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body. For each asana or pranayama, you have to know what the func
tion or state of each area and each part of the body should be, whether
active or passive, stable or mobile. When performing asanas, no part
of the body should be idle, no part should be neglected. If you are
stretching the right leg, for example, the left leg should not be for
gotten. On the contrary you have to alert the left leg to remain stable.
This complementary action frees up the right leg to move with ease.
Extend where the body is not moving. If you perspire on one side, you
should also evenly perspire on the other. When you perspire more on
one side, you have not used the other portion fully. Perspiration should
be even but not excessive.
In each asana, if the contact between the body and the floor-the
foundation-is good, the asana will be performed well. Always watch
your base: Be attentive to the portion nearest the ground. Correct first
from the root. The standing poses are meant to begin providing this
foundation for life. They strengthen the ankles and the knees. When a
person is mentally disturbed or dejected, you'll notice he can't stand
firmly on his feet. These postures teach one how to stand straight so
that the brain can float in its position. Feet are like the root of a tree.
If one can't stand properly on one's feet, one develops a negative atti
tude toward life, and one's yoga too becomes unsteady. These postures
help one to maintain stability in times of difficulty and even when cat
astrophes occur. When stability becomes a habit, maturity and clarity
follow. Stability requires balance.
Balance does not mean merely balancing the body. Balance in the
body is the foundation for balance in life. 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. When the intellect is stable, there
is no past, no future, only present. Do not live in the future; only the
present is real. The mind takes you constantly to the future, as it plans,
worries, and wonders. Memory takes you to the past, as it ruminatl'sS I' A II I I. IT Y T II 1;. I' II Y s I l' A I. II ll II Y Ill .\.1 N .1 I