Yoga is primarily concerned with organic health. It is a system of exercising devised to keep you healthy for as long as you live and thereby to increase your life-span. There must be no gradual decline in the efficiency of body-functions or body mechanisms as you advance in age. The animal in its natural habitat does not develop a general debility. It either dies violently or retains its ability to care for its body until it dies at the age normal for its species.
Maintaining one's health throughout a normal age-span brings with it many benefits, such as a youthful bearing and outlook, a feeling of energy, beauty, poise, and the ability to relax.
Of these, YOUTH, or in the case of an elderly person, REJUVENATION is the most important. If your spine is limber and flexible at 55, then for all intents and purposes you are a supple 30. If, however, your back is stiff and tense at 20, your age could logically be put at 60. You are as old as your spine; keep it young and flexible and you will be young and flexible too.
The spinal column is an amazing piece of machinery. It is extremely flexible, being able to bend forward, backward, sideways and even spirally. This is made possible because the spine consists of separate pieces of bone which are kept from grinding on each other by little parts or discs. The primary function of the spine is to provide housing for that most important extension of the brain: the central and autonomic nervous system, consisting of the spinal cord. From this, nerves extend to every part of the body, so that the brain is always in close contact with all of it. The importance of keeping the spinal column healthy and flexible is self-evident.
However, the spine is only a part of the whole. No part of the body is entirely separate from the next. Everything that takes place causes a chain-reaction. For instance, under mental or physical tension, you are contracting muscles which are unable to work at full capacity. This contraction, in turn, inactivates the tendons and ligaments; the joints are not being "oiled", and become stiff. As a result, you become physically uncomfortable, irritable, devoid of energy, sick, depressed and more tense: the vicious cycle is complete.
Another important factor in maintaining health and thereby beauty, is often overlooked: circulation. According to the theory of evolution, we started out as a species, on all-fours. In this position, the heart lies under the spinal column and most of the body is in a horizontal stance — all of which makes it easier for the circulatory system to keep every part of the body supplied with rich blood. In an upright stance we sacrifice many of the conditions for perfect health. Because of gravitational pull, the head gets very little circulation and one suffers accordingly from a lack of alertness and a sallow complexion. Abdominal organs lose their elasticity over the years, sag and exert pressure on each other, pushing out the abdominal wall. This condition in turn cuts off badly-needed circulation in the pelvic area where important hormone-producing glands (=YOUTH) are located. It also puts a great strain on the intercostal muscles which are attached to the skeleton. The result — abdominal, back, sexual and other health problems. Of course, the legs are affected also and fatigue, varicose veins, tension, and other unpleasant conditions result. No wonder that in Yoga the inverted postures such as the Headstand and the Shoulderstand are considered to be beneficial for any health problem one might name. And, an exercise such as the Abdominal Lift is a must for achieving and maintaining organic health, because it lifts back into place and vigorously massages and stimulates most abdominal organs. Calisthenics is mostly concerned with muscular health, Yoga with organic well-being. The former depletes energy, where the latter renews it.
