What does Sthira Sukham mean?
So much of what we see as Yoga in the West is really just exercise. In fact, the mere concept that we label our studio classes as “Yoga” classes implies that the main purpose, the end all be all of Yoga, is the physical practice alone. That couldn’t be further from the truth — but I digress.
In the future, we’ll go into more detail about the practice of Hatha Yoga, and where it fits into the larger picture of the practice. But for now, I wanted to touch on why I choose to (re)name the studio, Sthira Sukham Yoga.
Something to note - you’ll see the word goal in quotation marks throughout this post. I’ve chosen to mark it that way to note that the goal of Yoga is subjective, and is different for everyone. When I refer to the goal of Yoga here, I’m referencing it in its historical context which has been laid out for us by many Yogic Saints and Sages.
To begin with, you’ll need a basic knowledge of one of Yoga’s foundational texts, The Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali. Sutra means thread (think suture), so we can think of this text as the thread that holds it all together. It was written roughly 1,700 years ago by the sage Patanjali.
Historically Yoga was an oral based tradition, with the wisdom of the practice being shared directly from teacher to student. We can surmise that by writing the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali was trying to get something down on paper, so to speak.
There are 195 Sutras (196 according to some) which are broken up into Four Padas, or books, but we can think of them as four sections of the same book. Each Sutra is several Sanskrit words strung together that require translation and commentary in order to understand their meaning.
Book One is Samadhi Pada, the portion on contemplation, containing 51 Sutras. Here’s where Patanjali lays out the “goal” of Yoga.
Book two is Sadhana Pada, the portion on practice, containing 55 Sutras. Now he’s telling us about the actual ways to achieve the “goal."
Book three is Vibhuti Pada, the portion on accomplishments, containing 56 Sutras. In this one, he’s breaking down some of the things that might happen along the way.
Book four is Kaivalya Pada, the portion on absoluteness containing 34 Sutras. Here he continues to expound on the process, what can come of it, and the end “goal.”
The Sutras are essentially a guidebook on how to achieve the “main goal” of Yoga, to reach the state of Samadhi, or as many think of it, enlightenment. Again, we’ll talk all about that and more in a later post.
In book two, Sadhana Pada, Patanjali lays out Ashtanga Yoga, or the Eight Limbs of Yoga, which are essentially the things we need to work on in order to achieve the “goals” of Yoga. The third limb is Asana, which refers to the physical practice of Yoga, and Patanjali very briefly discusses Asana in Sutras 2.46, 2.47 and 2.48.
In Sutra 2.46 Patanjali states, Sthira Sukham Asanam.
Sthira Sukham Asanam translates to Asana is a steady, comfortable posture.
He then goes on to say that if we lessen the natural tendency toward restlessness, we have mastered the posture (2.47) and then we are not disturbed by dualities (2.48). From there he moves onto the next limb, which we won’t discuss here. (Cliff hanger, I know, but I promise we will later!)
Basically the biggest point Patanjali wants to resonate here is that postures should be steady and comfortable. That’s it. He doesn’t talk about the types of postures because he’s not all that concerned. He’s not worried about whether your back foot is exactly at a 45º angle in Warrior 1, or whether your arms are perfectly parallel to the floor in Warrior 2. The only thing he deems important enough to mention is that when we practice asana, he wants us to focus on comfort and stability. Of course, healthy alignment is important, but healthy alignment isn’t about exact angles, it’s about what feels good in your body - knowing every single body is different.
Patanjali doesn’t talk about getting your heart rate up, or breathing loud enough for the instructor at the front of the room to hear you. He’s not shouting, “No Pain, No Gain” at the top of his lungs, he’s telling us the EXACT OPPOSITE. He wants you to feel steady and comfortable.
And so do I.
That’s my whole motivation behind opening this studio: to create more comfort and stability in a world where we are constantly being pushed and pulled in a million directions, all the while being told we are not good enough.
You are good enough — and you don’t need your thighs to burn in Chair pose to prove it.
In fact you don’t ever need to hold a pose past your comfort zone, nor should you. That doesn’t mean we don’t uncover challenges as we move through the physical practice, what it means is that when we come upon one that pushes us to a place where we can no longer feel comfortable, we ease off, or ease out. We don’t stay just because the teacher tells us to (P.S. NONE of our teachers will ever tell you to!), or because the person on the mat next to you is still in the pose. Each pose is an exploration of where you individually find the benefit, not where the teacher thinks you will.
Think of the teacher as your guide, and your body as your teacher. If you listen to your body when it’s trying to communicate with you, it will begin to trust you, and over time you may find that comfort and stability follow you off the mat, and out into the world.
And that’s my wish for you.