Krishnamacharya said: “Generally, in ancient times, people cured all the diseases that affected them--- by practicing this yogasanas (practice of postures) and pranayama (skillful breathing)”.
Have you ever counted the number of postures you can do? If I count all the wonky variations and peculiar, creative posture inventions that I do using props and such I might tally a rough number of 500. Krishnamacharya said he could do 700 poses and that in the past some yogis could do as many as 84,000 poses! He noted that the number of postures that yogis could perform was steadily diminishing and lamented that the number had been whittled down to just 84. He lamented this fact because for Krishnamacharya the more asanas a person did the more power and ability they had to influence their health, manage it, maintain, and heal themselves during times of sickness.
Its important to remember that yoga can be a primary source of health and a main component of preventative and curative medicine. Your daily training gives you a great gift-- power to take more direct control over your health. When you practice you are part of an old healing system, a trustworthy form of preventative medicine. This is why it’s important to remember that an asana can be as simple as lifting your arms above your head. It doesn’t matter if you can put your leg behind your head, come up from Karandavasana, grab your heels in a backbend, know that you receive infinite benefit by humbly bowing down each day, doing Surya Namaskara, standing poses, forward and back bends, Head Balance and Shoulder Stand.
Keep the recipe simple: do postures and breath control, win your health and keep sickness away.
The pictures I’ve posted are all variations on one asana, Ardha Baddha Padmottonasana. I’m posting these photos to show you the infinite number of ways to extract the healing benefits from this one posture.
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