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Before I began speaking, I was contemplating what to share with you. Naturally, it is only that which is beneficial for our lives. We return to this essential point: the paramount aim in life. You must not let this supreme aim leave your sight. There are many minor aims in life: to study, to marry or not to marry, to have children, a job, friends, a house. These are everyday thoughts. Yet, there is something far greater. That singular, greater aim provides the complete energy—physical, mental, and spiritual—for its achievement. With that, we can undoubtedly accomplish miraculous things. A "miracle" here does not mean flying, walking on water, or passing through fire. This is a common misunderstanding. Another truth is that we already possess everything we are searching for within our own lives. Nothing is outside. For realizing this, there is a special technique, which you find in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra and also in the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā. The Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā deals with Haṭha Yoga; it is a wonderful book describing all yogic kriyās. The Śiva Saṃhitā also discusses yoga techniques. I believe Patañjali understood this entire phenomenon: the body (the physical part of our being), the prāṇa, consciousness, the soul (ātmā), and the relationship that links them together—the secret within that. Patañjali stated that only one who practices will understand. According to his words, an aspirant should have devotion to their exercises and techniques, just as one has devotion to God. Realizing God may seem difficult and time-consuming, but realizing the God which is within you, within this human mystery, can be quicker. In that inner realization lies God-realization. Therefore, within this body, the most miraculous element is prāṇa. It is an ascending and descending force—the ascending and descending breath. The entire miracle lies in this inhalation and exhalation. Hence, it is said: "My dear, where are you searching for me? You will find me nowhere. My residence is in the forest." Not in the city, and we know the city is in Naraka. It doesn’t matter which city; it is māyā, tension, competition, challenges, and so on. The forest is peaceful. "My residence is outside of the city, and I live in the breath. My hut is outside of the village, and I am residing in the breath. If you search for me, you will find me immediately, within no time." That means: in the breath. In yoga, prāṇa or the breath is paramount. We can accomplish unbelievable, impossible things through our prāṇāyāma technique. Of course, through prāṇāyāma we can also cause damage. And what you damage through improper prāṇāyāma cannot be repaired. Therefore, it is strongly advised that we absolutely need a guide, a master; otherwise, there will be no success. Without a master, if you proceed, there will be success—meaning you will succeed in damaging yourself. That is not what we want. The master is one who has experienced all this within his own self. So, the ascending and descending prāṇa. In bhajans we sing, "God prāṇ nāth"—Lord of my prāṇa. The Cosmic Mother energy is that Prāṇa. While inhaling and exhaling, we are nourished by the Cosmic Mother. Within that nourishment is the cosmic tonic and the cosmic light. The Lord of that prāṇa, that cosmic energy, is God. That is why we call all living beings in Sanskrit prāṇī. Everyone who has prāṇa inside is considered living. This means a plant is also a living being. If you cut it, it will die. We observe this when we chop a tree branch; the leaves soon become sad because the supply of prāṇa is severed. Many people have questions about health problems. Yoga strongly believes and advises that through prāṇāyāma, you can solve many issues. Research and experiments have been conducted; even cancers have been cured through prāṇāyāma. Practicing Bhastrikā prāṇāyāma for 10-15 minutes every three hours has shown very positive results. Thus, prāṇāyāma is the most important aspect of yoga. What distinguishes yoga from other sports and systems is precisely this: yoga possesses prāṇāyāma techniques—breath regulation, supplying more oxygen, and reducing toxins. Haṭha Yoga is very important, with its six kriyās, including Śaṅkhaprakṣālana. Ideally, one should do it every month. However, our primary