Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/148



In the preceding chapter of this book we have explained to you that the human body is made of millions of tiny cells, each endowed with sufficient matter to enable it to do its work—with sufficient Prana to give it the energy it requires—with sufficient "mind-stuff" to give it the degree of intelligence with which to direct its work. Each cell belongs to a cell-group or family, and the intelligence of the cell is in close rapport with the intelligence of every other cell in the group or family, the combined intelligence of the cell-group resulting in a group-mind. These groups in turn are each a part of some other larger group of groups, and so on until the whole forms a great republic of cell-mind under the direction and control of the Instinctive Mind. The control of these great groups is one of the duties of the Instinctive Mind, and it usually does its work well, unless interfered with by the Intellect, which sometimes sends it fear-thoughts and in this and other ways demoralizes the Instinctive Mind. Its work is also sometimes retarded by the Intellect insisting that it take up foreign and strange habits of regulating the physical body through the cell intelligence. For instance, in the case of constipation, the Intellect being busy with other work, will not allow the body