The concept of vitality
Vitality is a composite concept. Roughly speaking it consists of three components: genetic inheritance, environmental influence and the individual urge for self-fulfillment. Man acquires his inheritance at the moment of conception; this inheritance can have positive as well as negative traits. The environmental influence begins already in the womb and dominates a child for many years. The drive for personal fulfillment begins with growing up, and the adolescent strives for confirmation of his personality and for recognition through his knowledge and his achievements. All this can act like the fuel in a rocket.
Vitality varies with each individual and normally reaches its climax around the twenty-fifth year of life and sometimes begins to diminish a few years later. Theoretically one could draw two curves, one for the physical and the other for the mental ups and downs. It should be possible to measure the peak of the first curve by testing the capacity of the individual under physical strain. For the mental curve one might perhaps try to assess how far the personality can cope with responsibility without losing the creative impulse and without showing signs of breakdown. For most people the physical and mental climax is not far removed from the beginning of aging. This is taken into account in the modern industrialized nations, when it is thought that men around 40 have already lost a good deal of their creativeness. It also means that the course of the curve determines the fate of man-and not the other way round.
It is a great tragedy that millions of people pass two-thirds of their lives on the descending curve. Once a stone has been thrown, both its course and the place where it lands are predetermined. The trajectory of the stone depends entirely on the following criteria: impetus, shape and weight of the stone, and aerodynamics. At this point begins the lesson of how to increase vitality. Here lies the vast area of unused possibilities where Yoga should come in.
