How Does Sacred Geometry Tie Together with Yoga Practice?

Triangle

Triangle Meaning

• Balance and harmony
• Three vertices, symbolizing the unity of body, mind and spirit.

Example in architecture

• Pyramids

Yoga Postures with Triangle shape

Triangle Shape in Standing Asana

In the postures below, see how many triangles you can find:

1. Extended triangle (Utthita Trikonasana)

• In triangle pose, your body makes several triangle shapes.
• The alignment of your joints, stacked so they are not fighting gravity, allows for a clear path for energy to flow.

2. Intense chest stretch (Parsvottanasana)

When your legs are stable in the triangle shape you can reach more deeply into this inverted stretch.

Triangle Shape in Seated Asana

3. Boat (Navasana)

• In boat pose, your body works against gravity to maintain the triangle shape. You are working AGAINST gravity to hold and build strength.
• This works great for building muscle, but probably is not ideal for the shape of a house! Eventually the house would succumb to gravity and cave in.

4. Lotus (Padmasana)

• Your legs are arranged in triangles in the lotus pose. Lotus is the ideal meditation pose because it is a physically balanced shape.
• Although this pose requires a lot of flexibility, once you can do it without strain, it feels very rooted and calm.

Triangle Shape in Inversions

5. Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

• In downward facing dog, your body is inverted, which means your head is below your heart.
• The triangle shape allows your to rest by working with gravity to hold you up.

6. Dolphin (Ardha Pincha Mayurasana)

• Dolphin is very similar to downward facing dog, but now instead of all that weight on your wrists, it is spread out along your forearms.
• One side of the “triangle” is shorter than in downward facing dog, so this impacts the length the other sides of the triangle need to be. Maybe you can make the distance between your elbows and feet feet longer (or shorter). Maybe try standing on your tippy toes.
• Any adjustments are based upon what you need.

Circle

Circle Meaning

• the cyclic, repeating nature of life
• never ending, limitless, eternity
• feminine energy, unity, wholeness and completion

Example in Math

• Circles are described mathematically using Pi, which is a number that has an infinitely long expansion to the right of the decimal point. You can think of a circle as a shape with no clear beginning or end, like the never ending cycle of life.

Yoga Postures with Circle shape

Circle Shape in Yoga Poses with Flexion

Tip: I remember the difference between flexion and extension by thinking of “flex forward”. (both words start with an “f”). Can you see the circles in these postures which are in flexion?

1. Rabbit (Sasangasana)

In rabbit, you can draw your energy inward, as if focusing on the inner part of the circle.

2. Cat (Marjariasana)

• Cat pose is often done as part of the cat-cow sequence as a warm up.
• Here in cat, you can draw in towards your spine, as the spine goes into flexion.

Circle Shape in Yoga Poses with Extension

3. Bow (Dhanurasana)

• Bow pose has a circular shape
• When you do bow pose, there is an outward energy along your front side because your spine is in extension.

4. Wheel (Urdva Dhanurasana)

• In wheel, heart energy is shining outward as your spine is in extension.
• You can visualize your body wrapping around the outward part of the circle shape.

Lines

Lines Meaning

• masculine, energy propelling outward
• oppositional force, pulling in opposite directions such as up/down or left/right.

Example in Math

• A line extends in opposite directions for infinity

Yoga Postures with Lines of Energy

Lines of Energy in Standing Asana

1. Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II)

• Your knee is at a right angle, supporting your stance and working with gravity.
• As you hold your arms up, there is a line of energy from the tips of your fingers in left hand all the way to the tips of your fingers in her right hand.

2. Extended Side Angle (Utthita Parsvakonasana)

• Here in extended side angle, your left foot is anchored on the ground and your left arm is reaching in the opposite direction of your left foot.
• The line of energy is from your anchored left foot all the way to your left finger tips.
• In order to enable this energy flow, your left side body is angled towards the towards the sky. Maybe a block under your right hand gives you a little more space for the left side to remain open. Or, you could rest your right forearm on your right thigh.

3. Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana)

• Half moon is about balancing.
• When there is half moon in the sky, you can see both the sun and the moon at the same time. This pose helps create balance between sun energy (warming) and the moon energy (cooling).
• There are lines of energy from your left fingertips to your right fingertips. There is another line of energy from your left foot all the way to the crown of your head.

4. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

• In Tadasana, your feet are rooted into the ground.
• Your head is lifted up.
• Just like a mountain, your foundation is connected to the earth and your head goes towards the sky.
• Your body, by natural design, is perfectly balanced between the two
• There is a line of energy from your feet against the earth all the way up to the crown of your head.

What other shapes can you find in yoga postures? Does the idea of geometric shapes help you understand the mechanics of the yoga postures? One way you can deepen your understanding of yoga and sacred geometry is to draw the flower of life and all it stages.