Asanas and postures in yoga and impact on physical growth and health

AbstractOriginally and still used as a generic word for a seated meditation pose, an asana is a bodily posture that may be in any position, including lying down, standing, inverted or twisting. According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, "asana" means "[a posture that is] stable and pleasant. One of Patanjali's eight limbs is the capacity to sit for long periods of time. In English, asanas are referred to as yoga poses or yoga postures. Some 84 asanas are included in the Goraksha Sataka and Hatha Yoga Pradipika from the 10th and 11th centuries, respectively, and the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively, in the Hatha Ratnavali. Due to the effects of colonialism, Indian nationalism favoured physical culture in the 20th century. A new method of yoga asanas was developed by pioneers like Yogendra, Kuvalayananda, and Krishnamachari in that setting (incorporating systems of exercise as well as traditional hatha yoga). Pattabhi Jois, the father of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, and B.K.S. Iyengar, the creator of traditional Iyengar yoga, were both Krishnamacharya's students. Together, they penned hundreds of more asana descriptions, rekindled interest in yoga, and exported it to the West. Since Iyengar's Light on Yoga in 1966, which detailed around 200 asanas, many more have been created. Dharma Mittra drew hundreds more of them.