9 9 % Y O G I
YOGItimes magazine for the modern yogi

Part 4: Asana:
A Path to God
by Mike Stokes

Last month we looked at the Niyamas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. This month we will look at the third element of a complete yoga practice: Asana practice. The word Asana can be translated as many things. Most commonly it is translated as a posture or a yoga pose. It also means to stay, seat, to be, or to be established in. We can think of asana or posture as a dwelling or residence. In the practice of asana we come to reside in the posture. To literally live there peaceful and vibrant.

There are three sutras that pertain directly to asana. Here is my liberal translation of what is at the heart of their meaning.

Sutra 2.46-2.48 summarized.

Yogic Posture is steady and easy. To achieve this, one must learn to properly relax. And connect to the infinite. When this is accomplished, the practitioner is undisturbed by the dualistic nature of life.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the three sutras.

Sutra 2.46 is most commonly translated as, “Posture is steady and comfortable.” In practical terms, what that means is that in every moment of our asana practice we endeavor to be focused and at the same time comfortable and happy. In the most challenging pose we are relaxed and in the easiest pose we are alert.

Sutra 2.47 can be translated as "this (a steady easy posture) is attained by properly relaxing and by meditating on the infinite." In this Sutra we are instructed to relax and let go, but not just any relaxing: proper relaxing. How do we correctly relax in Asana practice? We correctly relax in our practice by maintaining an alert and focused mind. And use our steady, centered mind to engage our attention actively in the relaxation. Lastly, this sutra instructs us to meditate on the infinite. In the context of asana practice, this means we align our mind with that which represents God or the universe to us. If one creates the intention to be connected to the infinite during asana practice, the practice can become a sacred ritual act. Then it becomes easier to let go of destructive ego driven patterns that arise in our practice. This naturally results in a state of relaxation.

Sutra 2.48 can be translated as "then, one is undisturbed by the duality of life." When we master being alert and calm in posture, we move beyond the impact of the dual forces of life that cause suffering. In practical terms this is accomplished by centering and relaxing one’s mind and by being non-reactive to the myriad of distracting stimuli that arise in asana practice as in life. By doing this we become less and less thrown off center by the ups and downs in our body and in our life.

Life is inherently dualistic. Everything exists in opposites. Pain and pleasure. Joy and sorrow, in and out, etc. By practicing being both alert and calm, which are dualistic in themselves, we practice being in the center. Incorporating the whole but holding the center. When we locate ourselves mentally in the center we are beyond the influence of the dual nature of life.

Imagine a wheel. On the rim of the wheel are life circumstances, money, relationships, health and at the center is one’s pure awareness. Most people look to their circumstances, the rim of the wheel, to check how they are. In asana practice one learns to identify not with the body sensations or the emotions that arise in reaction to external and internal stimuli but with one’s raw unanalyzed point of awareness. Identifying with that point of awareness and not the thoughts, emotions and sensations takes one out of the realm of duality and into the realm of unity and eternity. Life still has its ups and downs and one still has "negative" emotions, thoughts and sensations, but the practitioner no longer identifies herself as those thoughts, emotions and sensations. When this occurs the practitioner becomes peaceful, harmonious and affirmative of all life, even pain. Life no longer takes the practitioner off center. Although life still contains pain, he no longer suffers since suffering from pain comes from the mind’s rejection of it.

In this place of pure awareness without interpretation one can come to have an experience of the infinite. Infinity, the sum total of all things, or said in another way, God, is beyond duality. It is all-inclusive unity beyond opposites. When we learn to put our mind in the center and do not identify with the pain or the pleasure, we have a direct experience of God. It really is that simple. Identify with your point of awareness in the moment with nothing added and nothing taken away and you will know God. Simple yes. Easy no. That is the true aim of yoga and for that matter all authentic spiritual practice. Asana practiced according to the method outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras leads one to a direct experience of God, to yoga/union with the infinite.

When we practice asana we are practicing touching God. When we hold the center by remaining alert and calm in our practice, we literally get closer to God. This is what makes asana magical and is the source of the power and freedom it brings to life.

