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Early on February 1, one thing uncommon and maybe unprecedented occurred. On-line searches for the phrase “sitting meditation pose” surged actually hundreds of occasions greater than is seen on a typical Thursday morning, in keeping with Google Tendencies. Curiously, nearly all of searchers weren’t in search of enlightenment and even easy methods to quiet their ideas. They have been in search of a five-letter reply to the three-word clue “sitting meditation pose” from the New York Instances crossword puzzle, which had been launched hours earlier.
Apparently in crossword puzzle circles, the Thursday NYT crossword puzzle is thought to be one among the extra confounding of the week. As a kindness to readers, solutions to pick out clues are revealed in its Wordplay column, revealed day by day together with the crossword puzzle. The reply to “sitting meditation pose” was amongst them. [Spoiler alert: You’re about to learn the answer.]
Columnist Deb Amlen wrote:
“The distinction between a definition and a crossword clue is {that a} definition should clarify one thing exactly, no extra, no much less. A crossword clue, particularly one which seems in a late-week puzzle, has a bit extra wiggle room, and the clue ‘Sitting meditation pose’ is an effective instance. The reply, ASANA, merely means “pose,” so it could possibly be any hatha yoga pose, together with however not restricted to the seated ones.”
Technically, the crossword clue isn’t incorrect. It’s truly fairly sensible. However the definition of “asana” within the accompanying column could immediate some questions amongst these conversant in yoga or Sanskrit (and Amlen’s use of “merely” could increase some eyebrows).
Arundhati Baitmangalkar, a self-described Indian immigrant, yoga instructor, host of the Let’s Speak Yoga podcast, and yoga nerd, explains “Asana basically means ‘seat,’” she says. “And initially, that seat was meant for meditation.”
At the moment, there have been no yoga poses as we all know them as we speak, says Baitmangalkar (who will not be a crossword particular person). “The one pose that existed for yogis hundreds of years in the past was the sitting meditation pose, whether or not they have been asking you to sit down for meditation or another type of contemplation.”
It was solely in latest centuries that numerous postures have been launched to the lexicon of yoga. As such, asana has turn into a well-known and catchall phrase, meant to differentiate bodily yoga from the much less bodily features of yoga.
So though Amlen’s definition of asana could be ever so barely incomplete, taking a cue from the traditional teachings of yoga reminds us to take a look at the intention behind each the clue and the column, which is to coax readers to contort their brains, not their our bodies, in order to understand the world barely in another way. Simply as what occurs in meditation.
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