Exploration:

The guidelines in the yoga sutras for asana are simple and direct: remain stable and relaxed in your position and you are correctly practicing asana.

Asana practice dissolves stiffness and removes energetic blockages, helping you remain seated for extended periods of time so that you can practice the inner limbs of yoga without discomfort. Popular in many spiritual traditions for practicing meditation, seated asana allow the free-flow of energy through the spine, helping you remain awake and reducing energy expenditure by aligning with gravity.

It also facilitates easy and relaxed focus on the third-eye which is a gateway for accessing the Cosmic Intelligence and exploring the nature of consciousness.

Hatha yoga has the potential to become a spiritual practice when done with mindfulness and inclusiveness of universal movement principles and yogic techniques. Otherwise, hatha yoga and its many variations are little more than glorified stretch routines – sometimes helping and at other times even harming, depending on the awareness of the practitioner.

Concepts such as yielding, intention, centering, and aligning all offer parallels between our outer lives and inner states. Integrating your practice with such principles develops the capacity for conscious movement, meaning that the body, breath, and mind are united.

This becomes a support for your meditation and yogic lifestyle.