We know that asanas (yoga postures) and pranayams (breathe techniques), they are not exactly what we call gymnastics. It is said that yoga exercises are psychosomatical movements. This means it influences our body and mind in the positive way.

During the asana performances automatically mind becomes calm. Self-confidence is improving and one gets deep relation with oneself. One comes to know your own body and one has a better relation to the own body. You understand your body language.

Though the body is not immortal, but still this body is the temple of your soul. You should feel, in this temple, very happy. This temple or the house of your soul needs time to time care. Cleaning properly and painting, colouring, you know? Make up your mind to take care of your body.
I didn’t say make-up, this kind of make-up (cosmetics). That is also good, if you want to do make-up things then buy natural products, biological products.

So our body is very important instrument of our spirit. Body needs repairing, rejuvenating and body needs to be taken care of properly. Our body needs three things:
- A healthy and good, balanced, sattvic (pure, light) nourishment;
- It needs proper and balanced exercises;
- And it needs good fresh air or what we call the oxygen.
Nourishment, movement and oxygen.

Yoga exercises improve our body capacity, that body consumes more oxygen inside. We are able to store more oxygen in the body, or the capacity, the volume of the oxygen is increasing in the body.

It is said that after a certain age we must take more care of our brain or the head. It means better circulation towards the head. And that age is about 30 years. It begins already on 27 years of age. Now the best, perfect exercises are yoga exercises, which supply more fresh blood towards the brain, which keeps our memory fresh. Our ears and eyes, these organs remain healthy. Therefore minimum, once a day we should do some exercises where for 10 minutes our head is lower than our belly.

I think the system began to bow down in front of the Master, bow down in front of the altar, in the temples, in the church, in the mosque. Especially the Moslems when they are making Namas, their prayer, many times they are bowing down heads. That is two benefits: one is that you bow down your ego and second, you get better circulation towards the head.

It is said that through the prayers you feel relaxed, you feel calm, you feel secure, you feel fresh, you feel love, confidence. Why this all happens? There are two things: The first is that you give yourself in the hands of God. So all your sorrows you surrender to God and you feel in these minutes completely free, like a child feels free with the parents – the parents have all the responsibilities. When the responsibilities come on the shoulders then the stress begins. So during the prayer we give our lives into the hands of God. And sometimes then you feel tired, gaining. Suddenly while praying you feel gaining, yawning. Why?

Because your jivatma (individual soul) suddenly feels relaxed and free. All vrittis (thought waves) becomes calm. And so the prayers means becoming free from the stress and sorrows.

And secondly, we surrender to God and while bowing down, the fresh blood circulation, more circulation towards the head. That also makes us relaxed and gets rid of the stress. I don’t know if you have seen or not how the Moslems are praying? Firstly, of course, their faces are always to the direction of Mecca, and you know, they have certain postures. One is standing, then bending little bit forward, then knee down and then head down.

This is a very systematic, scientific movement where one doesn’t get immediately too much blood pressure or blood circulation that one gets dizzy. It is very fine, systematically done so that body adopts the change of the circulation. So just bending the knees is not enough. You should bow down completely. It’s healthy for us. Other hand, it is said: to bend the knees is easy but to bow down the heart is not easy.

Similarly the yoga exercises, they are very beneficial, they are very scientific. It influences our body, our mind, our psyche in a positive way. And the same thing is also with the Pranayams (breathe technique). Pranayama calms down the nervous system, improves the memory, purifies the respiratory system and it is said it purifies our blood. When the blood is purified, then also your skin and everything is beautiful. Also, the glands begin to function properly. Therefore pranayama is a very healthy thing. Now, everyday life for many of us is very hectic, but time to time we shall take time to practise properly.