So the contents of our warmup remain the same. We awaken and open the heart. We wake up breath from the bottom of the lungs to the top and then the breath pours out. We move the body in three planes of the spine’s functional range. We observe movement of the joints. We deliver breath, attention, and light impact to the marma points of the lymphatic system. That is the basic daily discipline of the first 15 minutes.

We can add on to the basics in a variety of sequences for a varieties of purposes. However, the highest purpose is not the pose. No, that would be ridiculous. If your purpose is the pose then you’d be better off aiming for stunts with higher social pay off— say elevated rope walking, or juggling, or dance or maybe an acrobatic routine or even parkour stunts.

The purpose is for us to use the pose as a vessel of breath that brings us to greater presence. That means purpose and meaning. We become truly alive in the body, our attention awakened across memory and anticipation, residing in an expansive presence. The pose is the form. What is the stillness and ease of the form? There is a fullness. To find the fullness of form allows us to carry that ease all day. The body awakens and the mind is attentive with its senses working. We receive information but do not attach to it. Without attachment we empty the cups of our static awareness and receive fresh sensation. The postures are for life and experience and actions of the heart.