by Yogi Ananda Viraj (Eugene P. Kelly, Jr.)
The word anta means end. The an before it is a privative. Therefore the meaning of ananta is, primarily, “endless.” The word ananta is also used as a name for various figures in ancient Indian literature. For example, the most popular use is as a name for the god Visnu’s snake Sesa. At times ananta is also a name for Visnu, Siva, Krsna, and in its feminine form a name for Parvati, the consort of the god Siva.
Instructions:
- Lie in savasana (i.e. flat on back with palms up).
- Exhaling, turn onto your left side, left arm raised.
- Raise your head and, bending your left arm, rest your head on the left palm.
- The weight of the head is supported by the elbow and upper arm on the floor.
- Inhaling, raise the right leg, bending it at the knee, and grab the big toe (angustha) with the thumb and fingers of the right hand.
- Exhaling, stretch the right leg up straight while straightening the right arm. Maintain toe hold.
- Maintain this position for about 45 seconds while breathing normally. Keep left leg, straight.
- Exhaling, release the position and return to the savasana.
- Repeat on right side.
- Do this posture at least twice on each side.
Variations:
The only real variation of the anantasana is the foot stretch while in the position. After you have become accomplished you may add a little extra “pull” on the leg muscles by pulling down on the big toe to stretch the soles of the feet and the calves.
Benefits:
The anantasana is a great posture for the pelvic area and hamstring muscles. It will also stretch those muscles which sometimes ache while sitting for meditation in the padmasana.
He who conquers the postures (asanas) conquers the three worlds.– Sandilya-Upanisad
The grammar of “l-am-ness” produces the dualism of self/body. This dualism is the child of conceptual thought. When we say “I” or “me” the thought is necessarily one of abstraction. The attentiveness required to enact asana is the occasion for the re-absorption of the I by the lived feeling of incarnation.