Atha Yoga Anushasanam is not a term that features in any yoga class advertisement that you or I would have seen. If you’re looking to find a yoga class or have already enrolled for one, you should be hoping to get more out of your yoga class than just the instruction on performing certain aasans to get fitter or healthier. As I like to reiterate via this blog, there is so much more to be absorbed from yoga, which is an entire life system.
Today, as I listen to Kishori Amonkar’s exquisite renditions of Raag Bhoopali and Raag Jaunpuri and mourn the passing of this peerless Indian legend, I also delve into the meaning and the implication of the yogic term Atha Yoga Anushasanam; and find how hugely relevant this can be and is to our lives at present.
What is Atha Yoga Anushasanam or Atha Yoganusasanam?
Most of us probably can understand the literal meaning of the term Yoga Anushasanam; Anushasanam meaning order, control or discipline as we commonly understand anushasan to mean. But the most significant word here is ‘atha’. It is pronounced ah-tah (much like the Marathi word and perhaps the root of the Marathi word that means now). Atha is a Sanskrit word that means “now begins”. The term Atha Yoganusasanam appears in the first of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras which is where most of our understanding of yoga stems from.
What is the significance of Atha Yoganusasanam?
When you put the words Atha, Yoga and Anushasanam together this literally means now begins (your) yoga practice. The significance of the term however is much deeper. It tells us that it is possible to begin yoga at any point in life; at any time. Whether you are young or old, infirm or strong, healthy or unhealthy, your yogic experience can start here and now.
The word atha calls out to the here and now. It teaches us the importance of not dwelling on the past and not worrying about the future. It reminds us about the importance of committing to the present moment fully and without reservation. It tells us to embrace the moment and to make the most of it. It also creates a continuum – between the time that the yogis first propounded the practice of yoga and the present day when you and I make the practice of yoga relevant to our lives; fitting a yoga class near you into your busy schedule between work, home, kids and the million other things that need our attention in a given day!