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Dip in water only bathes the scalp and hair. But a praṇām has the effect of bathing the brain.

Q: Dear Swamiji, koti praṇāms. Some days back I heard in your discourse on Disha channel about various yogāsanas like śīrṣāsana for the physical body. Kindly let me know the significance of sūrya namaskāra and its benefits. Is it sufficient if one just does this as it affects the entire body?

Swamiji: Any kind of a process wherein the standing body is brought flat on the ground is very good for the body immediately, and the mind subsequently. If you do so 12 times a day, your body will become more supple, flexible, and circulation of blood will be far better.

Head is normally up. When you prostrate, the flow of blood into the brain is more. This brings about a wash of your brain, not your head. Dip in water only bathes the scalp and hair. But a praṇām has the effect of bathing the brain.

I suggest this for all executives, with sedentary habits of office life.

Besides, any āsana, though physical in nature, tames and sublimates the mind. In each āsana, you have to remain in it for at least 3 ‘breaths-time’. This is the difference between muscular exercises and āsanas. Aasanas and mind are inter-allied, like breath and mind.

But the focus has to be more on the mind always. You are primarily the mind. — Swamiji

(Published in Vicharasethu-Apr 2012 in “Ask Swamiji)