Asanas are poses and exercises. Of course they're physical. But they're not just physical. If they were, then quite honestly, I could think of other interesting ways to keep fit besides yoga. If it was just physical, then yoga wouldn't be that much different from gymnastics, with the summoning of our will-power to make each move as technically perfect as possible.

The body has other types of energies besides will-power, however. Forcing these bodies of ours to do things they're not ready for and commanding them to do things they really don't want to do is how most of us operate in the world. Many grow up with so much inner baggage, and pressure(s) to achieve and to do what others expect, that we stopped perceiving these other energies -- these aspects of our soul -- a long time ago. Rather, striving and straining become our MO. Our thoughts and emotions become bound and tied to all that kind of action.

By working with the asanas, we learn to apply our will differently. Instead of half-unconsciously pushing and struggling to get ourselves into poses, we guide the body. Through concentration and observation, we experience the body softening and opening up, the way flowers do. Flowers don't force themselves to open, flowers don't struggle to bloom and they don't wrestle their petals to blossom. With yoga, we directly experience the subtler forces that allow the body, the flower, to 'do without doing', without straining or striving.

Yoga isn't another type of 'fitness' class. It's not comparable to Pilates. It's not a subdued version of aerobics. Some get surprised by meditation 'lasting so long', or by the silence in the room, or when we go into relaxation or corpse pose -- again. Yes, again. The healing happens just as much flat on the mat, after strenuous poses, as during the asanas themselves. Yoga is not 'fitness'.

The demand and expectation of the fitness industry to keep the body moving non-stop with greater and greater intensity has become hard-wired. It's no surprise because that's how society is. Just keep going, going, goal-ing. Complete your tasks and stay on track because we all have to show how productive we are and prove our outer worth -- regardless how one is feeling or sensing, what one is intuiting or perceiving, or what emotions are arising -- let alone in need of release. The inner has so little value. It's no wonder some have difficulty staying still or silent, with just their breath to observe.

So, we push on, relying only on our body's raw vital forces -- strength and will -- and becoming ever more bound to its demands. We 'think' we aren't getting a real workout if we're not dripping with sweat and burning a 1,000 calories per hour. But, for instance, poses like standing head-to-knee (above) do more than burn calories, they jump-start our whole metabolism so that concerns about eating eventually become a thing of the past. The body can take of itself,  freeing the individual to put his or her focus and attention elsewhere.

There are so many physical benefits to yoga, but obsessing over them is not the point.  We treat the body the way an accomplished musician treats an instrument. A musician doesn't just hit keys or strum strings, he or she is listening to the sounds arising, listening to perceptions and feelings so as to play music and song. The body is our instrument, our tool for experiencing and expressing the soul.

More heart poses. This time tiptoe, a pose in which we balance the outer and inner, right and left, above and below.

In everyday life, our senses typically rush about past objects, faces, images, sounds, smells in an  uncontrolled way. Mentally, we're churning through advertising, news, info, info-tainment, and enter-tainment (see 'Media Matrix', 6 March 2014). Advertising alone keeps coming up with new ways to pull us, grab us. Check out this video: http://www.wimp.com/hiddenmessage/ The question is: if this ad technique is being used to help children, where else is it being used?

We're absorbing more than ever, in ways we're not even aware of.  It's fair to say that the outer demands on our attention are intense, at times overwhelming.

Heart poses are about balance, both symbolically and physically. Here, we balance our bodies on tippy-toe. In this stage (above), our arms and hands are outstretched above us. As we bend our knees into a squat, we lower our arms and bring the palms of our hands -- right and left -- together in a gesture of unification. We become centered, our spine becomes more 'upright', and we may feel more independent from outer influences.

Two exhibits in London center on collage, art that re-structures pieces and scraps from various mediums to create a whole new image. One shows the work of Hannah Hoch, a Dadaist artist of the 20s' and 30s'. 'Lady Dada' was ahead of her time, attuned to gender and power, a voice calling attention to the banking-military industrial complex. William Burroughs of 'Naked Lunch' fame features in the other. Who knew he was a photographer, too?

They were working at different times, in different countries, and had different sensibilities and talents. But both had an active relationship with the media. They didn't just passively consume information, news and entertainment. Both were engaged with all mediums around them. I got the sense that the media -- even something as mundane as mass-produced wallpaper -- became bearable only when they could cut and re-arrange it to show how they saw society, life and the world -- not how the powers-that-be wanted them to see things.

Not all of us have to take to scissors and glue, but we don't have to zone out either. Some have been brain-washed to act like sponges, to soak up without filters, to believe that they have to read everything, watch everything, be interested in everything, know everything. One article doing the rounds is a ha-ha, tongue-in-cheek list of talking points about Ukraine for those feeling pressure to bluff and keep up with the chattering classes, to pretend to know-it-all, with opinions, beliefs and ready-made arguments. How many really know what's going on in a particular place anyway? How relevant is 'out there' to your day-to-day life?

Heart poses, like tree (above), help develop our individual capacity to discern what's of value and what isn't. Instead of wandering through the media matrix without filters, without aim, we build habits of discernment as well as a discriminating 'I' (eye) -- to consciously choose what we take within us, whether it be news stories, ads, symbols, movies, or people.