“Health begins with firmness in body, deepens to emotional stability, then leads to intellectual clarity, wisdom, and finally the unveiling of the soul. Heath can be categorized in many ways. There is physical health, which we are all familiar with, but there is also moral health, mental health, intellectual health, and even the health of our consciousness, health of our conscience, and ultimately divine health.

But a yogi never forgets that health must begin with the body. Your body is the child of your soul. You must nourish and train your child. Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills. It has to be earned through sweat. It is something we must build up. You have to create within yourself the experience of beauty, liberation, and infinity. This is health.” ~~BKS Iyengar, “Light on Life” from the chapter on “Stability—the physical body (Asana)” p. 23-4.

Photograph is Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher Jennifer Beaumont practicing a stage of Padangustha Dhanurasana