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Yoga: Poses & Philosophy

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Yoga poses (asanas) and the philosophy behind them.

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What is an āsana?

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  1. 1What is an āsana?
    A body posture, originally a general term for a sitting meditation pose, later extended to any type of position including standing, inverted, twisting, and balancing poses
  2. 2What does the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali define asana as?
    A position that is steady and comfortable
  3. 3What does the word āsana mean in Sanskrit?
    Sitting down (from ās 'to sit down'), a sitting posture, a meditation seat
  4. 4How many asanas are traditionally said to exist?
    84 asanas are traditionally mentioned (a symbolic rather than literal number), though Lord Shiva is said to have fashioned 8,400,000 (84 lakh)
  5. 5What is the oldest possible record of an asana?
    The Pashupati seal from the Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2500 BC), though there is no reliable evidence it actually depicts a yoga pose
  6. 6Who wrote the Yoga Sutras and when?
    Patanjali, c. 2nd to 4th century CE
  7. 7What are the eight limbs of classical yoga according to Patanjali?
    Yamas (codes of conduct), niyamas (self-observances), asanas (postures), pranayama (breath work), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (realization)
  8. 8How many asanas does the Yoga Sutras name?
    None; it merely specifies the characteristics of a good asana (steady and comfortable)
  9. 9What are the 12 seated meditation asanas named in Patanjali's Bhasya commentary?
    Including Padmasana, Virasana, Bhadrasana, and Svastikasana
  10. 10What is the first manuscript to describe a non-seated asana?
    The 10th-11th century Vimanarcanakalpa, describing Mayurasana (peacock pose), a balancing pose
  11. 11What does the Goraksha Sataka (10-11th century) say about asanas?
    It describes the origin of 84 classic asanas said to have been revealed by Lord Shiva, but only describes two in detail: Siddhasana and Padmasana
  12. 12Which four asanas does the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century) specify as important?
    Siddhasana, Padmasana, Bhadrasana, and Simhasana (the seated poses)
  13. 13How many asanas does the Hatha Ratnavali (17th century) list?
    52 asanas described out of 84 named
  14. 14How many asanas does the Gheranda Samhita (late 17th century) describe?
    32 asanas (seated, backbend, twist, balancing, and inverted), stating that 32 are useful in the world of mortals
  15. 15Who is known as the Father of the Modern Yoga Renaissance?
    Yogendra, who brought yoga asanas to America in 1919
  16. 16Who founded the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center in 1924?
    Swami Kuvalayananda in Maharashtra, combining asanas with Indian exercise systems and European gymnastics
  17. 17Who is Tirumalai Krishnamacharya?
    Known as the father of modern yoga (1888-1989), who created a marriage of hatha yoga, wrestling exercises, and modern Western gymnastics
  18. 18Who were Krishnamacharya's famous pupils?
    Indra Devi, Pattabhi Jois (founder of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga), B.K.S. Iyengar (founder of Iyengar Yoga), T.K.V. Desikachar (Viniyoga), and others
  19. 19What did B.K.S. Iyengar publish in 1966?
    Light on Yoga (Yoga Dipika), illustrated with 600 photographs demonstrating around 200 asanas, which became a bestseller translated into 17 languages
  20. 20How many asanas did Dharma Mittra illustrate in 1984?
    About 908 poses and variations in his Master Yoga Chart, creating some 300 of them himself
  21. 21When was Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) created in its modern form?
    By the Raja of Aundh, Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi, in the 20th century
  22. 22Is Virabhadrasana I (Warrior Pose I) ancient?
    No, it was probably devised by Krishnamacharya around 1940 and popularised by Iyengar
  23. 23What was the original spiritual purpose of asanas in Hinduism?
    The attainment of samadhi, a state of meditative consciousness
  24. 24What were the two main purposes of asana practice until the 14th century?
    To form a stable platform for pranayama and meditation (spiritual goals), and to stop karma accumulation and acquire ascetic power (tapas, supernatural abilities)
  25. 25What is Padmasana?
    Lotus position, one of the most important seated meditation poses
  26. 26What is Siddhasana?
    An important seated meditation pose, said to 'burst open the door to liberation' according to Hatha Yoga Pradipika
  27. 27What is Sivananda Yoga's goal for practicing asanas?
    To enable practitioners to sit in meditation for a long time, as part of raja yoga
  28. 28What is Iyengar Yoga known for?
    Emphasizing precision and alignment, prioritizing correct movement over quantity, holding poses for relatively long periods, and freely using props (belts, blocks, blankets)
  29. 29What is Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga?
    A flowing style where poses are executed relatively rapidly, flowing continuously using defined transitional movements (vinyasa), grouped into six series
  30. 30What does 'vinyasa' mean?
    Flowing; the poses flow continuously from one asana to the next using defined transitional movements

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