Since 1999, Swami Lalitananda, has been the Hidden Language Hatha Yoga columnist at ascent magazine. Now, the best of her writing has been anthologized in a new instructional manual on the Hidden Language technique. Inspired by Swami Sivananda Radha's Hatha Yoga: The Hidden Language, The Inner Life of Asanas blends real-life reflections with Hatha Yoga instruction and penetrating questions that point to the spiritual roots of the practice.

From life in a contemplative mountain community to the heart of the inner city, from the beginning of the war in Iraq to delightful moments of childhood intuition, the stories and reflections in The Inner Life of Asanas invite readers to uncover the mystical aspects of Hatha Yoga and apply the Hidden Language to their own lives.

Paperback | 160 Pages | 7 1/4” x 9 1/4”
25 black and white photos
ISBN 10: 1-932018-19-0 | ISBN 13: 978-1-932018-19-6
CAN: $25.95 | US: $23.95
Printed on 100% post consumer waste recycled paper
Available November 2007

Order by phone:

• In Canada, call 1-800-661-8711
• In USA, call 1-800-251-9273

EXCERPT FROM THE INNER LIFE OF ASANAS

Could the asanas have an inner life? What would that mean?

In the Hidden Language approach to Hatha Yoga, founded by Swami Sivananda Radha, the asanas can be realized as mudras, sacred seals or gestures. If we want to understand what secrets they hold, we can inquire and reflect and begin to loosen up what has been sealed away - in our bodies, in our minds, in the potency of the poses themselves.

We can open to our inner life through the asanas if we are receptive to their hidden meaning and to our own hidden depths. With Hidden Language Hatha Yoga, we each compose our own book of knowledge and expand our awareness of the sacred in ourselves and in our world.

What I know from practising Hidden Language Hatha Yoga is that it is always about where I am at that moment. When I use it as a tool, like a plough, I can dig deeply and upturn my own secrets. What is revealed can be a delight - perhaps a glimpse of my potential, or a hidden passageway that leads from a cramped, dark space to a place of Light. I may discover a treasure of knowledge that I had concealed long ago and forgotten. But I may also unearth less appealing treasures such as fears I've never dealt with, or pride hastily hidden behind a fragile front, or other old psychological "stuff" that has not been sorted through.

The human body is the holder of all the secrets, the teller of truths. And when the truths are revealed - good or not so good - they are gifts. Seeing a pattern that creates pain, do I want to keep it or let it go? Can I decide on a new course of action by inviting in a new way of thinking? The value of Hatha Yoga is not just in stretching the muscles, but in stretching the mind.

Through discovering our own secrets and making our own choices, our lives are put back into our own hands. We do not need to look outside ourselves for a rescuer or saviour. We have gained access to an inner wisdom that is real and accessible through the body.

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