Beginner Yoga Series (Episode 1)

An in-depth look into practice

In this class we will move through foundational yoga āsana. The Sanskrit word āsana means “to sit” and it is what we call yoga postures. You can hear this word at the end of many posture names such as Tadāsana, Mountain Pose, or Uttanāsana, Forward Fold. 

The system of physical yoga was developed from wise sages who sat in meditation all day, much like how people today sit at work for hours on end. These sages discovered they needed exercise to not only maintain their seated position for longer, but also avoid unwanted ailments in their muscles and joints.

Thus the first yoga āsana was created.

I often like to think the first posture was a coarse one. Some yogi got up from his meditative seat because his hip hurt and he did anything he could to relieve that pain. This was 10,000 years ago and it probably was nothing like the graceful postures we know today. In fact, the postures we know today are no more than a sliver of all yoga āsana. In the Hatha Yoga Prādipīka, written in 600 AD, there is a verse stating there are over 8.4 million āsana. To put that in perspective, if we did one āsana, or posture, a minute, every minute of everyday, it would take us 16 years to do all of the postures just once. And what’s more is āsana, the physical postures of yoga, is only a part of the whole practice.

This practice is infinite. Just like you.

There is a saying in Buddhism that he who masters one path masters them all. There is no need to feel overwhelmed by how large this practice is because this practice of yoga, this practice of unison is about becoming one with it. Find a path. It can be a path as simple as mastering one posture or as large as knowing all the Vedas, or sacred texts, by heart. The truth is, in the end the path you walk is not as important as the fact that you walked.

It is my honor to walk amongst you.