problem is eating. Our tongue is spoiled, and there is much temptation. After Śaṅkhaprakṣālana, for at least 10 days you cannot eat what you might crave. Then you may eat as you like for 24 days before performing it again. Therefore, it is said in a bhajan: in this body there are ten senses. These ten senses are controlled by only a few rare yogīs. You cannot trust two of these senses; they destroy your sādhanā. These two are upastha and rasanā—the genital sense (sex) and the sense of taste. If you cannot control these two, you will suffer and be unable to complete your sādhanā. This does not mean you kill them, for then you would die. They must function normally; it is their nature. Nature will show its quality. But you must instruct your mind and tell your senses yes or no. Your senses should follow your instructions. Yet, when you say yes, they may say no, and when you say no, they say yes. Then you know where we stand. So, everything is prāṇa. To keep prāṇa pure and clean, we need prāṇāyāma techniques. People often ask: what is the difference between Yoga in Daily Life and other systems? In many systems, individuals simply give their own names to what they teach. Petra practices yoga and calls it Petra Yoga. Pārvatī calls what she taught Pārvatī Yoga. People then say, "What is Pārvatī? Oh, Śiva and Pārvatī! That must be very correct yoga because Pārvatī was the first." Indeed, Pārvatī first heard about yoga from Śiva. Lord Śiva gave the first knowledge of yoga. No one else listened. Śiva said to Pārvatī, "I give you this beautiful divine science." Pārvatī sat and listened. Thus, the copyright author of yoga is Śiva. When Śiva completed teaching the science of yoga, they were sitting on a rock in the Himālaya by a small lake. A fish in the water stopped and listened to Śiva. After finishing, Śiva told Pārvatī, "I told this only to you. Give this knowledge only to those who are worthy." Pārvatī looked into the water and said, "What about this fish? She also heard it." The fish just said, "Oṃ Namaḥ Śivāya." Pārvatī said, "Oh fish! Black marketing. You were not authorized to be here without a license. So, you will die and be reborn as a yogī." The fish died immediately. That soul incarnated in a human body and became a great yogī named Matsyendra Ṛṣi. There is a Matsyendrāsana named after him. He performed tapas in this posture so that if he fell asleep, he would fall down. Matsyendra Ṛṣi then brought the science of yoga to humans. Thus, yoga originated with Lord Śiva—the science of mantra, yantra, tantra, maṇḍala, āsanas, prāṇāyāma, mudrās, bandhas, kriyās, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi. All this was taught by Śiva to Pārvatī. Then came Matsyendra Ṛṣi. After thousands of years, perhaps one or two hundred thousand, came Patañjali. Why is Patañjali so famous? Because he wrote down his thoughts, whereas other ṛṣis transmitted knowledge only from master to disciple. This is called Śruti (what you hear) and Smṛti (what you remember and tell). One should not make a distinction between listening and speaking. What some say is like gushing up ill-brains. In German, we say Trachea; their problem is they make a big difference between what they hear and what they speak. Pure water enters a pipe, but if the pipe is dirty, the water comes out dirty. What you have heard is filtered by your brain with its negative vṛttis—malvikṣepa and avraṇa—and your antaḥkaraṇa (mind, intellect, citta, ego) is not pure, which creates the problem. There were thousands or millions of great yogīs known as Siddhas (the perfect ones), Avadhūtās (perfect above everything), and Mahāpuruṣas (the greatest among humans). They possessed all this knowledge of yoga and siddhis but gave it in confidence to their disciples. Patañjali, who lived about 2500 years ago, wrote it down, which is why many think he is the author of yoga. He is not. Patañjali compiled his thoughts. Furthermore, Patañjali divided yoga into four branches. But long before him, about 5000-6000 years ago, was Kṛṣṇa, who in the Bhagavad Gītā divided yoga into Jñāna Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Rāja Yoga, and so on. Even before Kṛṣṇa, around the time of Rāma (about 10,000 years prior), yoga was divided into bhakti-yoga, karma-yoga, and jñāna-yoga. Therefore, yoga is not limited to Patañjali or any particular ṛṣi but dates to the very beginning of this universe