**1) Name two of the original purposes for the asanas, or physical poses of yoga (do not include reduction of waistline).**  One of the original purposes of the yoga poses was to give the yogi the physical strength and flexibility to sit in deep meditation for extended periods of time without moving.  Another purpose is to place the body in positions that will help open the various inner channels, and facilitate the movement of prana and wisdom within them—eventually triggering the transformation into the rainbow body. **2) What are three kinds of lasting well-being that come from practicing the yoga poses?**  If we practice the yoga poses properly, and steadily, then we get lasting well-being of our physical body (both inner and outer bodies); mental peace of mind since wind is flowing properly in the channels; and ultimately the withdrawal of the side channels into the central channel, which causes the body to turn into light. **3) Give the Sanskrit for “well-being which lasts”; its roots; and related English words** . The Sanskrit for “well-being which lasts” is sthira sukha iSwr suo.  Sthira means “firm” or “stable,” and comes from the root √stha Swa, meaning “to stand or stay.”  Related English words are stay, station, and stable.  Sukha means “happiness” or “well-being,” and as mentioned earlier in the class referred originally to a “good wagon-wheel hole.”  Words related to the prefix su-  (meaning “good”) are euthanasia and euphony; those related to kha  (meaning “hole”) are hole and cave. **4) Discuss two forms of balance in the practice of the yoga poses.**  The first kind of balance is the meditative balance of threading a line between the two extremes of mental lethargy (dullness caused by too much food, or not enough sleep) and hyperactivity (the mind wandering off to other thoughts and plans).  The second kind of balance is avoiding extremes in either too much effort or too little effort; the latter is typical at the beginning, and the former itself becomes a distraction at the more advanced stages, where one should simply let things flow. **5) Master Patanjali says that practicing the yoga poses properly can help us avoid polarity, or the false impression of differences.  Discuss how this works physically, and then describe a few examples of false differences.** The two side channels—the channel of the sun and the channel of the moon—carry within them thoughts of false differences.  If we have large quantities of inner wind or prana traveling through these channels, then we tend to perceive things in unhealthy dualities: subjects versus objects, both not coming from me; “you” and “me” that are not from me; responding to violence with violence to a person who is not coming from me, or responding to violence by negotiating with someone who is not coming from me.  When we move inner wind rather into the central channel—in part by practicing the yoga poses—then we begin to see “third options” that really work. **6) Give the Sanskrit word for “differences” or “duality” here; its roots; and related English words.**  The Sanskrit word here for “differences” or “duality” is dvandva ÖNÖ.  This word is created simply by repeating the word dva, or “two.”  Related English words are two, duo, and bicycle. **7) Explain both how and why the breath might stop for periods of time during deep practice.** How the breath stops is that our mind focuses so sharply on a single point that the thoughts are stilled, which stills the inner winds or prana, which in turn stills the breath—because of the resonance between the gross physical breath and the inner winds.  (We see this begin to happen when we are concentrating deeply, for example on a good book, or listening hard for a faint sound.)  When this process goes deeper, the breath stops because the winds are moving from the side channels to the central channel, which also triggers the direct perception of ultimate reality.  Why the breath stops is that we have been so kind to others, for so long, that we have very pure seeds to see ourselves no longer need to breathe.  We are then coming close to the direct perception of ultimate reality, and to the transformation of the body into light. **8) What are seven different considerations that we might want to watch with our breath during our practice?** (1) We might want to watch the stage of the breath, meaning whether it is inside, outside, or pausing between.  (2) Location in the body: Whether we are consciously breathing into the lower or higher part of our lungs, or mentally to “tight” spots of our body.  (3) Duration: How many heartbeats or mental mantras the inhale, exhale, or pause (or retention) may be taking.  (4)  Count: The number of breaths we will take say as we hold a certain pose.  (5) Volume: Whether we take a full inhale or exhale, or less than that (for example, in a fast pranayama).  (6) Sound: Whether we are trying to breathe so quietly that we don’t move a nose-hair, or whether we are constricting the throat to produce for example ujjayi breathing.  (7) Passageway: Whether we are purposely breathing through the nose or mouth. **9) What is the highest form of pratyahara, or withdrawal of the senses?**  When you reach a high degree of withdrawal of the senses, then the mind can be focused easily.  This then leads to the “highest control of the senses,” the direct communion with ultimate reality. **