Asana
The third Limb is Asana or posture. Let me be more specific, Asana is the right posture. It’s what we think of when we think of Yoga. Today Asana and Hatha Yoga are used interchangeably. These poses did not come into Yoga until hundreds of years after Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras were written.
When Patanjali said, “The posture should be steady and comfortable,” he was referring to our posture for meditation. The position for yogic meditation and for most others I believe is for the back to be up-right and straight so that the Prana (energy, life force) or breath can rise and fall easily. We are also instructed to roll our shoulders back to open our chest for more fuller breathing.
Posture is an important consideration in our performance. We need to examine how we stand on the platform, stage, table-side or surrounded when we are performing. Is my spine straight and relaxed so that my breath can rise and fall naturally?
The yoga posture, Mountain Pose or Tadasana, is perfect practice for the magic performer. To stand in the Mountain Pose or Tadasana:
- Stand with the bases of your big toes touching, heels slightly apart (so that your second toes are parallel). Lift and spread your toes and the balls of your feet, then lay them softly down on the floor. Rock back and forth and side to side. Gradually reduce this swaying to a standstill, with your weight balanced evenly on the feet.
- Firm your thigh muscles and lift the knee caps, without hardening your lower belly. Lift the inner ankles to strengthen the inner arches, then imagine a line of energy all the way up along your inner thighs to your groins, and from there through the core of your torso, neck, and head, and out through the crown of your head. Turn the upper thighs slightly inward. Lengthen your tailbone toward the floor and lift the pubis toward the navel.
- Press your shoulder blades into your back, then widen them across and release them down your back. Without pushing your lower front ribs forward, lift the top of your sternum straight toward the ceiling. Widen your collarbones. Hang your arms beside the torso.
- Balance the crown of your head directly over the center of your pelvis, with the underside of your chin parallel to the floor, throat soft, and the tongue wide and flat on the floor of your mouth. Soften your eyes.
- Tadasana is usually the starting position for all the standing poses. But it’s useful to practice Tadasana as a pose in itself. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute, breathing easily.
Reflection In Action:
- Ask your partner or trusted friend to give you honest and constructive feedback on your posture in your performances. Listen with heart and do something about it.
- Stand naturally in front of a full-length mirror. What do you see? Does your posture show the pose of a magician? Use the instructions for Mountain Pose to improve what you see.
