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We are here for both practice and learning, though this is only a few days. Whatever we learn, we must put into practice, and that is a matter of a whole year. Yoga is a practical way, not a theory. Tons of theory cannot compare with a single gram of practice. Practice must be understood properly, and one should never hurry. If you think you will be enlightened in one weekend, I doubt it. It is not so easy to attain enlightenment, and it is good that you are not enlightened so quickly. Otherwise, we would have too many yogīs—what would we do with them? There would be too much competition all over the world. We have different programs, one of which is called Anuṣṭhāna, Kriyā Anuṣṭhāna, which an advanced group is doing. Kriyās have a very deep effect on our body, mind, consciousness, and soul. However, the āsanas we do every morning, especially from the first level, are also very, very effective. They are the foundation of our physical, mental, social, and spiritual development. When the foundation is strong, we have nothing to worry about. If it is not strong, we cannot progress. Therefore, the first and second parts of Yoga in Daily Life—the first and second steps—should be practiced every day with discipline. If you think these exercises are too simple, then you do not know what you want. Whether it is simple or not, you should know its effect. A doctor knows which medicine you should take. You might think, "Oh, the tablet is so small," while some doctors give large doses. But you do not understand that something small can be powerful. So, even though these exercises appear simple, you may not know what they truly mean. Now, everyone sit in Vajrāsana. Place your hands on your shoulders, with your fingers touching the joints. Bring your elbows to the front and, very consciously, move your shoulders and rotate your elbows. It is not important how much you rotate your shoulders; close your eyes and concentrate on the movement. Feel how many muscles are influenced by this action. Do it very slowly. Feel the back muscles, the shoulder muscles, the muscles under the shoulder blades, your ribs, and chest muscles. Now, reverse the direction. You are doing this exercise to gain experience. Do not rush; do it very slowly. The number of circles is not important. I just want to see what this simple exercise is doing to my body. Oh yes, it also affects my breathing system; both my nostrils are flowing equally now. You feel pleasant in the throat, even in the vocal cords. Very good. Now put your hands down. There are many, many muscles involved. I am not a physiologist, but I understand a little anatomy. All the fine muscles and nerves are gently moved; they all get exercise. There are muscles like this that hold our back. You know, if someone has a shoulder problem, they sometimes cannot even move their arm. A doctor might say, "That's enough, don't hurt anymore." But thank God we are healthy. This exercise is simple but powerful and deep. Now, hands here. We will do it again. Inhale, elbows up slowly. Exhale. Very good. The next experiment is also very simple—or rather, it is very significant. Now, do this: close your fist and open it. How do you feel? The effect goes all the way to the shoulders. When we are old, we may not be able to hold a hand like this. Thanks to God we are healthy. So, close your fist strongly, hold it like this, and grip your wrist tightly. Now, open your palm. Look at your palm, hold the wrist very tight, look at the palm, and now release the wrist. Compare both hands. This hand feels alive, while the other is still; it did not wake up. Now do it with the left hand as well. Tighten the wrist, make a fist, and hold your wrist tightly. Open your palm and look at it. Yes, our palms look pale, as if with pneumonia. Now, consciously concentrate on the palm, feel the sensation, and release the hand. Simple but powerful. Therefore, Sarabhītāsanas are fundamental exercises that will build and rebuild our body so that it becomes solidly healthy. The same applies to neck movements: when you move your head left and right, you should feel the muscles stretching. If you just do one, two, three, four, it is nothing. Left and right—that is nothing. One, two, three, four, finished—that is not it. You have to do it consciously. You have to be one with it, one with your body. Put your soul, your concentration, your attention, your consciousness into it. Now, what is happening with my body? You can even feel the middle of the ear. Many people have problems with ear sounds, and for them, this is the best exercise. Remain for a while, and slowly go to the other side. It stretches the muscles, purifies the blood flow, and improves circulation towards the brain, which is very, very important. That is much more important than having big muscles. You might have big muscles but poor circulation to the head—then you look like this here, but like that there. Physical strength is limited, but mental willpower is strong. And beyond mental willpower is ātambal, called self-confidence, the power of the self, which is very important. Similarly, these exercises, if done with concentration, strengthen your abdominal muscles. You might think you are only working here, doing nothing there, but if you concentrate, you will feel your abdominal muscles supporting you, along with the hip joints, as the body balances itself. They are simple, but you think of them too simply. It is only thanks to Mahāprabhujī that they are easier to do. Thank you. Now, stretch your legs. Contract your toes and expand. It looks as if you are sitting comfortably in a meadow. Why not? We should be able to sit comfortably in a meadow. Is there a problem? Should we sit on the meadow, on our head, or standing? We are comfortable, yogīs. So now, when you contract your toes, feel the whole body and where it is affected. If you understand acupressure, you will feel it going all the way to the brain. Some points are for the throat, some for the ears, and some for the liver. Feel all the muscles of the leg. One thing you will feel: when you contract your toes and then release them, you feel immense energy in the body, as if you have been walking a long distance and are now relaxing, with energy flowing through you. What is happening? We are contracting our entire foot sole, just as we contracted our palm. When we contract