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In the early morning hours of February 1st, something unusual and perhaps unprecedented happened. According to Google Trends, online searches for the phrase “sitting meditation pose” have skyrocketed literally thousands of times compared to a typical Thursday morning. Strangely enough, the majority of searchers were not looking for enlightenment or even a way to quiet their thoughts. They were looking for a five-letter answer to a three-word clue from a New York Times crossword puzzle published hours earlier: “sitting meditation pose.”
Apparently, in the crossword puzzle world, Thursday’s NYT crossword puzzle is known as one of the most complex of the week. As a courtesy to our readers, the answer to the clue selection will be revealed in the Wordplay column, which will be published daily along with the crossword puzzle. Among them was the answer, “zazen pose.” [Spoiler alert: You’re about to learn the answer.]
Columnist Deb Amren writes:
“The difference between a definition and a crossword clue is that the definition must describe exactly what it is, nothing more, nothing less. Crossword clues, especially those that appear in puzzles later in the week, require a little more There is a lot of freedom, and the cue “sitting meditation pose” is a good example. The answer “ASANA” simply means “pose,” so any hatha yoga pose will do, including but not limited to seated poses. ”
Strictly speaking, the crossword clue is not wrong. It’s actually quite nice. But the definition of “asana” in an accompanying column may raise questions among those familiar with yoga and Sanskrit (Amren’s use of “merely” may raise eyebrows).
Arundhati Baitmangalkar is a self-proclaimed Indian immigrant, yoga teacher, and event organizer. let’s talk about yoga “Asana essentially means ‘seat,'” explains the podcaster and yoga geek. “And originally that chair was for meditation.”
Back then, yoga poses as we know them today didn’t exist, says Baimangalkar (who is not a crossword expert). “The only poses that existed for yogis thousands of years ago were seated meditative poses, whether they were asked to sit for meditation or for other forms of meditation.”
It is only in the last few centuries that various poses were introduced into the yoga lexicon. Therefore, asana has become a well-known umbrella term intended to distinguish between physical yoga and the non-physical aspects of yoga.
So, while Amren’s definition of asana may be a bit incomplete, taking its cue from ancient yoga teachings is a testament to the intention behind both the tip and the column: to encourage readers to distort their brains rather than their bodies. It reminds me to guide. , to perceive the world a little differently. Like what happens during meditation.
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