For a well-balanced, integrated life, a person should develop in three aspects: physical, mental and spiritual. Meditation calms and controls the mind and elevates the spirit; yoga asanas and proper diet purify the body so that its development may not lag behind that of the mind.
Yoga Asanas benefit all of the body's systems. In addition, since hormonal secretions affect emotions, yoga asanas, by balancing these secretions, gradually help to bring emotional disturbances under control.
The twisting and bending which these postures involve places pressure on the endocrine glands, helping them to function in a more balanced manner. The result is improved functioning of the entire organism, including its growth, digestive, repair and waste processes.
There is a difference between asanas and exercise. Asanas affect the hormonal, glandular, endocrine, lymphatic systems. They have subtle effects on deep parts of the mind.
Through the discipline of yoga asanas, the practitioner gradually learns to keep the mind and body poised in all situations. A perfectly functioning body and a mind free from emotional disturbances ... this is the aim of yoga asanas.
