
[Sanskrit āsanam, a sitting posture, from āste, he sits.]
(Sanskrit). A yogic posture which provides a seat for meditational practice. The most common example is the ‘lotus posture’ (padmāsana) in which both feet rest on top of the thigh of the opposite leg.
The physical positions, or postures, of hatha yoga. Many of these are named after living creatures, e.g., cow, peacock, locust, cobra, lion. Early yoga treatises state that there are 8.4 million asanas, of which 84 are the best and 32 the most useful for the health of mankind. Hatha yoga should properly be combined with spiritual development.
Sources:
Hittleman, Richard L. Richard Hittleman's Yoga for Total Fitness. New York: Bantam Books, 1983.
Kuvalayananda, Swami. Popular Yoga Asanas. Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1971.