Yoga Asana for Meditation

Best Yoga Asana for Meditation

Kundalini Yoga Asana for Meditation

Hatha Yoga Asana for Everyday Practice

Yoga Butterfly Asana (pose), just like Hatha Yoga Back Stretching Pose, is recommended by kundalini yoga as an exercise that should be an integral part of your daily yoga practice.  As this pose is part of both hatha yoga and kundalini yoga, it is part of both e-books, Free Online Hatha Yoga Poses Galleries and the Free Illustrated Kundalini Yoga Poses E-Book.

Butterfly Pose, or Pooran Titali Asana, is how I always start my yoga practice.  I remember doing this pose way back in high school during tennis warm-ups.  I liked it back then and I still like it now. 

This asana not only works to raise the frequency of your sexual energy, so that it can be used to enrich the higher centers, but it also promotes flexibility in the all important groin region and hips.  Us marathon meditators, understand well the importance of flexibility in these regions, as that helps us sit for long periods of time.  In fact, if there was one asana I was asked to recommend to help yogis sit in meditation, it would be Pooran Titali Asana.Yoga Asana for Meditation

Below you will find some illustrations of this simple yoga asana.  I have shown two variations for the hand position and there are also two variations of how this stretch can be done, which I discuss in the practice section below.

Butterfly Yoga Asana for Meditation

Picture of Pooran Titali Asana 1



Picture of Yoga Butterfly Asana 2

 

Yoga Butterfly Asana for Meditation:

a. Step-by-Step Instructions for Butterfly Asana:

  • Sit up straight and bring the soles of your feet together in front of you.
  • Wrap your fingers around your toes (illustration #1) and gently pull your heels in towards your groin.
  • Keeping your back straight, lean forward from the waist as far as comfortable.
  • You should feel a good stretch in your groin region.
  • Use your elbows as levers to push down on your calves or inner thighs.
  • You may do this stretch with the Breath of Fire or with Long Deep Breathing. 

b. Duration for Butterfly Asana:

  • 1 – 5 minutes.

c. Benefits of Butterfly Asana:

  • Excellent yoga asana to improve the flexibility in the groin and hips region.  Both important regions for helping to sit in meditation.
  • This asana transmutes sexual energy into higher frequencies, allowing it to be used to nourish and heal the higher chakra points. For more information on chakras you can read Kundalini Seven Chakra System Overview).

 

d. Practice Tips for Butterfly Asana:

  • A hand position variation you can use for this asana is shown in illustration #2.  Here I wrap my hands around my ankles instead.  This technique can sometimes provide a more intense stretch.  Also, notice in illustration #2, how I am using my elbows to accentuate the stretch by pressing down on my inner thighs.
  • Another variation to how this asana can be practiced, is by bouncing your knees gently (like a butterfly flapping it’s wings), instead of holding the stretch steadily.  In this variation, make sure you don’t force the legs too much.  To assist in this variation you can also hold your knees and press down gently on the downward stroke.  This technique, helps open up the hips more.
  • As the end of this asana, you can inhale deeply, hold your breath and apply root lock (or mula bandha) to help redirect the energy back into the spinal cord.  Root lock is described in the following article:  Raja Yoga Set for Awakening Kundalini Shakti.

Online Kundalini Yoga Kriyas Using Butterfly Asana:

Yoga for Meditation Set – Silent Mind Meditation Program

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20 replies
  1. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    i really enjoyed this pose from the very first time i pracitice it.is such an excellent pose for long meditation,all shold participate in it…namaste…joey

    Reply
  2. Banu
    Banu says:

    Hi Anmol !

    When i try to do Butterfly Yoga Asana, my knees and thighs touches the ground, but i can pull my heels towards my groin. I am not able to hold my legs correctly as shown in the picture. Is that ok ?
    Then, i am enjoying all the articles and the lessons.
    Thanks a lot,
    Banu

    Reply
  3. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Pip,

    This is the first posture I start my yoga sets with as well (the other good starting exercises are the spinal warm-up series).

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

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  4. […] During this phase it is a good idea to cover some of daily essential work as recommended by yoga.  So try to do Butterfly Pose | Best Asana for Meditation, which is also excellent for sitting in meditation, and also do Forward Bend, to stretch the all important life nerve and promote flexibility.  Then, pick yoga poses that benefit meditation practice.  Remember that the students who signed up for this class are here for meditation, so make sure the yoga you select is gentle in nature and plays a role in helping with meditation. […]

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  6. […] Here I make sure I cover as much of the daily essential work as recommended by yoga as I can.  I almost always make sure we do Butterfly Pose, which is great to start off with and we also do Forward Bend, to stretch the all important life nerve.  One tip is to do these 2 poses before the breathing exercises so that the students, who have by then been sitting with legs crossed for some time, get a chance to stretch their legs.  In addition, you can do these 2 exercises with Breath of Fire (or Long Deep Breathing) so you accomplish the task of firing up their energy as well. […]

  7. […] Here I make sure I cover as much of the daily essential work as recommended by yoga as I can.  I almost always make sure we do Butterfly Pose, which is great to start off with and we also do Forward Bend, to stretch the all important life nerve.  One tip is to do these 2 poses before the breathing exercises so that the students, who have by then been sitting with legs crossed for some time, get a chance to stretch their legs.  In addition, you can do these 2 exercises with Breath of Fire (or Long Deep Breathing) so you accomplish the task of firing up their energy as well. […]

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