Ananta Samapatti — Absorption in the Infinite for Mastering Asana
The practice of ananta samapatti — meditative absorption in the infinite quality of space and consciousness — is Patanjali's prescribed method for transcending the body's limitations and achieving the effortless stability of perfect asana.
Sutra 2.47 prescribes two complementary practices for mastering asana: prayatna shaithilya (relaxation of effort) and ananta samapatti (absorption in the infinite). Ananta (literally 'endless, infinite, without boundary') samapatti (absorption, coincidence of mind and object) is the practice of expanding awareness to identify with the infinite quality of space and consciousness — dissolving the sense of body-boundary into boundless, open presence. When this absorption is achieved, the body's apparent limitations (stiffness, pain, restlessness) are transcended not by force but by the dissolution of the contracted, boundary-defined sense of self that creates resistance. The body, experienced as a limited object in a limited space, strains against its limits. Awareness, identified with the infinite, encounters no resistance. This practice bridges asana from physical posture to meditation: the body as a gateway to the recognition of boundless consciousness.
Through relaxation of effort and absorption in the infinite, posture is mastered.
Research on the 'relaxation response' by Herbert Benson documents that deliberate relaxation combined with focus on a single concept or word produces measurable reductions in muscle tension, oxygen consumption, and sympathetic nervous system activity — confirming the physiological mechanism for Patanjali's prescription of relaxation plus absorption in asana practice.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Written about in
- What the Yoga Sutras say about the body
The same line adds a second method: absorption in the infinite. A body felt as a bounded object strains against its limits, while attention rested in something boundless stops supplying the resistance.