The Ears

As we continue looking at the 5 main senses we have grown up learning about - eyes to see, ears to hear, mouth to taste, nose to smell and skin to feel..we will look at the ears. 
How are they more then just for hearing?
To me they are also for listening, because I feel there is a difference between hearing something and really listening to it.  How often have we heard someone say something, but because our mind was distracted did not really listen? 

The ears also help us to balance. As Prashant writes in his article, Functionality and Emotionality of the Senses, "We walk with the legs but the ears are the pilots - they are the automatic pilots."
He refers to how amazed man is with the invention of the computer, with its complicated and intricate wires, but the auditory nerve, that is the size of the tip of a pointed pencil contains thirty thousand circuits bringing information to the brain.

So balancing the ear drums becomes important in yoga.  Where and how you place your head, will affect your pose, internally and externally.  Hearing capacity also decreases as we age, so treat the ears well as this sensory organ is linked to the element sky - akasa.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com