The practice of asanas purges the body of its impurities, bringing strength, firmness, calm, and clarity of mind.
The back is like a frame, the front body, the painting that it throws into relief.
The needs of the body are the needs of the divine spirit which lives through the body.
Yoga is about the will, working with intelligence and self-reflexive consciousness, can free us from the inevitability of the wavering mind and outwardly directed senses.
In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present – the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity.
How can you know God if you don’t know your big toe?
The yogi learns to forget the past and takes no thought for the morrow. He lives in the eternal present.
Anything physical is always changing, therefore, its reality is not constant, not eternal.
While doing the postures, your mind should be in half-consciousn ess, which does not mean sleep. It means silence, emptiness, space, which can then be filled with an acute awareness of the sensations given by the posture. You watch yourself from inside. It is a full silence.
Yoga is meant for the purification of body and its exploration as well as for the refinement of the mind.
Yoga takes us to an unconditioned freedom, because yoga sees even good habits as a form of conditioning or limitation.
Do not allow past experiences to be imprinted on your mind. Perform asana each time with a fresh mind and with a fresh approach.
Willpower is nothing but willingness to do.
As the trunk is one but the branches are many, yoga is one but adaptations may vary.
Not all practitioners can jump to that highest level. They have to climb, step by step from the physical sphere to reach the spiritual sphere. If it is treated as exercise it is not the fault of yoga but of the practitioners.
In backbends, one touches the body physically, mentally, intellectually, consciously and spiritually everywhere.
Backbends are to be felt more than expressed. The other postures can be expressed and then felt. Like in meditation each person has to feel backbends.
In forward bends, one uses the outer mind while in backbends the outer mind is silenced and the inner mind is made to work.
Backbends are not poses meant for expressionism. Backbends are meant to understand the back parts of our bodies. The front body can be seen with the eyes, but the back body can only be felt. That’s why I say these are the most advanced postures, where the mind begins to look at the back.
Yoga has a threefold impact on health. It keeps healthy people healthy, it inhibits the development of diseases, and it aids recovery from ill health.