Yogasanas And Chakras

A yogasana is a posture in harmony with one's inner consciousness. It aims at the attainment of a sustained and comfortable sitting posture to facilitate meditation. Asanas also help in balancing and harmonizing the basic structure of the human body, which is why they have a range of therapeutic uses too.

Yogasanas basically perform five functions:
• Conative,
• Cognitive,
• Mental,
• Intellectual and
• Spiritual.

Conative action is the voluntary exercise of the organs of action. The asanas being the main yogic instrument of balancing the body, they consist of various physical postures, which are designed to release tension, improve flexibility and maximize the flow of vital energy. The purpose of the asanas is to create a flow of positive energy so that our concentration is directed within ourselves and the mind is able to perceive the effects of our action. That is cognitive action.

When the earlier two actions are fused, our mind's discriminative faculty guides these organs to perform the asanas more correctly. The resultant rhythmic energy flow and awareness leads to a mental state of pure joy (ananda). Physical postures, therefore end up affecting the various interrelated channels (nadis) of the mind-body complex and ultimately the performance of a perfect yogasana leads to the absolute intellectual absorption of the mind on a single task (dharana), which in turn leads to the fusion of the individual spirit with the Divine Self (dhyana).

Benefits of Yogasanas
The regular practice of yogasanas has an immense amount of therapeutic value. Besides various physiological benefits, they positively affect our minds, our life force energies as well as our creative intelligence.
Regular practice helps to keep our body fit, controls cholesterol level, reduces weight, normalizes blood pressure and improves heart performance. Physical fitness thus achieved leads to reduction of physical stress and greater vitality. Asanas harmonize our pranic ability (prana means life-force) and mental energy flow by clearing any blockages in the subtle body leading to mental equilibrium and calmness. They make the mind strong thus enabling our human body to suffer pain and unhappiness stoically and with fortitude.

Pranayama
'Pranayama' is a compound term ('prana' and 'yama') meaning the maintenance of prana throughout one's life. More than a breath-control exercise, pranayama is all about controlling the life force or prana. Ancient yogis who understood the essence of prana, studied it and devised methods and practices to master it. These practices are better known as pranayama. Since breath or prana is basic to life, the practice of pranayama helps in harnessing the prana in and around us and by deepening and extending it - pranayama leads to a state of inner peace.

Benefits of Pranayama
The practices of pranayama—the correct breathing technique helps to manipulate our energies. Most of us breathe incorrectly, using only half of our lung capacity. Pranayama is a technique, which re-educates our breathing process, helps us to release tensions and develop a relaxed state of mind. It also balances our nervous system and encourages creative thinking. In addition, by increasing the amount of oxygen to our brain it improves mental clarity, alertness and physical well being. When practiced along with yogasanas the benefits of pranayama are more pronounced.

Dharana
Dharana involves developing and extending our powers of concentration. This consists of various ways of directing and controlling our attention and mind-fixing skills, such as concentrating on the chakras or turning inwards.

Dhyana
Dhyana is the state of meditation when the mind attains the ability to sustain its attention without getting distracted. Strictly speaking, this is not a technique but rather a state of mind, a delicate state of awareness. This state rightfully precedes the final state of samadhi.

Samadhi
Samadhi or total absorption, is the ability to become one with the True Self and merge into the object of concentration. In this state of mind, the perceiver and the object of perception unite through the very act of perception, a true unity of all thought and action.This is the acme of all yogic endeavors, the ultimate 'yoga' or connection between the individual and the universal Soul!

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