“I do not want sheep that follow me… I want lions that roar with me”.
“I do not want sheep behind me… I want lions that keep step beside me”.
Simhasana, or the Lion Pose, is a practice of the Hatha Yoga system that combines two main techniques: asana (posture) and pranayama (breathing).
No yoga posture has been named in a deliberate or gratuitous way. No! They all hold a psychological, archetypal and energetic connotation.
Among its benefits is the development of a “leonine” state of consciousness, of security, strength and inner power.
The lion does not doubt.
It does not hide.
It does not ask permission to exist.
Among its benefits, it relieves stress, strengthens the throat and tones the face (maintaining pleasant musculature and avoiding the so widely used Botox of today). It eases anxiety, releases stagnant emotions, strengthens the throat and chest, improves facial circulation and can help reduce eye strain.
Remember, when practising it, that it:
• releases accumulated stress
• eases anxiety and emotional tension
• strengthens the throat and chest
• stimulates circulation of the face
• tones the facial musculature
• reduces eye strain
• helps release repressed emotions
But perhaps its greatest teaching is this:
To remind us that within us there lives no sheep…
there lives a lion.
·
Yogarahasya