NEXT MONTH PRANAYAMA. THE ART OF CULTIVATING SUBTLE ENERGY

Barrett Christy
By Lucia Viti
Barrett Christy reigns supreme among the most decorated female athletes in the world of Snowboarding. Christy’s roster celebrates a domination of the Winter X Games and a spot on the 1998 US Olympic Snowboard Team serving Nagano, Japan. Other crowns include ESPN’s 2001 Action Sports & Music Award as Female Snowboarder of the Year and the Best Overall Female Snowboarder at the 1999 and 2000 TransWorld Riders Poll Awards. Add to that: a potpourri of seven gold, seven silver, and five bronze medals from the Winter X and Summer X Games, the Grand Prix Superpipe, the World Champion Superpipe, the US Open Superpipe, the US Open at Stratton, the Vans Triple Crown, and the Mt Baker Banked Slalom.
At 32 years-of-age, this media sensation trademarks snowboards for GNU, dons the "Air Barrett Christy," a signature shoe from NIKE ACG, graces the boxes of Apple Jacks and Pop Tarts, renders an Action Figure X Toy, and boards through jaw-dropping weather, lightning, shadows, particle-events, bump-mappings, and environmental details on the mountainside of villas and resorts in Atari’s TransWorld Snowboarding™ for Xbox. She is featured in "Seventeen, Glamour, Nylon, Sports Illustrated for Women, COSMO, Nike Goddess, Women’s Outside."

When not competing, Christy transitions from mountain board to mountain pose. She credits the ancient science as: "a link that reconnects what snowboarding overloads improving overall strength and balance," key elements for success in this high impact adventure.

"Yoga is not only a part of my sport," continues the Vail-resident, "it’s a part of my life. It’s a retreat from performance and judgement and a tune up for all that plays into competition. No matter what I do at the gym, nothing taps into muscular strength the way yoga does." Christy paralleled her sport with her discipline listing continuities to include balance as an art and the spirit of commitment. "It’s a union with the task at hand," she continues, " a head-to-toe brain connection similar to an arial. If you don’t commit, you will get half-way around and land on your head."

Christy says that her practice is an asset for embracing fear with grace and confidence while performing daring freestyle arials such as her signature ‘Barrett Role’. "I zone inward to connect as one to execute a pose the same way I connect with the mountain to perform an arial. I still get a lump in my throat, there’s always that aspect of fear, but that’s part of the fun."

Vail’s y4a Studio, founded by Argie Ligeros Tang, is Christy’s yoga refuge. Tang’s hatha-based yoga for athletes fitness system is composed of 109 postures, 50 modifications, and 7 cross training yoga routines designed to challenge the body’s adaptable nature. Strength and balance poses link upper, lower, right and left sides of the body in an effort to correct the corporeal imbalances often associated with the repetitive nature of sports. Instructors tout "balance in motion," a system that allows athletes to move while holding their balance. This unique integration of balance, flexibility, strength and stamina promises to improve performance, reduce injuries and speed recoveries.

Christy takes this dynamic combination one step further by offering "reTreat Yourself with Barrett Christy," a 4-day Snowboarding and Yoga Retreat to be held January 4-8, 2004, in Vail. y4a Studio instructors will conduct multiple yoga classes between clinics presented by top pro snowboarders and instructors listing Megan Pischke, Morgan LaFonte, Michelle Taggert and Rhonda Doyle, both on and off the mountain. This ultimate vacation respite also includes a "Day Spa" party and a silent auction with proceeds donated to Christy’s "coolest organization," Boarding for Breast Cancer.

"We’re offering the ideal retreat by combining yoga’s strength and restoration techniques with snowboard coaching in a skate park and on the mountain," she explains. "It’s a vacation that will inspire and rejuvenate everyone. It’s perfect for the novice interested in learning how to board or those wishing to improve upon their skills while reviving their spirit in the heart of the Rockies."

reTreat Yourself

with Barrett Christy

ridewithbarrett.com