From the perspective of Yoga, the mind and the body are not only interconnected but also share a cause-and-effect relationship. This means that if you work on the mind, its effect will be visible on the body, and if you work on the body, its effect will be visible on the mind. The body is gross, and the mind is subtle. Most people, in the way they live their lives, have a very faint acquaintance with the subtle. Their senses perceive only the gross, and if you live a life that is mostly related to the senses, you stop seeing or understanding anything subtle; you only see gross matter. In such a state, the gross body affects the subtle mind, and the subtle mind affects the gross body. Yoga is a very practical science. It questions how one can work on the mind when the mind is subtle and we do not perceive anything subtle. It is very difficult to work on the mind because it contains thoughts and emotions that run secretly within. It is hard to control or discipline them. Therefore, for most people, it is difficult to take the path of the mind. Although that path is superior—to work on the mind so that the body and actions automatically get corrected—it is not practical because thoughts are not visible. So, Yoga takes the opposite path. It says to work on the body because the body is gross and visible to everyone. Working on the gross body is easier for us. This is why, in the limbs of Yoga, Asana (posture) and Pranayama (breath control) have great importance and are the initial limbs after Yama and Niyama. You cannot move on to higher limbs like Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (absorption) if you have not yet mastered the body and breath. Yoga says, forget the lofty talks; first, learn to sit straight. This discipline given to the body is a way of disciplining the mind. Every time you try to sit straight and still, the mind will want to bend and move. This means that every time you manage to sit straight and disciplined, you have disciplined the mind through the body. This is the method of Yoga. This is a declaration of your freedom, that you are not subservient to the commands of Prakriti (nature).