We can learn a lot from a single cell. A cell needs to be permeable, without being so open that it allows unnecessary matter in. Similarly, if the membrane is too rigid, it won’t allow waste to exit.
This principle is referred to in yoga as sthira and sukha and can be understood as strength without stiffness and softness without slackness.
In yoga, nutrients are called prana, and waste is called apana. It is essential for a healthy system that this mechanism works well.
Yogic tradition seeks to:`
“attend to the blockages, or obstructions, in the system to improve function. The basic idea is that when you make more “good space,” [sukha] your pranic [life-force] will flow freely and restore normal function. This is in contrast to any model that views the body as missing something essential, which has to be added from the outside. This is why it has been said that yoga therapy is 90 per cent about waste removal.”
From Yoga Anatomy, Leslie Kaminoff (p.3)
These are some of the fundamental principles I use to view a client. Any symptoms or reactions are intelligent ways that the system is trying to regain balance. When we view a person in this way, we do not see them as having something wrong with them. Instead, we see them as a whole being whose system is communicating its unmet needs and innate drive toward healing. Every reaction becomes meaningful — a message from within that, when understood, can guide the process of transformation.