Inner meaning of the asanas - great article

[Mike]

Great article here: http://www.taracentre.com/articles/meaning%20of%20asanas.shtml - really worth a read regardless of your interest in yoga... Starts....

"The real meaning of the asanas (physical postures)

In the genuine practice of hatha yoga the asanas (postures) are much more than just exercises for the body. The real aim of the asanas is to put the practitioner into resonance with certain forms of subtle energies emanating from the universe.

Each asana is a specific position of the body which creates a resonance with a specific form or type of energy. This energy can be absorbed by and expressed through the human body, allowing the practitioner to experience different emotional and mental states. In this way the asanas can be used as tools for understanding and controlling these states and therefore as an efficient method of spiritual transformation.

..."

[Ovidius]

Yes, this is exactly the kind of Yoga philosophy I have been exposed to

The Asanas have their own "hidden little things" which are told only to those who are initiated into living tradition. The practicing is thought to become more effective when more people do things the same way (correctly and safely) due to resonance effect (remember R. Sheldrake). When one person achieves something through following certain kind of methodology, it is thought that the path becomes easier to walk to those who follow the same path. This is why the tradition wants to control the purity of forms through teacher-student feedback loop and doesn't encourage soloing.

[Ovidius]

Important quotations from the article (thanks Mike for posting the link ):

The asanas work by closing the energetical circuits of the body, directing the energies along specific nadis towards specific cakras and preventing it from flowing along others. This will generate specific effects on the mind and the body. It is therefore essential that in order to get these effects, the practitioner needs to know what forms of energy each asana works with and where the energies are being directed.
...
And here is a very important point – this process is amplified by the concentration. The yogi not only needs to know where to focus the energy during the posture, i.e. what cakra to activate, but also what type of energy he is creating a resonance with and therefore what effects will be generated.  

[Ovidius]

A quick note, according to (left hand) Tantra tradition the Kama Sutra book is about Asanas.