Practical applicability of yogic asanas as a means of physical culture

So many enquiries have been made, particularly from verse as readers of my previous work, the "Mysterious Cundalani" about the practicability of Yogic asanas as a system of physical culture, that in response to them there was described the true significance and the correct technique of a few Yogic asanas which can be practiced as a system of physical culture easily at home and without the help of an instructor. The ultimate aim of all asanas is to prepare the body to achieve that tranquility of mind which is necessary for the realization of so-called the "supreme" consciousness.

The practice of asanas conserves energy, whether voluntary or involuntary, and this is utilized by other Yogic practices, to steady the mind for realizing A definite object which may be in view—be it worldly or spiritual. Those who are highly materialistic may not have a very spiritual end in view, yet they also may usefully practice the Yogic asanas for their physical well-being if for no-other reason than to make their body fit for the usual avocations of life, and increase their powers of endurance and resistance against the ravages of diseases, and above all in order to gain that buoyancy of spirit which always denotes a sound mind in a sound body.

Yogic physical culture, unlike the many Western systems of physical culture, does not make a pretence of merely developing the superficial muscles of the body, but the exercises do make them healthy and strong, particularly the trunk muscles, by requisitioning their help to tone up all the involuntary organs of the body which are mainly concerned with such processes as digestion, evacuation, circulation, respiration and secretion, and through them the autonomic nervous system which regulates their activities. This is then the main difference between Yogic physical culture and the other systems of physical culture approved of in the West. The latter are mainly concerned with the superficial visible development of the body while the former is mainly concerned with their toning up of the invisible activities of the body including the mind which regulates the well-being of the whole bode through the intricate nervous system. All this is achieved with a minimum expenditure of time and energy.