Samasthiti: The Most Underestimated Teaching in Yoga

What Samasthiti Actually Is

The word itself is the instruction. Sama = equal, balanced, steady. Sthiti = standing, abiding, remaining. It is the instruction to stand in a state of equilibrium: of breath, of attention, of inner orientation. In the Ashtanga sequence, Samasthiti appears between every posture. It is the punctuation of the practice. And most practitioners treat it as dead space.