Asanic Laboratory

Prashant Iyengar, the son of B.K.S. Iyengar wrote a small book called, Classwork Book - 1 - Precepts, Concepts, Schemes, Themes and Perspectives in Asana and Pranayama. This post is based on Class 2.

Asanic Laboratory

Prashant writes that,”A creative physical culturing can carry out lab activity or experimentation in the ” doing-realm” of asanas, considering those as postures and corporeal negotiations.”

We tend to experiment more on how can we do more or do a better posture so that the physical postures are taken to be more “doing endeavors”.  This would be a more physical culture endeavor.

Classically, Prashant writes, “Yog and even asanas as yogasanas, are knowledge-processes and wisdom-processes. Asanas are executed by an inter-activity agency for a very internal purpose.”

Therefore, experimentations should delve more into how one can have more and better emotional and intellectual sensitivity or how one can have better comprehension and understanding.  

Prashant explains that it is more important to ask, how can I “know” better, than just “do” better.

He writes, “This will evolve various styluses of knowledge process, observation process, sensitivity process, emotional process, intellectual process, “I”-ness process, thought process, analytical process, synthesis process and so on.  This turns out wisdom for conduct of life.  The problems of life are less solved by material means and more by wisdom (spiritual) means.”

Try in your own laboratory setting. Here is one of the Prashnayantra Problem Statements that might be an ideal place to start.

The statement is: 

Do Viparita Karani. Then follow that by various Twisting.  Now come back and do your original asana.  Observe how your asana this time is different from how you did it originally, and identify the influence of the intervening asanas, on your experience of doing that asana in the end.

Let me know your experience.

In peace,

Pam