Today, asana or body postures is projected as synonymous to Yoga. If one studies the history of Yoga, it is easy to see that it is a more recent phenomenon – hardly a couple of centuries old - as compared to thousands of year long history of Yoga.
I am not trying to downplay the usefulness of body postures as propagated by modern Yoga teachers. But to project them as Yoga is quite misleading to say the least. Let us see what the Bhagavadgeetha says about asana.
"In a clean place, not too high nor too low, one should establish a seat ( asana ) by spreading grass, animal hide, and cloth one over the other in layers. The seat should be firm and stable.
One should sit on such a seat and practice Yoga”
So the asana talked about by Bhagavadgeetha just means a seat – that is the real meaning of this Sanskrit word. The layers of grass, animal hide and cloth provide a comfortable seat which is also stable and firm so that the person can go ahead with his Yoga practice (basically meditation) without distractions.
That is exactly what even Patanjali says when he defines asana as “something that is stable and comfortable”
Bhagavadgeetha further states how one should sit on such a seat.
"One should align the head, neck and the torso in a straight line, firm and without making any movements. His gaze should be fixed on the tip of his nose. He should not look at either direction but straight towards the tip of the nose.”
Probably one can read the description of modern asana such as the lotus posture or one of the many meditative postures into these words. But stretching it beyond that, is just without any basis!
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