In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we find this statement: “Sthira Sukham Asanam”, which is often translated as an instruction that one’s seat, or yoga posture, should be steady and comfortable. 

Here’s a translation of each word:
Sthira – steady
Sukha – comfortable
Asanam – a seat or, in a modern context, a posture

Asana is the word commonly used to describe the postures we take during a yoga practice. Downward facing dog is an example of an asana. Yet, this was not always the case.

If we go back in time by about 2000 years to when the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali were compiled, yoga practitioners were not doing the poses we associate with yoga today. When he used the word asana, he was actually referring to its older meaning: a seat. 

While the word asana is not found in the ancient Vedas, our first written source for yoga philosophy, they do contain the root word “as.” In Sanskrit, “as” means “to sit” or “to be.” 

The full form of the word “Asana” later appears in the Upanishads, where it refers to it as the posture, or seat, held during meditation. 

Nearly 1,000 years after Patanjali's Sutras, with the advent of Tantra and Hatha yoga, the meaning of asana evolves to mean a yoga posture.

And even though the word is now most often associated with the poses we do in a yoga practice, there is great value in thinking about asana as a seat or even a state of being. 

When the root word “as” is defined as “to be”, we have an entry point to yoga as a state of being, not solely a set of practices we do on the mat. Asana can also be understood as the state of being in which we are steady and comfortable.

Asana thus becomes the seat we take within ourselves. Can we feel steady and comfortable within ourselves regardless of what is happening around us? 

When we sit inside ourselves, what thoughts and feelings arise? Are they steady and comfortable? When we begin to struggle mentally and emotionally because of sensations of discomfort or distress, we are no longer in a state of asana. 

On the yoga mat, can we remain steady and comfortable within ourselves even when the yoga posture might be challenging? 

This makes sense to me in terms of postural practice because many yoga poses are intentionally challenging and often difficult. Can we meet these challenging poses with equanimity? If yes, then we can say that we are practicing asana.

In a modern context, we can understand asana as both the seat or pose we take, as well as the manner in which we are sitting within it. In this way Patanjali’s ancient teaching is relevant to us today. 

Sthira Sukham Asanam. May your seat be steady and comfortable.

Om Shanti,
Nora