Stop Trying So Hard to Make “Perfect” Yoga Poses

In Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about the perfection of asana first appeared in the November-December 1987 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here.

The practice of asana, or yoga poses, is relatively easy to learn but very difficult to master. It takes years of practice to understand the myriad levels of insight offered by each pose. Each has its physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects, which unfold continually as the student becomes more subtle in his or her perception. That is why yoga practice is a life-long study.

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the basic sourcebook for the practice of yoga, special emphasis is given to the nature of the mind and its workings. In the second chapter, verse 47, the author discusses how the practice of asana can be perfected:

By relaxation of effort and meditation on the infinite [asanas are perfected].

This is an important verse to understand for those who include asana as part of their spiritual practice. The first phrase, “by relaxation of effort,” does not mean that the asana is limp or weak in its execution. Instead, the word “effort” refers to the degree to which one’s ego is involved in the pose. Effort itself comes from the ego, from the “I” sense, from the need and attachment to getting ahead. Too often one puts too much aggression into the asana. This emphasis on performance and achievement is born of effort, which is in turn born of ego. If one practices in this manner, one may achieve a certain level of physical expertise in the pose, but that is all one will gain; the deeper benefits of the asana will remain elusive.

Instead of practicing with the goal of perfecting the asana, one can use the asana to bring one into harmony with the moment: with one’s body, one’s breath, one’s very Being. Even if the asana is difficult, one need not exert any effort. In fact, the more difficult the asana, the more important that the student become easy and quiet in the movement, without exerting any effort at all. This is what Patanjali means when he states that the perfected asana is effortless.

The second part of the verse, “by meditation on the Infinite,” is referring specifically to the mental attitude one has when one practices. During asana practice, one can think of many things—the desired alignment of the pose, keeping the breathing easy, or something unrelated to the here and now. Patanjali is suggesting that one use the asana as a meditation on inner silence, concentrating on that part of the asana which is infinite, which links one to the Infinite.

Through this process, one is reminded that one is more than body, breath, or mind—one is reminded that one is actually an expression of the wholeness of the universe. And according to Patanjali, forgetting this is the root of all suffering. By remembering during asana practice that one is the Infinite, one is regaining the spiritual perspective necessary to enhance and maintain one’s perspective in the world.

Here Patanjali is reminding us again that the practice of asana is no less a spiritual practice than formal meditation where one is also easy, present, and contemplating one’s connection with the Infinite. If this attitude were brought to all human activities, they would become spiritual practices because we would have all become the spiritual beings we have the potential to be.