Yoga asanas have been developed over thousand years to promote physical health and to prepare the student to higher yoga stages of meditation. Each yoga pose is attentively designed to focus on particular areas of the body.

With reference to their anatomical-physiological mechanisms and their effects, the âsanas can be classified as it follows:

1. Educational or corrective âsanas.

These must be practiced for the purpose to train and to condition the body and the mind so that is established in them stability, peace and a sense of comfort, which are necessary requisite for the prânâyâma, dhyâna, Samadhi, etc. The yoga practitioner directly or indirectly corrects where is necessary his posture, and in this way sets the foundation for the more elevated yoga practices. The following divisions of the educational group in the relative subgroups underline the operational model of these techniques.

Subgroup (a).
This group of âsana primarily operates on the following organs (or through them):

• visceral organs and from them received sensory commands, originated from variations of pressure in the intra-abdominal hollow, for instance yoga-mudrâ, pascimottâna-âsana, mayûra-âsana, ardha-Matsyendra-âsana, supta-vajra-âsana, hala-âsana, pavana-mukta-âsana.
• muscles and nerves of the vertebral column, as well as articulations and ligaments, for instance bhujanga-âsana, shalabha-âsana, dhanur-âsana, ardha-Matsyendra-âsana, cakra-âsana, vakra-âsana, ustra-âsana.

Subgroup (b).
These âsana primarily act through the receptive mechanisms of the skeletal muscles of the body: baddha-padma-âsana, gomukha-âsana, matsya-âsana, vajra-âsana, trikona-âsana, bhadra-âsana, padahasta-âsana, supta-vajra-âsana.

Subgroup (c).
These yoga poses primarily act through the vestibular organs of the bodily equilibrium: shîrsha-âsana, sarva-anga-âsana, viparîta-karani, garuda-âsana, vriscika-âsana, vriksha-âsana).

2. Relaxing Âsanas.

These yoga positions are suitable for the relaxation of the body and mind. Such relaxation is in turn helpful in the execution of the corrective posture. These âsanas remove the physical and mental tensions and act on the level of the consciousness. Besides they favor the practice of the meditative âsanas and the prânâyâma: shava-âsana, makara-âsana.

3. Meditative Âsanas.

These yoga positions offer a comfortable and stable posture of the body, and therefore a firm mind for the meditation or dhyâna: padma-âsana, siddha-âsana, svastika-âsana, sama-âsana.

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