About Yogasan
Yogasan is a field guide to yoga asana: 36 classical postures, a set of complete sequences, and the philosophy that gives them meaning — written for people practising at home, without a teacher in the room.
Why it exists
Most yoga content online is either a video with no explanation, or an article optimised for search engines rather than a reader. Neither helps when you are on a mat at six in the morning trying to work out which way your knee should point.
This guide is built the way a good reference book is built: one entry per posture, consistent structure, honest caveats, and no decorative filler. The aim is that you can read an entry once and practise the shape with more confidence than before.
Editorial standards
Six rules the guide is written and checked against.
- 01
Plain language first
If a sentence needs a glossary, it gets rewritten. Sanskrit is used where it adds precision, always with a translation and a pronunciation-friendly spelling.
- 02
Alignment over depth
Every pose page describes how to keep the intended shape rather than how to go further. Where a modification makes the pose safer, it is listed.
- 03
Cautions, not just benefits
Each pose names the situations in which it should be modified or skipped. Wellness content that lists only benefits is marketing, not teaching.
- 04
Sourced claims, restrained language
Where a claim is contested — the age of the postures, the origins of a practice, the effect of a technique — we say so rather than smoothing it over.
- 05
Dates and revisions
Articles carry a published and updated date. When something changes materially, the change is visible rather than silent.
- 06
No medical authority
We are not clinicians and do not diagnose, treat or promise outcomes. Where a health concern is involved, we point to qualified professionals.
Safety
Yoga involves movement, load and sometimes inversion. That carries ordinary physical risk, and the guidance here is general rather than personal.
Speak to a qualified teacher or a clinician before beginning if you are pregnant, recovering from injury or surgery, or managing a cardiovascular, neurological or joint condition. Stop practising and seek help if you experience chest pain, faintness, numbness, or pain that worsens rather than settles.
Nothing on this site is medical advice, and no page here should be read as a substitute for an assessment by someone who can see you move.
Corrections and contact
If something here is unclear, inaccurate or unsafe, tell us. Corrections are made in the open, and the updated date on an article changes when the substance does.
The practice letter
One email a month: a sequence to try, one pose explained properly, and something worth reading. No offers, no countdowns.