It translates to being alert and comfortable. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra says that every asana practiced should have both these qualities. There must be alertness without tension and relaxation without dullness or lethargy.
The Yoga Sutra’s purpose of this verse is to explain how one can practice the asanas to reach the goal of Yoga (the asanas by themselves are just a means to Yoga), which is to still the mind, to observe, to prepare for meditation. Asanas have to be practiced with Sthiram Sukhamasanam.
If the breath is labored then there is no point in being in an asana. It is better to back off and do the pose to a degree that a person is capable of doing. If an already existing pain is stopping us to perform a pose, we can explore why such a pain exists. This leads to examining our habits to understand our habit patterns and ourselves.
On the other hand, one might feel the need to be in hanumanasana (full split) when one is not ready for the pose. Not paying attention to the phrase Sthiram Sukhamasanam can easily lead to yoga injuries. There should be ease, grace and beauty in the practice. There is a saying in yoga – no pain, no pain. There is definitely a world of difference between advancing step by step versus forcing to be in a pose which may lead to an injury eventually.
I read about Patanjali’s Sthiram Sukhamasanam in Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar.
Yoga Sutra refers to a beautiful image from Indian mythology to illustrate the concept. The story tells of Ananta, the king of snakes, floating on the ocean, his long snake body coiled to form a comfortable couch on which Vishnu lies. The snake’s thousand heads reach up and out like a protective umbrella over Vishnu. On the umbrella rests our earth.
The snake’s body is soft and gentle enough (sukha) to serve as a couch for a god and at the same time is firm and steady enough (sthira) to support the whole earth. We should endeavor to bring those same qualities of gentleness and steadiness to our asana practice, all the while making sure that we exert progressively less effort in developing them. The asana practice needs to be sensible and well structured, advancing step by step, developing our practice in accordance with our abilities.
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