Yoga's Rich Lessons

When the brave, hardworking Number 8 is finally done with the day’s work and lies down to rest thus— ∞ — it passes from the realm of Tribulation to the domain of Eternity, as do we. The inspiration for this was a Yoga exercise in which one describes, fingers entwined, elbows out, first the one and then the second figure in the air—to flex the fingers and to feel the muscles of the arms. But there is a kind of deeper lesson here. And when you separate the fingers and rest the hands on the thighs—why that describes the happy middle position between the two: Detachment.