The Yoga Asana Index
Introduction
The Yoga Asana Index celebrates the beauty and form of hatha yoga. The poses contained in these pages represent the human body's almost infinite potential for strength, flexibility, poise and change.
Some of the poses come to us from the ancient foundations of yoga, while other more recently developed poses build on those foundations, reflecting yoga's dynamic evolution and adaptability. The truly unique power of yoga asana, beyond their distinctive geometry, is their proven power to heal, strengthen, open energize, calm and balance our entire physical, mental and emotional system.
This guide is a meticulously researched collection of 486 lovingly and accurately drawn yoga postures spanning many styles. The back portion of the manual has a complete Sanskrit-English and English-Sanskrit glossary for easy reference. A little side note here; when you read the Sanskrit, bear in mind that it originates in an entirely different writing system as well as having sounds that are not shared in English. For those reasons, various pronunciation marks need to be added when the yoga postures in Sanskrit are translated into Western letters. The usage in this book includes standard international “diacritical” marks and spelling which may be a little unfamiliar. For example, sounds like “ch” are written as “c” as in cakra (chakra), or “sh” is written “
” as in iva (Shiva). Refer to the enclosed audio CD. This will help guide you through the asana names with authentic Sanskrit pronunciation and translation.
The asana in this book have been generally organized as standing poses, floor poses, forward folds, hip opening poses, seated twists, arm balances, backbends, and inverted postures. Some poses are shared between categories because they progress gracefully from one category to another. For example, you will find a few hip opening poses that move naturally into an arm balance variation, or an arm balance that progresses to become a backbend.
Following is a section devoted to the energetically powerful hand gestures called mudras. From the infinite number of existing mudras, 23 of the most important used in hatha yoga practice are included.
If we make discovering ourselves the deepest purpose of our actions, then all of our experiences can potentially bring us deeper into the heart. By practicing yoga, our physical bodies can assist a powerful spiritual path toward this deeper connection. Yoga practices are designed to transform us on several levels by developing our awareness and ultimately our state of consciousness. Asana can be extremely effective in helping us cultivate focus and a deeper experience of who we are, and who we are not! When you do the asana, do them fully. Devote your practice to elevating your consciousness and that of everyone on the planet. Clear intention is the key to realizing this end. Because every aspect of our being is interconnected, the practice of asana helps clear the body of stored pain and blocks, smoothing the way for personal consciousness to evolve.
Use this book as a reference and inspiration for your practice. It shows you the possibilities. When combined with The Yoga Practice Guide and The Yoga Practice Guide 2, the inspiration in this book will help you create infinite variety and joy in your practice.