in body but attention and awareness in mind. The yogi knows that the
physical body is not only the temple for our soul but the means by
which we embark on the inward journey toward the core. Only by first
attending to the physical body can we hope to accomplish anything in
our spiritual lives. If a man or woman has aspirations to experience the
divine, but his or her body is too weak to bear the burden, of what use
are their aspirations and ambitions? That's all the more reason, there
fore, for the vast majority of us who suffer from physical limitations
and debilities to some degree to start yoga as soon as possible so that
we may fit ourselves for the journey ahead of us.
Yoga offers us techniques to become aware, to expand and pene
trate, and to change and evolve in order to become competent in the
lives we live and to initiate sensitivity and receptivity toward the life of
which we are still only dimly aware. We begin at the level of the phys
ical body, the aspect of ourselves that is most concrete and accessible
to all of us. It is here that yogasana and pranayama practice allow us
to understand our body with ever greater insight and through the body
to understand our mind and reach our soul. To a yogi, the body is a
laboratory for life, a field of experimentation and perpetual research.
For the yogi, the physical body corresponds to one of the elements
of nature, namely the earth. We are mortal clay, and we return to dust.
All cultures recognize this truth, but nowadays we treat it as a mere
metaphor. It is more than that. As you explore your own body, you are
in fact exploring this element of nature itself. You are also developing
the qualities of earth within yourself: solidity, shape, firmness, and
strength.
I have described the yogasanas at length in my earlier books. In
this chapter, we will discuss asana not in terms of the techniques of
each position but in terms of the qualities and attributes that one must
strive for in all asana and in life. As we perfect asana, we will come to
understand the true nature of our embodiment, of our being, and of
the divinity that animates us. And when we are free from physical dis-
II K \ I\' I· N ,, 1\ II
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