whole chest move with it? Now try to stay centered and extend out
your arm to your fingertips. Did you notice the difference? Did you no
tice the space that you created and the way in which you stretched
from your core? Now try expanding your arm outward in every direc
tion like the circumference of a circle. The stretch should bring the sen
sitivity and experience of creating space in every direction.
Overstretching occurs when one loses contact with one's center,
with the divine core. Instead, the ego wants simply to stretch further,
to reach the floor, regardless of its ability, rather than extending grad
ually from the center. Each movement must be an art. It is an art in
which the Self is the only spectator. Keep your attention internal, not
external, not worrying about what others see, but what the Self sees.
Do not fixate on how far you want to stretch, but in doing the stretch
correctly. Do not focus on where you want to go but on going as far as
you can with dynamic extension.
One should not overstretch, nor understretch. If one thing is over
stretched, something else gets understretched. If overstretching comes
from a swollen ego, then understretching results from a lack of confi
dence. If overstretching is exhibitionism, understretching is escapism.
Overstretching and understretching are both wrong: Always stretch
from the source, the core, and the foundation of each asana. This is the
art of dynamic extension. It is not yoga that injures, but it is the way
one does yoga that leads to injury. The moment space becomes narrow,
it means you are injuring. In the correct asana, there is no narrowness.
Even if your body is stiff, you have to bring space.
Always try to extend and expand the body. Extension and expan
sion bring space, and space brings freedom. Freedom is precision, and
precision is divine. From freedom of the body comes freedom of the
mind and then the Ultimate Freedom. The Ultimate Freedom that yoga
works toward can be tasted in our own bodies, as each limb gains in
dependence, flexibility, and freedom from its neighboring limbs. Cer-
II K S I Y 11• N I; A II