A certain spiritual balance exists between movement and non movement. Yoga sutra that all yoga asanas reflect specific mental attitudes, whether those attitudes symbolize surrender like a bending forward, or the will strengthen through back bending postures, or the creation of a prayer or meditation through the body, as in the widely known padmasana which is the full lotus yoga asana. A position or asana as it is referred to in sand script, can be restored with a view to rejuvenate some of the body's organs and glands, and make the spinal column and other adjoining muscles and tendons stronger and more flexible.
There are about eighty four yoga asanas that are used by yoga practitioners. However, it is not necessary to be an expert in all of them. Common benefits can be gained from just twelve common yoga positions. Therefore, it is essential that you are familiar with the most common yoga asanas. Should you be interested in getting deeper into the subject and learning more about major yoga asanas, you can look for additional information in the literary sources which are available with striking diversity. A number of great books are available in bookstores and on the Internet. Such sources of yoga information go for much further than the yoga asanas description and provide valuable advice that is essential for beginning practitioners.
Many of the yoga asanas are named after animals, for example, the fish pose and the cobra pose. This is due to the fact that the primal yoga is designed for the asanas with healthy food and a healthy lifestyle mostly by watching how animals function in the wild. When animals are ill they eat only certain herbs, roots, and fruits. Likewise, they generally pull their bodies into various positions.
Yoga has also observed how animals relax. Cats are known as the animals that relax. When they awake from sleep, cats instinctively flex and arch their spine in various directions before they start their daily activities.
Yoga asanas are in their essence based on the profound knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Since the dawn of history, yoga masters have known when it comes to the human body, being in certain positions stimulates certain nerves, muscles, organs, and glands. For instance, the shoulder stand pose sends the blood directly to the thyroid gland. The tucking in movement of the chin causes a gentle squeezing pressure on the thyroid. These two actions have a great healing effect on the thyroid gland.
The yoga asanas are based on five basic principles of yoga knowledge.
1. The use of Earth's attraction and gravity. The inverted poses such as the head stand and the shoulder stand positions take advantage of gravity in order to take advantage of the blood influx to a definite part of the body, which is the brain in the headstand position, the thyroid gland in the shoulder stand position, and in the reverse position the blood goes to the gonads.
2. The massage of the organs. The position of this particular asana causes gentle squeezing or pressure on a specific nerve or gland, and that provides a healing stimulation on a definite part of the body.
3. The need to stretch muscles and tendons. This causes a great increase in blood supply. For the muscles and tendons and it relaxes them. It also takes the pressure off the nerves in that area. Stretching is involved in all yoga asanas because it is very beneficial soothing and healing effect on the human body.
4. The need for deep breathing. While keeping your body still in the yoga posture, you breathe very slowly and deeply moving just your abdomen. This increases the oxygen supply and the Prana energy supply to the required organ or gland enhancing the beneficial effects of the asana.
5. The need for concentration. As well as breathing slowly and deeply, yoga always focuses its attention on the specific organ or gland. This increases the blood circulation and the Prana energy supply to the organ significantly.