Why do we need to do strange postures?

I was practising one of the advanced postures called Sayanasana, which in English

is called Elbow Balance and consists of initially balancing on the forearms with the

legs in the air, then the hands are lifted from the floor and the palms cupped under

the chin, while the balance of the entire body is maintained only on the elbows.

My husband asked why people came up with those strange postures? He was

referring not only to this yoga posture but quite a lot of other postures, too, such as

the legs behind the neck etc. I started thinking why we do them since he asked me

this question. I think I discovered the answer to this question the other day.

After I completed my Knoff Yoga Master Teacher training course, I added the master-

level syllabus with very advanced postures into my daily practice. I noticed my joint

movement range has expanded—much more than before—and I am using so many

different muscles. Of course, it has also improved my flexibility and strength. Now,

when I am doing most postures, I don’t have any pain and can relax and maintain

them comfortably.

One day, when I was engaging in the Downward Facing Dog Pose, I suddenly felt as

if I didn’t have my body. My spine was empty and all joints were free. I was there, but

at the same time I wasn’t there. I had experienced the same sensation when I

practised Savasana relaxation and meditation, but never before during asana

practice.

All things that I could feel using my senses, such as my body and mind, were totally

gone. It is so difficult to describe. But I was just pure…something! I wasn’t a mother,

wife, yoga teacher, Japanese, female, Tomoko or human…this might be my real self,

soul, Purusha. Purusha is something that never changes – it is eternal. There was

no separation from everything surrounding me, as if all the walls of the houses in this

world were gone and all become one atmosphere.

I always think our reason, or purpose, in life is to learn by our own experience

through a different body. We improve ourselves while we exist here, then go back to

somewhere we came from. As soon as we are born, we are separated by having our

own physical body. After death we detach from that and return to the same place,

once again. Perhaps this is the universe and we become one with it once more, like

raindrops falling from the sky and eventually returning to the sky again.

While I engaged in Downward Facing Dog Pose I felt no separation. Somehow, this

gives me the ultimate relief. Everything becomes so dear to me, because I

understand that not only myself, but everyone and everything are the same as what I

felt.

We use our body to feel something beyond the body. Just like we realise the

separation in order to experience the oneness. Perhaps this is the trickiest concept

that God gave us.

By practising asanas, we can make the body sit still in meditation, without suffering. I

believe that this is what leads us to feel oneness. Practising advanced postures

increases the chance to feel this freedom. This is the answer I found for my

husband.