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In recent years, there’s been a growing undercurrent in the yoga world—sometimes quiet, sometimes loud—that dismisses asana, or the physical practice of yoga, as superficial. You’ve probably heard things like, “That’s just a workout.” Or “Real yoga isn’t about the poses.” Some even go so far as to say that if you’re teaching asana, you’re not teaching yoga at all.
Let’s set the record straight—asana is not a dirty word.
Yes, sometimes asana is taught that way. As shapes. As sweat. As a way to get toned or flexible. But to say asana isn’t yoga? That’s just not true. When we teach asana with intelligence, breath, focus, and an invitation to turn inward, then asana becomes the gateway. It becomes a vehicle to achieve the state of yoga.
In fact, asana, which is the Sanskrit term for posture or pose, is one of the most empowering and transformative aspects of yoga. It’s also one of the most misunderstood.
So let’s talk about how asana isn’t just about bending and stretching but about accessing clarity, focus, and maybe even that elusive inner peace that yoga has the potential to provide.
The Role of Asana in Yoga
Though often viewed simply as the physical postures, asana has a far-reaching effect on our mental and spiritual well-being. In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, he explains an eight-limbed path that provides a framework for personal growth and self-realization. Asana, the third limb of yoga, is not considered an isolated component but a means by which the student is introduced to and able to embody the higher limbs—pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (bliss or enlightenment).
Longtime teacher B.K.S. Iyengar goes so far as to say that the entirety of yoga philosophy can be learned through the practice and study of asana. Still, in certain corners of the yoga world, you’ll hear the claim that asana isn’t “real” yoga—that it’s just exercise, just movement.
To be fair, that’s not completely wrong. Movement by itself? It’s great. It’s healthful. It’s fun. But movement alone—without breath, without awareness, without intention—is not yoga.
When movement is paired with clarity, with consciousness, with intelligence—that’s when it becomes asana. And asana, practiced this way, is anything but surface level. It becomes a powerful tool for cultivating emotional resilience and spiritual growth. In fact, asana can be the vehicle by which we understand how our physical practice leads us to greater states of awareness and stillness.
How Asana Promotes Yoga
Krishnamacharya, the teacher behind many of our modern lineages, said that asana offers the widest gate of entry to yoga because it’s the most tangible. Most folks can figure out how to straighten an arm or bend a leg before they can steady the breath or still the mind. The body is the gateway.
Asana practiced with precision and presence doesn’t just stretch your hamstrings—it trains your intelligence. And that sharpening of intelligence? That’s the beginning of concentration. That’s the road to the higher limbs.
As the Yoga Sutras outline, through the body we learn to direct the breath (pranayama), turn the senses inward (pratyahara), and begin to cultivate focused attention (dharana). Asana teaches us first about the body, then about the breath, and ultimately about the inner workings of the mind.
Those moments during or after your practice where you feel completely unburdened by fears or worries and in complete harmony with your body, breath, and mind are glimpses of the higher states of yoga. And these are experienced through the practice of asana.
Following are some of the ways asana prepares you for the non-physical aspects of yoga
Asana Focuses Your Attention on You
By focusing on our posture and our breath, we begin to draw our awareness inward. This is why the practice of asana is intimately connected to the practice of pranayama (breath control) and pratyahara (sense withdrawal).
The emphasis on alignment in asana isn’t just about how a pose looks—it’s about how clearly you engage with it. When you bring real focus and precision to a shape, even a seemingly simple one, you start to wake the innate intelligence in your body. Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute) becomes the groundwork for Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand). Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) becomes the stepping stone to Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose). It’s not about skipping ahead—it’s about seeing how each pose teaches you to pay better attention.
That’s how you sharpen concentration. That’s how you build the kind of clarity that threads through an entire practice. The mind becomes steadier, the gaze more focused, and suddenly what felt like movement becomes something much more. That’s the quiet power of asana—it trains you to notice, refine, and evolve. And that’s yoga.
Asana Supports Mental Discipline and Focus
Patanjali also speaks of dharana, the practice of concentration. Asana is the training ground for this mental discipline.
We are reminded that yoga is about stilling the fluctuations of the mind by the Yoga Sutras. “Yoga citta vritti nirodhah” (“Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind”). When we step onto our mats, we are not just engaging the body; we are setting the stage to quiet the mental chatter that often overwhelms us.
The steadiness we cultivate in our asana practice allows us to begin to quiet the distractions of the mind. By aligning the body with precision and intention, we train the mind to align with clarity. We focus not just on the alignment of the body but on the subtle movements of the breath which brings the mind into the present moment.
Iyengar emphasized that each asana is an opportunity to find steadiness and ease—sthira sukham asanam. This balanced physical and mental state is the result of experiencing a pose—whether the stability of Tadasana (Mountain Pose) or the depth of Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Fold)—and learning to focus the mind through the precision and intention of our shape and movements.
By practicing asana in a way that sharpens our awareness, it becomes clear that asana is more profound than a shape or movement. The poses have many benefits but poses alone do not constitute asana. It is through conscious and intelligent movement that asana transforms not only the body but the mind.
Asana becomes a means to experiencing stability within the body so that the mind can settle. This state is considered satvic, a harmonious feeling among body, breath, and mind. It is a precursor to samadhi and an indication that you are following the path.
Through returning, again and again, to an asana practice, we prepare the body and the mind to foster the qualities of concentration, discipline, and self-awareness.
Asana Leads Us Toward Samadhi
Through consistent asana practice, we begin to experience mental clarity in short spurts and glimpses. Eventually, these moments of awareness transcend the time on the yoga mat and translate into our experience in everyday life.
In The Yoga Sutras, Patanjali states, “When the mind becomes one-pointed, the distractions cease” (Sutra 1.41). Asana offers us the physical means to begin this process of focusing the mind. Each time we move into a posture and breathe deeply, we create an opportunity for stillness to emerge. This stillness allows us to experience the deeper dimensions of our being, free from the noise and agitation of the external world.
Asana acts as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, creating the conditions in which we can access higher states of consciousness.
The Role of the Teacher in the Asana Practice
As yoga teachers, you play a significant role in helping students expand their understanding of asana and how it can lead them toward not just an understanding of their body but of their essential being. The teacher’s role is not just to correct alignment but to encourage self-inquiry, bring the mind back to the breath, and help students remain focused.
As teachers, you have a responsibility—and an opportunity—to shift how students experience asana. Yeah, it might look like doing hard things or making cool shapes. And that’s fine. That can be part of it. But the real job is to help them see what’s underneath all that. You’re not just cueing alignment—you’re pointing them toward attention, toward clarity, toward the kind of self-awareness that actually changes how they move through the world.
Your external guidance mirrors the internal awareness you cultivate in students as they move through each pose, so that each adjustment and each return to the breath brings them closer to a more conscious way of being.
Asana is the outer form, sure. But the real work? It’s in how they learn to stay with themselves, no matter the shape.
Asana as a Means to Self-Realization
As Iyengar famously said, “The study of asana is not about mastering posture. It’s about using posture to understand and transform yourself.” This concept is at the heart of yoga practice. Asana is not an end goal but a step toward cultivating a mind that is calm, disciplined, and at peace. By committing to this practice, you open the door to deeper states of self-awareness and spiritual connection.
Experiencing this requires time and patience. But asana has the potential to be the most accessible and the most direct route to unifying the body and mind. Whether you’re learning an arm balance or sitting in a comfortable “seat” (yes, that’s another meaning of asana), know that your physical practice is a tool, a practice, and definitely not something you need to feel shame or whisper about.