and to Lord Śiva, for the well-being of humans. Nowadays, people do not fully understand. Merely to make a name or commercialize, they create Petra Yoga, Pārvatī Yoga, Joseph Yoga, František Yoga. It is like a lion hunting a large animal, and then hundreds of other animals attack, each taking a little piece and running away, tearing the animal into many parts. Similarly, yoga is torn apart in ways you cannot imagine. I was flying from Washington to Toronto, and in first class, a newspaper had a front-page headline in large letters: "Yoga for Blondinen." This is not a joke. If you do not believe me, you can ask Gītā Purī, who was with me. I told Śāntī, who was also there, that I have nothing against blondes, but I cannot bear this discrimination against those who are not blondes. What about those with black hair? Yoga is torn into many pieces. Consequently, there is often no system; people just do the main postures—Bhujaṅgāsana, Śalabhāsana, Dhanurāsana, Halāsana, etc.—and some prāṇāyāma. Some approach it as stretching, others as sport. But Yoga in Daily Life is systematic. When you practice prāṇāyāma according to Yoga in Daily Life, you need nerve and time to master it. If you follow this system, the regulation of prāṇa is described very scientifically. Understand that prāṇa is life. It is difficult to separate prāṇa from the ātmā or soul. When you die, prāṇa leaves the body. While alive, the presence of prāṇa is indicated by body temperature and pulse. It is said that for everyone, a certain number of breaths—inhalations and exhalations—is counted. Each day, you use a portion of this allotted number. When your credit is exhausted, it is over. Through prāṇāyāma, you can prolong this credit with high interest. The interest is so high it will make you very happy, for the interest exceeds the capital. When you get a grandchild, you are happy because your grandchild is the interest on your capital. Thus, prolonging the breath is prolonging life and health. Yogāgniḥ karmadagdhanī—through the fire of yoga, the seeds of karma or destiny can be burned. But who understands this? Who takes it seriously and practices? Who has the discipline? After practicing prāṇāyāma, we open our eyes and see a nice, dry cake. We open the fridge, take cream, and put it on the cake. Yes, a tasty cake and a coffee machine. Then what was the point of doing prāṇāyāma? After practicing prāṇāyāma for at least 45 minutes, you must let your body rest and allow the tissues to recover. Performing prāṇāyāma is hard work for your tissues—releasing toxins and recharging with oxygen. It is strenuous labor, like going into a sauna at 115-120 degrees and then jumping into 10-degree water. After that, you only want to lie down and feel regenerating energy. Ten to twenty minutes pass quickly; 45 minutes is nothing. Therefore, after serious āsana and prāṇāyāma practice, you should give your body 45 minutes to regenerate. Some people have excess body fat. This can be treated specifically through Bhastrikā Prāṇāyāma. However, Bhastrikā should only be practiced after mastering all the preceding levels of prāṇāyāma, as it involves a powerful exchange of prāṇas. I suggest everyone dedicate 45 minutes to prāṇāyāma, but I warn you: do not begin immediately. You must proceed systematically through your prāṇāyāma course. We have about eight months until the summer seminar—nearly nine. In nine months, Mother Nature or dear God can prepare an entire human body. He is the best architect: perfect design, perfect execution, no mistakes, with an automatic heating system, ventilation, electricity—everything. So, in nine months, we too can accomplish miraculous work. What we need is motivation and interest. We must have our aim. From today onward, anyone with any health problem should begin immediately. Do not wait to see if your friend is doing it. It is your concern, your interest. Whether your husband or wife likes it is their problem. It is your life, your health; you cannot destroy yourself. Let us begin and make a new saṅkalpa for prāṇāyāma, āsanas, relaxation, and meditation. After prāṇāyāma, the mental fluctuations (vṛttis) become very calm. If you then perform your kriyā and meditation, it is already samādhi. It does not matter if it is snowing on you; you are in the Divine. You will not feel hot—I promise you will only feel cold. So, study more about prāṇa and begin your practice.