Do Postures Have to Be

Painful?
I was asked whether pain in asana should be accepted and if its worth going through a
lot of pain at all? When does discomfort turn into pain, can it be balanced with the higher
limbs or should it be avoided altogether?
There is a widespread misconception that postures should be painful. As a rule of thumb,
postures should not be painful, which is something that even the ancient masters pointed
out. Patanjali states in Yoga Sutra, heyam duhkham anagatam, which means that new
suffering needs to be avoided (Yoga Sutra II.16). The reasoning behind this injunction is
simple. Every experience you have forms a subconscious imprint (samskara). Every
subconscious imprint, whatever its content, calls for its own repetition.

This means that if you frequently practice postures in a way that causes pain, you will
create more pain in your postures in the future. The adage No pain, no gain may work
in some areas of life, but applied to asana it becomes destructive. Apart from damaging
bodily tissues, you may become more and more preoccupied with pain and with the body
if you imprint pain into your subconscious again and again. All intense physical sensations
call for more identification with the body. The goal of yoga, however, is not to increase
this identification. It is to perfect the body so as to transform it into a capable and reliable
vehicle on the road to freedom. Think of your body as akin to your car: the better you
treat it, the better it will run. You need to service it regularly, maintain fluid levels, and

correct tire pressure. Treating the body respectfully does not mean identifying with it. If
you identify with your body, it becomes an obstacle to spiritual evolution, not a vehicle
for it. This is nowhere clearer than at the moment of death, one of the key moments in
terms of spiritual evolution. If you have not learned detachment from the body, dying will
not elevate you. This potentially most powerful moment then becomes a painful
experience.
Another scriptural injunction against pain appears in the Bhagavad Gita. The Supreme
Being in the form of the Lord Krishna criticizes those who torture the body (Bhagavad
Gita XVII.56). He, as the true self of the world, lives as the self in our hearts and thus
lives in every body. Those who cause pain to the body desecrate his abode. This has led
to the notion of the body as the temple of God. We need to treat our bodies as we would
the home of the Supreme Being.

There are three types of unpleasant physical sensations that can occur in postures. I call
them (1) creative discomfort, (2) unnecessary pain, and (3) necessary, karmic pain.

CREATIVE DISCOMFORT
In asana it is important to recognize the difference between pain and discomfort. When
you stretch a muscle or hold a demanding strength posture, there is necessarily a certain
amount of discomfort involved. This discomfort comes from stretching the muscle or
making it stronger, both of which are among the goals of the practice. In regard to asana,
therefore, we may say, No discomfort, no gain. (Postures that are to be held for a long
time for the purpose of pranayama and meditation are an exception; they need to be
completely comfortable.) If the discomfort crosses the line into pain, on the other hand,
injuries can happen. This is particularly true if the pain is felt in a joint, ligament, or
tendon. If you feel pain, you need to back off or adjust the posture and work more
precisely so that you can return to the zone of discomfort. Anatomical knowledge guides
this process.

Practitioners should analyze the postures and continually correct their performance of
them until awareness is spread all over the body. When that happens, the body is hardly
felt anymore. This sounds paradoxical, but you feel the body mainly when something is
wrong. The absence of negative feedback means that everything is okay. When the body
is correctly aligned, a feeling of stillness and firmness yet vibrant lightness arises. The
mind becomes luminous, still, and free from ambition and egoic tendencies. This is the

state that you are looking for. It is conducive to meditation. When this quality is achieved
in a posture, that posture is fit as a platform for the higher limbs of yoga.

There is no point in waiting for this state to suddenly and miraculously appear by
performing the same faulty postures again and again. From a faulty action, no correct
result can be achieved. Faulty postures cause more faulty postures in the future.

UNNECESSARY PAIN
Any pain experienced in joints, ligaments, tendons, and at the origins and insertions of
muscles is likely to be unnecessary pain. This type of pain accounts for the vast majority
of pain experienced in asana. It is completely avoidable and almost always due to faulty
technique. This may sound like a steep claim, but this type of pain can easily be
recognized because it disappears in due time when postural alignment is analyzed and
corrected. For this reason, you should always assume that the pain you experience when
executing a posture is in the category of unnecessary pain. All such pain can be avoided
by applying the tool of anatomical inquiry into posture. If unnecessarily painful practice is
continued, an already existing negative tendency toward self-torture, perfectionism, or
egotism, for example may be increased instead of reduced.

NECESSARY, KARMIC PAIN

This form of pain is more difficult for Westerners to understand, as it involves the concept
of karma. Through our past actions, words, and thoughts, we have created who we are
today, including, according to Patanjali, the type of body, span of life, and form of death
we will experience. When Patanjali stated that future pain is to be avoided, he did not
elaborate about past pain. Past pain in this context is the pain that we have created
through our past actions. It may be experienced now or in the future. We cannot change
our past actions. Once the seeds of our actions have sprouted, the karma associated with
those actions cannot be intercepted, and the pain resulting from them needs to be
endured not grudgingly endured but willingly accepted as ordained. If it is willingly
accepted, it will lead to a karmic purification, to a burning of the old karma associated
with that pain.

Occasionally in life we have to go through letting-go processes, and they are not
complete without painful sensations. Grief is an example of such a process. Nobody will
doubt that a possibly lengthy grieving process, during which we learn or come to terms

with letting go, follows the death of a loved one. These processes can come to a
conclusion only if we willingly and consciously enter into them.

Karmic pain in asana is that pain that cannot be removed by anatomical inquiry and
attention to detail. If you have done everything in your power to correct the posture and
the pain still persists, it may be necessary, karmic pain, something you may have to go
through. It is very challenging for a yogini to know that she has done everything in her
power and yet continues to suffer. Many people at this point will stop practicing because
they feel unfairly treated. If you manage to continue your practice, you are
fostering tapas, the ability to sustain your practice in the face of adversity. If you refuse to
work through karmic pain and simply endure it, your yogic progress may stagnate.

Yoga in this regard is similar to a marriage. When you get married, you commit to sticking
with your partner through good and bad times. The same unwavering commitment is
necessary in your asana practice. However, it needs to be an intelligent commitment. You
need to be able to clearly identify whether the pain is the avoidable result of faulty
technique or whether it is caused by demerit accumulated in the past. You can achieve
this by doing everything in your power to make sure that you perform asana correctly and
are therefore sure beyond doubt that avoiding the pain that you experience is not
possible.

A word of caution: If you do not correctly identify your pain, you may make matters
worse. Again, the overwhelming majority of pain experienced during asana is
unnecessary and due to faulty technique. Never accept that your pain is karmic until you
have ruled out beyond doubt that it is caused by poor alignment. This point shows the
importance of anatomical inquiry. If your understanding of the anatomical principles of
the body and the posture under discussion are sound, you will know whether you have
done everything to avoid the pain. Anatomical knowledge must be used to determine
whether pain is karmic or not.

The instruction given in the previous paragraphs may easily lend itself to abuse. Often
students are only too happy to believe that their pain is necessary, as this way they dont
have to take responsibility for changing their approach to asana. For the correct
identification of pain, consult a qualified yoga instructor steeped in the study of anatomy
and alignment. This section in no way constitutes medical advice. If you experience any
ongoing pain, consult your physician.