or press the muscles, they act like a sponge; all the liquid in the sponge is squeezed out. Similarly, blood is pushed away from the muscles, meaning all old, stuck energy and dead cells are pulled away. As soon as we release, the sponge sucks the liquid back in. So, when we release the tension, blood circulation rushes in; the blood is shooting in. New energy comes, and we feel relaxed and lighter. So, do it consciously, please. Contract, hold, and relax. Contract and relax. Contract—do not grit your teeth—and relax. Leave your jaw relaxed. Not like this, not even for you. Now you must feel it. I feel a lot of energy; do you feel it? Now, second: stretching. Stretch your toes towards the ground, touch the ground, and then towards your body, touching your leg. That's it. One side is touching your legs, the other the ground. What we are doing here: on one side we are stretching, and when we stretch, blood also goes out. On the other side, we are contracting, and when we move in the other direction, by releasing the tension, blood flows in. Again, blood goes away, and again. Do it as slowly as you can. Most yoga teachers in their classes count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Next one: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Then you will not get the right benefit of yoga. We do not need quantity; we need quality. Therefore, in yoga, there is no competition and no challenges. There is only one challenge: to challenge oneself—to be disciplined and practice. All these Sarabhītāsanas are very scientific and are for both the healthy and the ill; they are therapeutic movements. Now, sit in Vajrāsana. Place your hands on your knees—do not stand on your knees. While exhaling slowly, move your head forward, and while inhaling, move your head up and go backward, then slowly forward. Now, analyze how many muscles are involved in this movement. How do you feel in your neck joints? Not only the neck muscles but the whole back muscles are involved. Chest muscles are involved, as well as the respiratory system, your tonsils, and throat muscles. You will feel that both nostrils flow very freely—Iḍā and Piṅgalā. Very good. That is what I want to tell you. People think, "No, I don't want to go to the first step." They say, "I don't like to touch those first steps. I have been practicing for seven years." Yoga? Yes, seven years of practice is very good, but you still have not tasted the sweetness of yoga, and that you will feel with the first level. Be honest: how do you feel after these three exercises? Or are you psychologically manipulated? No, it is reality; we practiced as it should be done. Now we do one more. Interlock your fingers behind the back of your neck and very slowly bend to the right side while exhaling. It does not matter how far you can go. Slowly come up. Wonderful. Now to the left side. I am awakened on the other side, and up. These exercises are very economical; we do not need much space. Very good. Go ahead: middle, other side, and middle. Very, very good. Hands down. It is very safe; you do not fall down, and you cannot break anything. How nice it is. I feel as if I have had a one-hour massage, and even in a massage you do not feel so good. When doing yoga exercises, you should never break a sweat. As soon as you begin to sweat, you are doing it wrong. The body gets warm, relaxed, and you are not exhausted. So, the first step, second step, third step, fourth, and all steps should be done with great concentration. Do not hurry, thinking you have to do forty postures in one hour. That is not a competition; you do not have to do forty. You can do four, but with quality. The same applies to the breath. When you do prānāyāma, there is a great difference afterward; the entire system calms down, and your breath becomes very natural and slow. We should not breathe like this or like that; our breath should flow between the stomach and the nostrils. Always breathe with the stomach. I am happy for you that you could do your exercises peacefully and have time for them. Every movement should be done consciously, with self-control and self-awareness. Then you will enjoy it and derive maximum benefit for your body, which is what we need for every movement. Now you can sit in Vīrāsana. You are all experts in Vajrāsana now. In Vīrāsana, the toes are standing, and this is another beauty. If you understand acupressure, you will understand this posture. All the centers are nicely stretched. You can feel your heart muscles and your heartbeat. The flow of blood is towards the heart, and you do not feel any unpleasantness there. This is the first thing: because your spine is nicely stretched, your chest is expanded, your ribs are relaxed, the volume gets bigger, your hand is supported on the knee, you do not have heaviness in your head, and now you feel an immense amount of oxygen going in. Feel how a large amount of oxygen is coming. Vajrā Nāḍī, Sūrya Nāḍī, Chandra Nāḍī, Piṅgalā Nāḍī, Brahmā Nāḍī, Śiva Nāḍī, Viṣṇu Nāḍī. Yes, it is not a joke; these are names, but what I want to tell you is that all are in a high position. That is why Vīrāsana—change, change. You see, when you do it quickly, it is easier. If you give someone a slap on the cheek, you do it quickly; it is very hard to do it slowly. And when you do it slowly, halfway you might decide not to do it. You know, there is Karate, Judo, and there is Qigong. In Karate and Judo, movements are fast, but in Qigong, they are slow. It is a mental training. It is hard to wait for something; you are aware of what you are doing and what your body is doing. That gives you a lot of energy and the ability to withstand, to resist. Therefore, Vajrāsana and Vīrāsana give you an immense feeling of resistance; you feel resistance. You can think, "I am not the body; the pain has a body, not you." Now, sit on both—that is called Utkatāsana. Knees in the air, hands folded. When you have to repair some plumbing, you can sit in Vīrāsana for even 10–15 minutes and not notice. That is a matter of awareness. So now, this is a concentration technique. Try to close your eyes without movement. Open your eyes, hands up, folded, and now slowly stand up. Hands sidewards and down. Again, hands up and slowly sitting into utkaṭāsana, hands towards the chest. On the knees, knees down, and into vajrāsana. Sit in Vajrāsana, hands on knees, close your eyes, and now feel your physical being.