Asana: The Third of the 8 Limbs of Yoga Explained

Asana (Sanskrit: आसन) is the third of the eight limbs of yoga and means "seat". In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, asana is a posture that is steady and comfortable, a seat you can hold for meditation. In yoga classes today the word means any yoga pose, from Mountain Pose to a handstand.

What does asana mean?

The word comes from the Sanskrit root ās, "to sit". An āsana is the place or the way you sit: a seat, a cushion, a sitting posture. The same word was used for a king's throne and for the grass mat an ascetic sat on.

That is why so many pose names end in it. Tada (mountain) + asana gives Tadasana. Bhujanga (serpent) + asana gives Bhujangasana. In the plural, English speakers say "asanas". In a class you will also hear it used for one pose: "Headstand is a hard asana for me."

Asana as the third limb

Patanjali lists the 8 limbs of yoga in sutra 2.29: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Asana comes after the yamas and the niyamas, the ethical groundwork, and before pranayama, the work with the breath.

He gives asana three short sutras:

• 2.46 sthira sukham asanam: the posture is steady (sthira) and comfortable (sukha).
• 2.47 prayatna shaithilya ananta samapattibhyam: it comes by relaxing effort and letting the mind rest on the endless.
• 2.48 tato dvandva anabhighatah: then the pairs of opposites, such as heat and cold, stop disturbing you.

That is all. Patanjali names no poses. His concern was a body quiet enough to sit still for a long time, so that the later limbs, concentration and meditation, have somewhere to happen. The oldest commentary on the sutras, attributed to Vyasa, adds a list of seated postures such as Padmasana (Lotus Pose) and Virasana (Hero Pose). Nothing on it stands on one leg.

From one seat to hundreds of poses

The poses of a modern class come from two later sources.

The first is medieval hatha yoga. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, from around the 15th century, describes 15 asanas. Most are seated or on the floor, and several, such as Mayurasana (Peacock Pose), are demanding. The text says Shiva taught 84 asanas. The later Gheranda Samhita counts 8.4 million, calls 84 of them the best and describes 32.

The second is the 20th century. Tirumalai Krishnamacharya taught in Mysore in the 1930s and built long, linked sequences of standing poses, jumps and inversions. His students B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois and his son T.K.V. Desikachar carried that practice around the world, as our guide to the styles in Krishnamacharya's lineage describes. Iyengar's Light on Yoga (1966) shows about 200 postures. The scholar Mark Singleton argues in Yoga Body (2010) that this modern practice also borrowed from Indian and European physical culture and gymnastics of the time.

So a Sun Salutation is younger than the Yoga Sutras by well over a thousand years. The principle in sutra 2.46 still fits it.

How to practise asana as the third limb

Doing the shapes is half of it. Patanjali's two words give you a test for every pose:

• Sthira, steady. Press the feet or hands into the floor. Find the muscles that hold you. You should be able to stay for five breaths without wobbling or collapsing.
• Sukha, comfortable. Keep the breath slow and even through the nose. If you have to hold your breath or grit your teeth, back off until you can breathe again.

A few more habits connect the poses to the rest of the eight limbs:

1. Lead with the breath. Move on the breath, usually lifting and opening on the inhale, folding and twisting on the exhale. This is where asana starts to lead into pranayama.
2. Fix your gaze. Choose one point to look at in each pose. A steady gaze helps a steady body, and it trains the attention that dharana, the sixth limb, asks for.
3. Stay out of pain. Stretching feels strong. Sharp, pinching or joint pain means stop. This is ahimsa, the first yama, applied to your own body. Our 10 tips to avoid yoga injuries go into more detail.
4. End with stillness. Finish a practice lying down or sitting for a few minutes. That quiet seat is the asana Patanjali meant.

What asana practice does

Asana is physical training, and it does what training does. Holding standing poses builds strength in the legs and hips. Forward folds stretch the hamstrings and the back of the body. Balances such as Tree Pose train you to stand on one leg for longer. Held poses with slow breathing leave most people calmer, partly because a long, even exhale shifts the nervous system toward rest.

The research is modest but real. A 2022 Cochrane review of yoga for chronic low back pain found that yoga probably improves back function a little compared with no exercise, about as much as other exercise does. A small 2013 study from the University of Illinois, with 30 students, found better scores on memory and attention tests after 20 minutes of hatha yoga than after 20 minutes of brisk exercise. That is a single short test, not proof that asana sharpens the brain.

