cious, thoughtful, ungreedy breathing is a prayer of gratitude we offer
to life itself.
It is impossible, when we turn our attention to the inner movement
of breath, to use our senses externally at the same time. You cannot
also be thinking that you must stop at the supermarket on the way
home after work. Pranayama is the beginning of withdrawal from the
external engagement of the mind and senses. That is why it brings
peacefulness. It is the hinge between extroversion and introversion.
When you start asana practice, you gain increased confidence, poise,
self-assurance, and the radiance of health. After all, energy is in itself
an attractive quality. By all means enjoy these benefits in your contact
with the world. But yoga also asks us inwardly to invest some of what
we have gained. That is introversion in its positive sense, not a shying
away from the world out of feelings of inadequacy, but a desire to ex
plore your inner world. The breath, working in the sheath of the phys
iological body, serves as a bridge between body and mind.
You cannot look into your mind with your eyes. In asana the eyes
should be active to adjust the asana, but in breathing the ears are im
portant in order to listen to the sound of mind's vibration and adjust
its harmony. Similarly, the mind too is a vibration in space. The sound
of the mind's vibration can be perceived only by the ears. This is the
penetration of introspection. It does not bring us closer to the noisy
thinking capacity of brain-on the contrary, the organ of brain is paci
fied. It brings us closer to the intuitive faculty of mind. Nothing per
taining to pranayama can be forced. That is why it teaches humility. So
prana itself and its natural companion, the higher intuitive awareness
(prajna) have to be invited, enticed. When circumstances are favorable,
they will come. The metaphor of catching a horse is useful here. You
cannot catch a horse in a field by running after it. But if you stand still
and hold out an apple, the horse will come to you.
In one sense, the power of will is necessary in pranayama. That is
the will of practice, the will to conquer its monotony. Intrinsically it is
V IT A I. IT Y 'J' II 1'. 1'. N 1'. JU ; Y II^0 ll Y I l' l! A N A l