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Class 5 - Living the Principles: From Practice to Samadhi

170 mins

This closing session brings the Asana Principles together, revisiting foundational positions, backbending, and headstand as vehicles for inner absorption. David explores Yoga Sutra I.17, which outlines the four forms of samadhi — vitarka, vichara, ananda, and asmita — and shows how each arises naturally through dedicated practice. By applying the Asana Principles, the body becomes a field for exploring these states: the joy of inquiry, the refinement of understanding, the bliss of embodiment, and the awakening of “I-am-ness.” The talk also examines the subtle art of following your bliss in practice — how to recognize true enjoyment that leads toward liberation, and to discern it from attachment (rāga) that leads to suffering. Through this lens, yoga becomes a means of finding sukha within dukkha, ease within challenge, and joy even within effort. The session closes by reflecting on asmita as the pure sense of being — a recognition of one’s unique dharma, voice, and creative destiny. It is both a synthesis and a celebration: the point where the outer practice of asana and the inner practice of awareness meet in the stillness of samadhi.