The evolution of asana: new trends in physical practice
I don’t often write about the physical aspects of yoga practice. I made this choice early on, mainly because there are an abundance of excellent yoga websites that focus almost exclusively on the “asana” (i.e. postural) practice.
In the twenty-odd years I’ve been practicing yoga; a lot has changed in our ideas about the traditional postures. For one thing, we’ve questioned the origins of the yoga poses, which many of us were told dated back thousands of years, even though most of them are undocumented until the 15th century. In 2010 Mark Singleton published a well-researched treatise on the origins of asana[1] that led him to conclude that modern yoga postures were heavily influenced by European gymnasts, and most were developed in the early Twentieth Century. His research has been contested by many, but as a community we have been forced to re-examine many of the assumptions passed down to us by our teachers.
Second, now that yoga has been popular in North America for many years, and many of the original teachers are aging, we’ve become more inquisitive about what long term repetition of “standard” poses actually does to us in the long term. Further to this line of inquiry, many reports of injuries that were either suppressed or not taken seriously began to float around the “yogasphere.” Several years back, Matthew Remski, a brilliant yoga teacher and writer from Toronto, started a research project called “What are we doing in asana?” (now known by its acronym: WAWADIA) which has morphed from a book-length project to what may turn out to be his whole career. In any case, as a result of his writing and all the discussions around it, many yoga teachers have decided to excise poses like headstand, lotus position, and shoulder stand from their classes.
Because I was an occupational therapist before I was a yoga teacher, and because I’ve always had an analytical bent, I find these developments really heartening and exciting. I recently completed the Yoga Tune Up ® Level One training (which is one of the reasons you haven’t heard from me in a while). YTU combines yoga postures and principles with movement science from many disciplines, such as massage, biomechanics, kinesiology, and “Anatomy Trains” (Tom Meyers work on connective tissue systems and lines of pull). This training focuses on education and empowerment, so that students have the knowledge and tools they need to relax, balance, get stronger, become more supple, and move better throughout their daily lives. I loved the emphasis on body-awareness, and on students being able to understand why the components of each posture are necessary and useful in the context of day to day activities.
What surprised me most during the course, besides the emphasis on naming muscles, was that it was so very similar to my original therapy training. I felt like it made processes that I tend to do unconsciously become more conscious. It demanded that I explain my reasoning for making the postural and sequencing choices that I make. I am a long way from perfecting the technique but excited to have this framework to play with. As someone who has been teaching such a long time, it was also really scary to have to stand up in front of the group and be evaluated. But they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…and I got through it. (Although, I still have to wait for the results of my mail-in exam so I’m not officially off-the-hook yet).
I’m looking forward to learning more and practicing some new asana techniques and approaches with you. It always feels so good to learn new things,
Your perpetual student,
Elaine
[1] Singleton, Mark. Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice. Toronto: Oxford Press, 2010.
Photo Credit: Barb Cooper (from the days when I was a blonde and a lot skinnier lol).
