Dharma Mittra - Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses

ASANAS

608 YOGA POSTURES

DHARMA MITTRA

NEW WORLD LIBRARY

NOVATO, CALIFORNIA

New World Library
14 Pamaron Way
Novato, California 94949

2003 by Here+There
Photographs 2003 by Dharma Mittra

Asanas was produced in New York and London by Here+There
Editor: Joe Dolce Editorial Advisor: Angela LaSpisa
Design: Caz Hildebrand
Production: Mary Ann Casler

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means
electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the
publisher,except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for education. Please consult a
qualified health care practitioner before beginning any exercise program.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mittra, Dharma,1939
Asanas : 608 yoga postures / by Dharma Mittra.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-57731-402-6 (pbk. :alk. paper)

1. Yoga Pictorial works. I. Title.

RA781.7 .M552003
613.7'046dc21

2002154288

First Printing, March 2003
ISBN 1-57731-402-6
Printed in Hong Kong
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

I offer my deepest thanks to:

Shri Swami Kailashananda Maharaj 108, my Guru, my inspiration, my teacher, my father, my everything in the Divine Practice;

my tireless and faithful Karma Yogi Ismrittee Devi, aka Eva Grubler Vargas;

Angela LaSpisa my devoted student and angel in disguise; all of my students past and present who inspire me to serve and teach daily;

my longtime students, initiated disciples, and certified teacher graduates who invest themselves in passing on the tradition;

Krishna Das for his eternal love of chanting the divine name, for his friendship, and for allowing my home to be his; and most of all, to the Supreme Lord for honoring me with human birth and revealing to me my spiritual existence and unity with God, thereby giving me the opportunity to perform my prescribed duties in a disinterested way, and to use reason and discrimination to help maintain world order and make spiritual progress in this lifetime with no attachments to the fruits of my actions. He whose heart gets purified through action without attachment obtains God-Realization. May I uphold righteousness and live up to my initiate name of Dharma, Om Shantih Om .

Dharma Mittra

Om.

May we practice yoga so that our bodies and minds are purified. O Luminous One, may we find a guru (spiritual preceptor) to receive the right guidance and knowledge. O Imperishable, Incomprehensible, Infinite One, may we cross by Thy Grace this ocean of birth and death. May detachment be our boat, strength be our speed, the guru be our guide, and thy light our destination, so that we can safely cross this ocean (of pain and delusion) and return home again. May we never leave home again.

Hare Om .

This book is an extraordinary celebration of human achievement extraordinary not only because one man possessed the grace and prowess to execute so many yoga postures, but because he also had the determination to photograph himself doing them.
For organizational purposes, Asanas groups the postures into eight broad sections. It would be a mistake to take those categories too literally because unlike other exercise regimes, yoga works on both the outside of the body and the inside. While a pose may appear to be a back stretch, its likely to also be working the legs and arms, increasing the flow of blood to specific glands and organs, and clarifying the practitioners relationship with the cosmos.
The majority of the photos were shot in 1984, when Dharma was 45 years old. In the years since, some of the original negatives were lost or damaged, thus when it came time to put this book together, Dharma had to photograph himself again. It was impossible to replicate the original lighting conditions, so the newer shots have a different, more dense quality. Perhaps it is testimony to the

rejuvenating powers of yoga, but the changes in Dharmas body, or in his ability to execute the poses, are barely visible.
One more thing: Only after spending months with Dharma, dissecting and categorizing each posture, did we realize that he had originated many of these postures himself. As a true yogi, he takes no credit for his achievement, stressing instead the value of egolessness, or in yogic terms, no I. While he may insist that he did nothing to create the work, that the postures just flowed through him, we believe otherwise.
The Editors

Relax on your back for two or three minutes before the first posture.
Do all postures very slowly, without pain or straining. Breathe through the nose in all positions (except Shavasana ).
Do not over-hold the breath or over-inhale. Do not overhold any posture.
Break posture whenever it becomes uncomfortable.
Practice on an empty stomach, four hours after heavy food, two hours after light food, 10 to 15 minutes after liquids.
Before doing a posture check the illustration carefully for angles, shape, exact position of fingers, hands, arms, toes, ankles, legs, and head. Beginners should not practice without guidance.
If you are pregnant, or have recently had surgery, or have heart, spine, joint, or high blood pressure problems, ask the teacher which postures to avoid.

Do postures on a mat in a well-ventilated room.
Relax after every posture until fatigue has been eliminated.
If there isnt time to do all the poses, choose one standing, one abdominal, one or two forward and backward bends each, one twist, and one seated pose. Later, or the next day, do the remaining.