Yogasanas

▵ The word asana literally means a posture. Out of the innumerable asanas a body can assume, 84 have been identified as Yogasanas, through which one can transform the body and mind into a possibility for ultimate wellbeing. Yogasanas are not exercises, but rather subtle processes to manipulate one’s energy in a particular direction. Hatha Yoga is offered as a set of 36 powerful postures, or yogasanas, to enable the system to sustain higher dimensions of energy.

This profound science enhances how one thinks, feels, and experiences life. Yogasanas are a way of aligning the inner system and adjusting it to the celestial geometry, thereby becoming in sync with the existence and naturally achieving a chemistry of healthfulness, joyfulness, blissfulness, and above all, balance.

▵ Relief of chronic health conditions
▵ Evolution of body and mind towards a higher possibility
▵ Stabilization of the body, mind, and energy system
▵ Deceleration of the aging process

▵ Science of Asanas
The science of asanas is known as hatha yoga. “Ha” means sun, “ta” means moon. The first process of yoga is to bring balance between the masculine and feminine in you. Otherwise there will be no scaling of consciousness. This is why Shiva is known as Ardhanarishvara – one half of him is a woman, another half of him is a man. He is a man and the very embodiment of manhood. At the same time, he is also woman, because without bringing this balance, without cultivating these two dimensions within us, there is no reaching towards the peak, there is no question of a human being flowering to his fullest possibility. That is why the first dimension of yoga that you practice is hatha yoga. That means the yoga of the sun and the moon is bringing balance between the masculine and the feminine. That is the first step to take.
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ 84 Asanas to Attain
Among the Yogasanas, there are 84 basic asanas through which one can elevate his consciousness. When we say 84 asanas, do not think of them as just 84 postures. These are 84 systems, 84 ways of attaining. Out of this, if you have mastery over even a single yogasana, everything that is worth knowing in the existence can be known.
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ Know everything that has happened in creation until now
If you hold the posture right, if your alignment is right, it matches with the cosmic alignment in some way. The 84 yogasanas represent 84 alignments, because existence as we know it now is seen as the 84th creation. The memory of these 84 creations is reflected in our body. We are trying to release and activate this memory. If one gets into these 84 postures, or if one masters a single posture and approaches the remaining 83 through that, one can know everything that has happened in creation until now, because the memory of that is within one’s system in a codified way. If this memory touches another dimension outside of yourself, it can be activated and ignited. Yogasanas are a powerful means to connect.
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ Asana Siddhi
People who have taken up hatha yoga as their way of life generally take up one asana for their life’s sadhana. This is known as Asana Siddhi. Asana Siddhi means one is able to sit in a particular way with absolute ease. For most people, whichever way they keep their body, it is not at ease. If you sit, it is not comfortable. If you stand, it is not comfortable. If you lie down, it is not comfortable. What the hell to do with this? If you give your body to the process of yoga, slowly the body becomes at ease. If you sit like this, it is absolutely at ease. It is not trying to be some other way. 
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ Asana mastery and perception A thinking mind cannot understand how a man can spend his whole life wanting to sit in a particular way. But everything that can be perceived can be perceived, by having mastery over a single physical posture. What you are calling as yogasanas is just to get this body geometrically in line with the cosmic geometry. If you learn to just hold it right, you can download the whole cosmos. This is yoga. If you simply sit right, everything that’s worth knowing can be known to you from within.
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ Creating a Device to Receive the Divine
In a proper atmosphere, with a certain sense of humility and inclusiveness about the whole process, hatha yoga is a very fantastic process. If I do a two-day hatha yoga program, people will burst with tears of ecstasy simply doing asanas, and that is the way yoga needs to be done.
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ Hatha Yoga is preparatory
If you stay in an asana and breathe properly, as you go through this process, the mind will go into various states. This exploration is the most fundamental aspect of yoga. Hatha Yoga is not the peak – it is preparatory. If you try to go to the peak without that preparatory step, you will probably crash. At least 80% of humanity will not be able to do any kind of meditation in their life unless they do some kind of physical preparation. 
Excerpt – Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)

▵ Boosting the Energy Body
The boundaries of what you consider as “you” are purely physiological and psychological in nature. On the elemental level, there are no boundaries. Yoga means to erase the boundaries of you as an individual. Because oneness is the way life is, and we want to know life the way it is. The idea of a division between you and me is imaginary. As air is moving all over the place, so is everything else in different ways. The quantum of elements in you varies from day to day. Transaction happens all the time.

A lot of the eighty-four asanas are aimed towards enhancing your energies. Before you boost your energy in a big way, a certain amount of preparation, expansion, and transparence needs to happen to ensure the body and the mind will be able to take it. Boosting your energies without sufficiently preparing your body and your mind would be like putting more air into a balloon than it can hold. The first series will wear the boundaries of your body and mind thin, so that you become increasingly conscious that the idea of “this is me – that is you” exists only for practical purposes. On a more fundamental level, there is no absolute boundary between “this” and “that.”
Excerpt – Why a Set of Twenty-One Yogasanas? (Isha)

Agility Level: Advanced

Please note that attendance on all days is mandatory. This programme is open to ages 14 and above.

Please come on an empty stomach condition: Finish a meal 4 hours prior to the class, snack 2.5 hours prior, beverage or cigarette 1.5 hours before the class.

Due to the nature of the practices taught, there are some contraindications. People who fall under any of the below categories are not eligible to participate at this time:

▵ Women who are currently pregnant
▵ Anyone who has had a major open surgery within the last 6 months
▵ Anyone who has had a laparoscopic surgery or any severe muscular injury within the last 6 weeks
▵ If you have an active hernia

As a general note, always consult and follow your doctor’s advice.

▵ Yogasanas (Isha)
▵ Learn Yogasanas (Isha)
▵ Asanas Guide – Align With the Divine (Isha)
▵ Why a Set of Twenty-One Yogasanas? (Isha)

▵ Learn Yogasanas (Isha)