Do Postures Have to Be Painful.doc

7/25/2019 Do Postures Have to Be Painful.doc

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Do Postures Have to BePainful?

I was asked whether pain in asana should be accepted and if its worth going through a

lot of pain at all? When does discomfort turn into pain, can it be balanced with the higher

limbs or should it be avoided altogether?

here is a widespread misconception that postures should be painful! "s a rule of thumb,

postures should not be painful, which is something that even the ancient masters pointed

out! Patan#ali states in Yoga Sutra, $heyam duhkham anagatam,% which means that new

su&ering needs to be avoided 'Yoga Sutra II!()*! he reasoning behind this in#unction is

simple! +ver e-perience ou have forms a subconscious imprint 'samskara*! +ver

subconscious imprint, whatever its content, calls for its own repetition!

his means that if ou fre.uentl practice postures in a wa that causes pain, ou will

create more pain in our postures in the future! he adage $/o pain, no gain% ma work

in some areas of life, but applied to asana it becomes destructive! "part from damaging

bodil tissues, ou ma become more and more preoccupied with pain and with the bod

if ou imprint pain into our subconscious again and again! "ll intense phsical sensations

call for more identi0cation with the bod! he goal of oga, however, is not to increase

this identi0cation! It is to perfect the bod so as to transform it into a capable and reliable

vehicle on the road to freedom! hink of our bod as akin to our car1 the better ou

treat it, the better it will run! 2ou need to service it regularl, maintain 3uid levels, and
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correct tire pressure! reating the bod respectfull does not mean identifing with it! If

ou identif with our bod, it becomes an obstacle to spiritual evolution, not a vehicle

for it! his is nowhere clearer than at the moment of death, one of the ke moments in

terms of spiritual evolution! If ou have not learned detachment from the bod, ding will

not elevate ou! his potentiall most powerful moment then becomes a painful

e-perience!

"nother scriptural in#unction against pain appears in the Bhagavad Gita! he 4upreme

Being in the form of the 5ord 6rishna critici7es those who torture the bod 'Bhagavad

Gita 89II!:;)*! He, as the true self of the world, lives as the self in our hearts and thus

lives in ever bod! hose who cause pain to the bod desecrate his abode! his has led

to the notion of the bod as the temple of


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state that ou are looking for! It is conducive to meditation! When this .ualit is achieved

in a posture, that posture is 0t as a platform for the higher limbs of oga!

here is no point in waiting for this state to suddenl and miraculousl appear b

performing the same fault postures again and again! @rom a fault action, no correct

result can be achieved! @ault postures cause more fault postures in the future!

#$$ECESSARY %AI$

"n pain e-perienced in #oints, ligaments, tendons, and at the origins and insertions of

muscles is likel to be unnecessar pain! his tpe of pain accounts for the vast ma#orit

of pain e-perienced in asana! It is completel avoidable and almost alwas due to fault

techni.ue! his ma sound like a steep claim, but this tpe of pain can easil be

recogni7ed because it disappears in due time when postural alignment is anal7ed and

corrected! @or this reason, ou should alwas assume that the pain ou e-perience when

e-ecuting a posture is in the categor of unnecessar pain! "ll such pain can be avoided

b appling the tool of anatomical in.uir into posture! If unnecessaril painful practice is

continued, an alread e-isting negative tendenc A toward selftorture, perfectionism, or

egotism, for e-ample A ma be increased instead of reduced!

$ECESSARY, &ARIC %AI$

his form of pain is more diCcult for Westerners to understand, as it involves the concept

of karma! hrough our past actions, words, and thoughts, we have created who we are

toda, including, according to Patan#ali, the tpe of bod, span of life, and form of death

we will e-perience! When Patan#ali stated that future pain is to be avoided, he did not

elaborate about past pain! Past pain in this conte-t is the pain that we have created

through our past actions! It ma be e-perienced now or in the future! We cannot change

our past actions! nce the seeds of our actions have sprouted, the karma associated with

those actions cannot be intercepted, and the pain resulting from them needs to be

endured A not grudgingl endured but willingl accepted as ordained! If it is willingl

accepted, it will lead to a karmic puri0cation, to a burning of the old karma associated

with that pain!

ccasionall in life we have to go through lettinggo processes, and the are not

complete without painful sensations!


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with letting go, follows the death of a loved one! hese processes can come to a

conclusion onl if we willingl and consciousl enter into them!

6armic pain in asana is that pain that cannot be removed b anatomical in.uir and

attention to detail! If ou have done everthing in our power to correct the posture and

the pain still persists, it ma be necessar, karmic pain, something ou ma have to go

through! It is ver challenging for a ogini to know that she has done everthing in her

power and et continues to su&er! Ean people at this point will stop practicing because

the feel unfairl treated! If ou manage to continue our practice, ou are

fostering ta"as, the abilit to sustain our practice in the face of adversit! If ou refuse to

work through karmic pain and simpl endure it, our ogic progress ma stagnate!

2oga in this regard is similar to a marriage! When ou get married, ou commit to sticking

with our partner through good and bad times! he same unwavering commitment is

necessar in our asana practice! However, it needs to be an intelligent commitment! 2ou

need to be able to clearl identif whether the pain is the avoidable result of fault

techni.ue or whether it is caused b demerit accumulated in the past! 2ou can achieve

this b doing everthing in our power to make sure that ou perform asana correctl and

are therefore sure beond doubt that avoiding the pain that ou e-perience is not

possible!

A 'ord o( )aution* If ou do not correctl identif our pain, ou ma make matters

worse! "gain, the overwhelming ma#orit of pain e-perienced during asana is

unnecessar and due to fault techni.ue! /ever accept that our pain is karmic until ou

have ruled out beond doubt that it is caused b poor alignment! his point shows the

importance of anatomical in.uir! If our understanding of the anatomical principles of

the bod and the posture under discussion are sound, ou will know whether ou have

done everthing to avoid the pain! "natomical knowledge must be used to determine

whether pain is karmic or not!

he instruction given in the previous paragraphs ma easil lend itself to abuse! ften

students are onl too happ to believe that their pain is necessar, as this wa the dont

have to take responsibilit for changing their approach to asana! @or the correct

identi0cation of pain, consult a .uali0ed oga instructor steeped in the stud of anatom

and alignment! his section in no wa constitutes medical advice! If ou e-perience an

ongoing pain, consult our phsician!


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Do Postures Have to Be Painful.doc