28. What are Āsanas?
Yoga Studies in Five Minutes - Theodora Wildcroft
Matylda Ciołkosz [+]
Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Matylda Ciołkosz is scholar of religions and an Assistant Professor at the Institute for the Study of Religions, Jagiellonian University in Kraków. In her research, she explores how religious concepts and doctrines are formed under the influence of different biological and sociocultural factors. As a longtime yoga practitioner, rock climber, and musician, she is especially interested in the significance of movement practices as one of these factors. In her studies- so far focused mainly on modern yoga- she applies the methodologies of cognitive science and lingustics.
Description
In the context of yoga, āsana means yogic posture. While nowadays hundreds of yogic postures are known – standing, seated, inverted, supine, or prone – originally āsana was a way of sitting adopted for the purpose of other practices, such as breath control or meditation.