Sukhasana Yoga
Mind Over Matter: Sukhasana
He who practices Sukhasana becomes an immobile,frozen, transcendent sculpture of living flesh—dwelling in freedom beyond space and time.
Hatha is perhaps the aspect of Yoga best known toWesterners. To most students it is simply a difficult system of physical control involving the use of static poses (asanas)and the learning of specialized breathing techniques(pranayama).
The introduction of dynamic, calisthenic-like movementsfor the performance of the poses, as seen in the last twenty-five years, is strictly a modern innovation, for the originalSanskrit meaning of asana is simply "a firm seat."
Few realize that the base upon which Hatha Yoga rests isan implicit axiom stating that if the mind can influence thebody (psychosomatics), then the converse is equally true. Thebody influences the mind (somatopsychics).
When we are nervous, depressed, or suffer from chronicanxiety, our mental state is reflected in the function, control,and appearance of our physical being. At a later stage (inchronic anxiety, for instance), our mental state and theconcomitant arousal of the sympathetic nervous system mayencourage organic changes in the body resulting in suchdisabilities as (depending upon our genetic predispositions) ulcers, colitis, heart disease, immune system impairment, anda host of other manifestations.
Hatha Yoga reestablishes the mental stability of theindividual and thus reverses the process which results inpsychosomatic diseases. This is accomplished by first teachingthe student to acquire control of his or her body. Control ofthe body, in turn, requires effort at controlling the mind,since no muscle is flexed, no nerve activated, and no bloodcirculated unless under the control (voluntary or involuntary)of the mind.
The Sanskrit roots of Hatha break down into Ha and Tha.Ha refers to the sun, a positive masculine symbol, while Tharefers to the moon, a receptive feminine symbol. GenerallyHatha is understood as indicating the union of the positive,sun-drenched inhalation (Ha) with the cleansing, coolingexhalation (Tha). Given a deeper interpretation, we see thatHa esoterically symbolizes the positive mind uniting with itspolar opposite, the material vehicle of Tha, the body. Hereinlies the clue to the true esoteric teaching of Adam (the mind)and Eve (the body) as depicted in Genesis.
Hatha Yoga may be defined as the "science of uniting andcoordinating the physical and mental aspects of one's beingthrough consciously attempted discipline of the body."
We may also note that the original Sanskrit root fromwhich Hatha derives is HATH, meaning "to strike a blowagainst" (by implication, working to overcome the inherentinertia of the mind-body complex).
It was during this century that the Russian scientist Pavlovrediscovered the principle of conditioning and the conditionedreflex known for several thousand years by the Hatha Yogis.It is with this idea of being able to condition the body andconsequently the mind that we begin our study of the firstexercise, Sukhasana.
The mind has great influence over the bodyand maladies often have their origin there. — Moliere (1622-1673)