You may also have learned simhasana from a different sitting posture. It is commonly taught from vajrasana, the thunderbolt pose. This entails sitting on the heels ...Yoga|PracticeReleasetheBeast:TheOriginsandPracticeofSimhasanaSandraAnderson5min.“Eighty-fourasanasweretaughtbytheLordofYogis,Shiva.Ofthose,Ishalldescribefourwhicharethequintessence.”ThusspeaksSvatmaramainverse33ofchapter1ofthe HathaYogaPradipika—theclassicalSanskrittextonhathayoga.Hegoeson,“Siddhasana,padmasana,simhasana,andbhadrasana:thesefouraremostexcellent.”Outofall84postures,thefourmostexcellentaresittingpostures?!WouldyourlistmatchSvatmarama’s?Whathappenedtotheheadstand,theshoulderstand,downwardfacingdog,thepeacock,oradozenoftheotherhighlytoutedpostures?Ifmeditativeposturesareatthetopofyourlist,itmakessensethat siddhasana (theposeofperfection)and padmasana (thelotuspose)wouldbeamongthetopfour,butwhy simhasana (thelionpose),or bhadrasana (alsoknownasthebutterflyposeor baddhakonasana)?WhywouldSvatmaramaconsiderthesesoimportant?Outofall84postures,thefourmostexcellentaresittingpostures?!TheSecretoftheSittingPosturesObviouslytheremustbemoretothesittingposturesthanmeetstheeye.Afterall,they’renotveryimpressiveatfirstglance—there’snosweat,noburningoffat,nosplendiddisplayofstrength,noflashyshowofflexibility—inshort,there’snoaction.Accordingtothestandardsofmanycontemporaryyogaclasses,they’reboring.Sowhatisgoingon?Focusingonsimhasana,wecantakeacluefromwhatSvatmaramasaysinverse52:“Thisissimhasana,heldingreatesteembythehighestyogis.Thismostexcellentasanafacilitatesthethreebandhas.”Elsewherehecommentsthatthebandhasfollowmasteryofthesittingposturesandthatmasteryofthesittingposturesdestroysdisease,confersyogicpowers,andgenerallymakesotherasanasunnecessary.Fromthiswecanconcludethatthebandhasarethekeytotheimportanceofthesittingpostures.Bandha means“lock”inSanskrit.Thebandhasareusedtodirectthepranicenergyinthebodyandcanbepracticedinmanyasanas.Buttheyareparticularlyusefulinthesittingposturesandinthepracticeofpranaya