Yoga Pose:
Svastikasana
Important Note
Take special precautions while doing any asana. If you are learning yoga, then take the advice of a knowledgeable person. Do not put any kind of force in the event of pain or unable to do so. Keep in mind that you will be able to succeed only with constant practice.
Brief Introduction Of The Svastikasana
- According to yoga experts, Svastikasana is considered to be among the most popular and practiced postures across the globe. It is part of hatha yoga and an ancient meditation pose, requiring practitioners to sit in cross-legged position. This pose is also referred to as the ‘Auspicious Pose’. It allows you to sit in a comfortable position, however, with an erect body. Performing this seated posture is likely to help your groin, legs and lower back region. It is also much easier to perform when compared to Lotus and Adept pose. Still, it offers those benefits which are otherwise provided by these poses. It is rather termed to be a meditation pose.
- The pose when performed resembles that of Adept Pose and Lotus Pose. However, your leg positions tend to get somewhere between these two poses. You can find early evidence describing this asana in the Vimanarcanakalpa yoga text written during the 10th century CE. This means Svastikasana was practiced before the advent of Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In the Sanskrit language, Su means good, asti stands for existence or to be, ka for to make while asana means pose. The Swastika in the Sanskrit language means Auspicious, while Asana stands for Pose. Swastika is also a symbol used by Hindus and Aryans across the globe since ancient times to derive good fortune.
- When you perform this pose, your feets position resembles that of the Swastika mark, thus deriving its name. Some practitioners refer it to as Prosperous Pose. This posture was mentioned in Patanjalayogasastravivarana during the 8th century and Vimanarcanakalpa during the 10th century. It is described as a meditation seat. Women and men are to perform this asana similarly.
How To Do The Svastikasana?
If you are a beginner, you should follow the below-given steps. This way, the posture can become easy and comfortable. But to master it and do it for a longer duration, you need to practice it daily.
- First, sit on a special yoga mat or directly on the floor. Stretch your legs out in front. Then place your hands towards your sides and keep palms downwards with fingers pointing forwards. Shake legs in the up and down position to get knits out. This should be done for quite some time to enter slowly in this pose.
- Next, bend your left knee. Now, put pressure on the left foot, while placing the heel near the groin region.
- Bend your right knee and hold the right foot with your hands (both if deemed necessary).
- Hold your right ankles front part. Hold your toes middle part with your left hand. Slide right foot between calf and left thigh. Force it until you can view it. Now, squeeze your left foot between your calf and right thigh.
- Place your hands on your knees with hands in Jnana Mudra position. Breathe slowly and properly with your mind and body in the relaxed position.
- Stretch spine upwards, however, making your torso region rigid. Gaze firmly forwards with your head straight. You can do this asana by sitting before a painting or a decent view. This way, you can derive more benefits from this posture.
If you are eager to master this pose, then you should perform some preparatory poses like Half Lotus and Easy Pose. You can retain this position from 5 minutes to about 3 hours. This entirely depends on how effectively you have mastered it.
Hand Position
- In Svastikasana pose, the hand position undoubtedly plays a significant role. Wisdom Seal or Jnana Mudra is regarded to be among the several hand positions used to perform this pose. To perform wisdom seal, take your index fingers end part and bring it towards your thumbs end. You need to join both your fingers in a particular way to form a circle. It can help you to relax and perform the asana perfectly and comfortably. Now, extend the remaining fingers, bringing them together in close contact. This hand gesture or wisdom seal as it is known creates an excellent circuit. It conceals prana or life energy within your body.
- When performing this pose, your chin is to rest on your chest, with arms on the knees. It helps relax your nervous system, mind and whole body. It also strengthens and improves hip flexibility.
Benefits Of The Svastikasana
- This pose is considered to be very good for Pranayama and Meditation.
- It is also a wonderful alternative to other yoga asanas like Padmasana and Siddhasana. Both these are not easy and are difficult to be mastered.
- Svastikasana also helps the varicose vein, as well as restricts blood flow towards the legs. Hence, blood is sent to the abdomen region in good amounts. Thus, you can experience significant improvements in the different organs within your abdomen region, mostly with digestion.
- It stretches your legs and spine while providing your body with greater agility. Moreover, your leg muscles also enjoy improved elasticity.
- Performing this asana regularly activates as well as opens up and balances the Muladhara Chakra (Root Chakra). It also includes the Ajna Chakra (Third Eye Chakra).
Precautions To Be Taken While Doing The Svastikasana
- This is undoubtedly a basic level asana and no big risks are involved while practicing this.
- But if you suffer from various types of health ailments including sciatica pain, you may feel extreme pain from normal sitting. If so, then simply avoid doing this pose.
Conclusion
- Being an ideal meditation pose and easy to practice, it is the most recommended among all asanas for beginners.
- It should be combined along with Pranayam and practiced daily. This way, you can get the cure for several major diseases, which otherwise are incurable with conventional medicines.
- Once you have mastered Svastikasana pose, you can start practicing advanced poses like Padmasana or Siddhasana. This way, you can perform Bandhas. But you will not be able to perform Uddiyana Bandha and Mula-Bandha poses correctly in Auspicious pose.
- If you feel classical asanas is tough for you to perform, then you can do this one without any hassle.
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