Some claims you will read do not hold up. Twists do not wring waste out of your organs. Downward-Facing Dog does not fix digestion by sending blood to the head. Cobra Pose does not tune your reproductive system. Keep to what you can feel on the mat: stronger legs, longer hamstrings.

Ten basic asanas to start with

Each pose below has its own step-by-step guide.

1. Tadasana (Mountain Pose): standing tall with the weight even across both feet. Many standing poses start from here.
2. Vrksasana (Tree Pose): a standing balance with one foot against the inner leg. Works the ankle and the outer hip of the standing leg.
3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog): an inverted V on hands and feet. Stretches the hamstrings and calves, loads the shoulders.
4. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose): a gentle backbend from lying on the belly. Works the muscles along the spine and opens the chest.
5. Balasana (Child's Pose): kneeling with the forehead down. A resting pose you can come back to any time in class.
6. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose): lifting the hips from lying on the back. Works the glutes and stretches the front of the hips.
7. Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose): seated with the soles of the feet together. Stretches the inner thighs. Sit on a block if your knees stay high.
8. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend): folding over straight legs. Stretches the hamstrings and the back. Bend the knees as much as you need.
9. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose): a wide-legged side bend. Stretches the side of the waist and the inner leg.
10. Utkatasana (Chair Pose): sitting back into an invisible chair with the arms raised. Builds heat and strength in the thighs.

Where the sources disagree

Is asana a seat or a workout? Read strictly, Patanjali's asana is a meditation seat, and some teachers say modern posture practice has little to do with his yoga. Others, Iyengar most of all, argue that working the body with full attention is itself a way into the later limbs. Both have a point. The sutra gives a principle, and how you apply it decides which one you are doing.

Is posture practice ancient? Studios often call it thousands of years old. Seated postures are old. Most standing poses and flowing sequences are not, and scholars such as Singleton trace them to the last hundred years. The honest version: the idea is old, most of the shapes are new.

Do you need the yamas and niyamas first? The list puts ethics before posture, and some teachers treat the limbs as steps to climb in order. Most modern teachers, and Iyengar among them, treat them as limbs of one body that grow together. In practice almost everyone starts with asana.

Do backbends energise and forward bends calm? This is common teaching lore, and many students feel it. There is little research that tests it pose by pose. The breath you use in the pose probably matters more than its shape.

To hear sutra 2.46 explained, watch Clare Nicholls' short talk Yoga Sutras chapter two: sutra 46, on asana.

Frequently asked questions

What does asana mean in yoga?

Asana means "seat" in Sanskrit, from the root ās, to sit. Patanjali uses it for a steady, comfortable sitting posture for meditation. In modern yoga it means any yoga pose, and it is the third of the eight limbs.

What is the difference between asana and yoga?

Yoga is the whole practice. In Patanjali's system it has eight limbs, from ethical rules to meditation. Asana is one of them, the physical posture. Much of what people call yoga today is asana practice.

What are the 12 basic asanas in yoga?

The best known list of 12 comes from the Sivananda tradition: Headstand, Shoulderstand, Plough, Fish, Seated Forward Bend, Cobra, Locust, Bow, Half Spinal Twist, Crow or Peacock, Standing Forward Bend and Triangle. Other schools have their own basic sets.

How many asanas are there?

There is no fixed number. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says Shiva taught 84 and describes 15. The Gheranda Samhita describes 32. Iyengar's Light on Yoga shows about 200, and modern variations run into the thousands.

Which is the hardest asana in yoga?

It depends on your body. For a stiff runner, a seated forward bend can be the hardest pose. Poses often named as the most demanding include Mayurasana (Peacock Pose), deep backbends such as Kapotasana and leg-behind-the-head poses such as Eka Pada Sirsasana.

Which limb of yoga is asana?

Asana is the third limb, after yama and niyama and before pranayama, in Patanjali's list in Yoga Sutra 2.29.

How long should you hold an asana?

It depends on the style. Ashtanga holds most poses for five breaths. Hatha classes often stay 30 seconds to a minute. Yin yoga holds floor poses for three to five minutes. Hold a pose as long as it stays steady and your breath stays easy.