Asana, Resonance, Energy of the Universe
One needs to understand the internal aspect, that is the specific resonance of each asana, prior to practice. This allows one to comprehend the effect of each asana, by knowing where to place the focus and identification. At least 1 minute concentration on the effects appearing after each asana is a necessary stage.
Regardless of how strange they might appear at first, these body positions are crucial methods that allow subtle harmonization. In other words, they place the body in resonance with certain universal energies from the Macrocosm on their different levels of manifestation.
Therefore, when practising a certain asana, one should summon the profound emotion specific to that asana. One must strive for intense fusion with the highly refined cosmic energies that the asana can attune. The asana automatically creates a type of closure, and a precise induction of the pranic currents of the body. However it is not absolutely necessary that one’s sensitivity be highly developed for one to distinguish different ethereal states. This awareness of the asana is even defined as euphoria in more advanced stages of practice.
After being aware of these sensations, one must conjure up and then consolidate the specific nuances that appear by remaining immobile and relaxed.
The mind must be neutral, still and lucid, free of any parasitic mental ideas. It then should be transfused into the being through a gradually increasing unifying image. In this image, one must permenently merge the individual (microcosm) with the Universe (Macrocosm) in a harmonious union. Hence in any practice of asana, one must intensively apply the old yoga aphorism:
“What is here, in the microcosm of one’s being, is everywhere in the Macrocosm; what is not here in oneself, is not anywhere outside one, either.”
This affirmation graphically illustrates the similarity between the human body and all its subtle and physical constitutive elements, which is considered a miniature microcosm; and everything in external reality with all its levels of manifestation which are considered as the Macrocosm or the whole Universe. This mental process is also important from the material point of view. It allows the body to remain immobile without any fatigue or discomfort. Every asana should be maintained for a period of time, the longer the better. This is due to a certain communion with the cosmic world that is transmitted to the physical when the body is motionless for lengthy periods.
