yourself fully—steadily, comfortably, and with unwavering presence.
Asana is a pilgrimage from movement into stillness.
The Seat of Yoga
Long before yoga studios lined city streets and playlists accompanied vinyasa flows, asana meant something far simpler.
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, written over 2,000 years ago, asana is defined in just three Sanskrit words:
Sthira sukham asanam — a steady, comfortable seat.
It wasn’t a performance, or a catalogue of postures. It was the art of sitting so well—so aligned, so at ease—that the body no longer distracted the mind.
Back then, the yogi’s practice was about stillness. The body as a vessel for meditation, and asana as the way to make that vessel strong, balanced, and peaceful enough to hold a quiet mind.
From Seat to Symphony of Movement
Over centuries, asana evolved through Hatha Yoga traditions. Poses multiplied. Movement entered the practice. Stillness remained the goal, but the pathway began to weave through standing shapes, forward folds, and backbends.
Today, in the modern West, asana has taken another turn. It’s often taught as exercise—an accessible entry point for people seeking strength, flexibility, or stress relief. And while there’s nothing wrong with this evolution, something gets lost when we forget that asana’s deepest aim has never been the body alone—it is the whole self.
The Many Faces of Asana
Each type of asana carries its own mood, its own medicine.
- Seated Poses — The originals. Sukhasana (Easy Pose), Padmasana (Lotus), Siddhasana (Adept’s Pose). Poses that invite the spine to rise like a mountain while the body rests like a still lake.
- Standing Poses — Tadasana (Mountain), Virabhadrasana (Warrior), Trikonasana (Triangle). They root you to the earth and remind you that strength can be steady, not forceful.
- Forward Bends — Uttanasana (Forward Fold), Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Fold). They are the exhale of the practice, drawing you inward, cooling the mind.
- Backbends — Bhujangasana (Cobra), Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel). Openings for the heart, awakenings for the spine. They ask you to be courageous and vulnerable at once.
- Twists — Ardha Matsyendrasana (Lord of the Fishes), Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle). Spirals that wring out what is stagnant and make space for what is new.
- Inversions — Sirsasana (Head to Knee), Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand), Viparita Karani (Legs up the Wall). A chance to turn the world upside down and see from a fresh perspective.
- Balancing Poses — Vrksasana (Tree), Natarajasana (Dancer). Lessons in focus and humility; fall, try again, breathe.
- Restorative Poses — Savasana (Corpse), Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclined Bound Angle). The pause. The reset. The quiet return to being.
When woven together, these categories become more than a physical workout. They form a ritual—a conversation between movement and stillness.
What the Ancients Knew
For the yogis of old, the body was not a billboard for muscles and mobility. It was a home for the soul.
Asana’s true purpose was to prepare the body for the deeper limbs of yoga:
- Pranayama (breath control)
- Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses)
- And ultimately, meditation.
The goal? To free the practitioner from the restlessness that keeps the mind tethered to the surface of life. A steady seat as the gateway to a steady mind, and a steady mind as the gateway to liberation.
Bringing the Old Wisdom into the New World
We live in a world that moves faster than the breath we take to keep up with it. The temptation is strong to make yoga yet another task, another achievement. But asana can be our antidote.
Here’s how we can bring the original heart of asana into today’s practice:
- Lead with breath — Let your breath shape the pose, not the other way around. If the breath falters, ease back.
- Find the “sweet spot” — Not too much effort, not too little. Seek steadiness and ease in equal measure.
- Practice like it’s meditation in motion — Let every movement be deliberate, every stillness intentional.
- Honor all the asanas — Build a practice that includes both strength and surrender, heat and rest.
- End in silence — Always, always, leave space for stillness at the end. Let the body’s work settle into the mind’s quiet.
Why It Still Matters
In a time where busyness is a badge of honor, asana reminds us that there is wisdom in slowing down. Yes, it strengthens the muscles and improves flexibility—but more importantly, it strengthens our presence and flexibility of spirit.
When you practice with this awareness, every posture becomes a conversation between body and mind, between ancient wisdom and modern life.
In the End
Asana is not about touching your toes—it’s about touching your truth. It is the third limb of yoga, but also a bridge: from the world outside to the world within.
So, the next time you step onto your mat, remember the invitation that has traveled across centuries:
Sit well. Move with purpose. Breathe with awareness. And let every pose—no matter how simple—be your steady, comfortable seat in the present moment.
About the Author
Laurie Kelly, CPT, RYT-200is the owner of Dragonfly Drishti Yoga. She is an experienced yoga instructor with advanced specialty training in Restorative, Yin, and Trauma-Informed yoga practices. Based in Lone Tree, Colorado, she offers classes in these practices as well as Vinyasa (Flow), Hatha, and Chair-Based yoga styles in the south metro Denver area. Laurie welcomes your comments and feedback – you can reach her here.