Any pose that brings us comfort and steadiness is an āsana. If you can achieve just one pose, that’s enough. It may sound easy, but how many poses are we comfortable and steady in? Why is flexibility important?
As soon as we sit in a particular position, there’s a slight cramp here, a tiny pain there. We need to keep adjusting our posture. We are continuously reminded of our legs, hands, hips, and spine.
Unless the body is perfectly healthy and free from all toxins and tensions, a comfortable pose is not easily obtained. Physical and mental toxins create stiffness in the joints. Anything that makes us stiff can also break us. Only if we are supple will we never break. Here are 5 poses you can do at your desk to get started.
Nature’s Story: The Value of Flexibility
That reminds me of a conversation between a weed and a big tree. Both grew on the bank of a swiftly running jungle river. One day, the tree looked down at the tiny weed and said, “Hey, you puny little creature, why do you stand near me? Aren’t you ashamed to be by my side? See how great, how big, how tall I am? How sturdy and strong? Not even an elephant can move me. But look at you. Hah! You shouldn’t have come here. People will see the difference and laugh at you. Why don’t you move somewhere else?”
The weed bent its head. “Tree,” the weed said, what can I do? I didn’t come here purposely. I happen to be here. You are stronger and stiffer than I. But please pardon my presence.”
“All right,” boom to the tree, “but just remember your place!”
This conversation happened during the rainy season. The very next day, a heavy rain came, inundating the jungle and causing a terrible flood. When a river floods, it erodes the banks and carries away anything in its path. Coming in such force, the water pulls down the great tree instantly. But the weed bent down, flattened itself completely, and let the water run over it.
When the flood passed, the weed rose again. Looking this way in that, it wondered, “What happened to the great tree? I don’t see it.”
From far away it heard the trees reply. “I’m being pulled down by the water. It should have been humble and simple and supple like you. Now I’m being destroyed.”
What we need is the strength of steel, but with the flexibility of steel, not like crude iron, which is very strong and rigid but brittle, prone to breaking. The body must be so supple that it can bend any way you want it to. Such a body will always be healthy and tension-free. The moment we sit down for meditation in such a body, we will forget it.
Preparing for Flexibility
To achieve such a meditative pose, we may practice various preliminary cultural poses. This is why hatha yoga was created. People trying to sit quietly found they couldn’t. They experienced pain, stiffness, bile, and gas, and wondered, “What is the reason for these things and how can we get rid of them?”
They realize it was due to toxins from eating the wrong foods, and at the wrong times in the wrong quantities. These people pondered, “What is good food that won’t leave toxins? What should the limit be? When is the proper time to eat?” They formed the Yoga Diet, free of meat, fish, eggs, stimulants, and excessive use of spices.
The next problem was “What do we do with the toxins already inside the body?” They concluded that these could be eliminated by squeezing the body in all different directions. For example, they found that cleansing the liver, spleen, and intestines could be achieved by practicing the forward-bending pose, paścimottanāsāna, which involves bending forward and gently compressing the stomach.
If this wasn’t enough, they developed Yoga mudrā to crush it more. The Peacock Pose was created to remove toxins that were still present. If this still wasn’t good enough, they created uddīyāna bandha, the stomach lock, and nauli, the stomach churning technique.
When the spine is stiff and doesn’t want to move, they employ postures that bend it forward, backward, sideways, and upside down. Although hatha yoga is several thousand years old, it has never become outdated. The truth of it is always current. They are light gold. Although other things lose their value over time, gold remains constant.
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