asana

Asana is the physical practice of yoga — the art of moving the body into intentional shapes, held with breath and awareness, that forms the foundation of nearly every yoga class practiced in the modern world. Derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "seat" or "posture," asana is the third of the eight limbs outlined by the sage Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, composed around 400 CE. Though Patanjali originally described asana as simply a steady, comfortable seat for meditation, the tradition evolved dramatically over centuries. By the time yoga reached the West in the twentieth century, asana had blossomed into a rich physical discipline encompassing hundreds of postures designed to strengthen, stretch, align, and awaken the body from head to toe. Practitioners love it because it meets them exactly where they are — offering challenge and stillness, effort and ease, all on a single mat.