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Mastery of Vital Impulses Requires Change of Focus and Management of the Energy Flow · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  It is obvious if a system is set up to carry out vital demands,
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  desires and wants, and it is provided more energy, it will
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  simply expand its ability to achieve those desires.
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  That is the reason that undertaking practices that
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  increase the vital force without first ensuring that the focus
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  and direction has been changed actually increases lust, greed,
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  pride, ambition and other forms of desire.
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  Many practices including the use of various regimens of fasting,
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  breathing techniques, pranayam, specific Hata yoga postures,
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  certain mantras or chanting, various sports conditioning
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  routines and the implementation of bandas, energetic locks
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  within the physical body to concentrate and control the flow
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  of energy can vastly increase the physical strength and the
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  overall vitality. They have their benefits.
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  The dramatic increase in the practice of Hata Yoga in the
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  West shows that people experience and notice benefits
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  to their physical health and well-being.
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  It is interesting to note that in the West, the practices of
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  Hatha yoga are primarily considered to be healthy
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  exercise routines. There is nothing inherently
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  spiritual about these practices if they are not turned towards
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  spiritual realization in the 1st place.
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  As a result, in the context of gaining control and mastery over
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  the vital impulses, whether the sexual impulse or any other
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  vital action of the external being, the result does not come
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  through increasing the intensity or force operating at these
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  levels. Rather, a change in the focus
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  and direction of the energy is needed so that the increased
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  force is applied to the spiritual objective.
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  Additionally, the practitioner should take care to build up the
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  ability to hold and not spill the energy that comes into the
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  system. This is done through the
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  cultivation of calm, peace and equality.
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  Shifting the focus to the inner being and having it direct the
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  use of the energy, rejecting the pressures of the external nature
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  and holding the enhanced energy effectively represent the
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  primary directions for mastery of the vital nature, Sriorobindo
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  writes. Quote Pranayam and other
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  physical practices like asana do not necessarily root out sexual
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  desire. Sometimes, by increasing
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  enormously the vital force in the body, they can even
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  exaggerate in a rather startling way the force too of the sexual
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  tendency, which, being at the base of the physical life, is
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  always difficult to conquer. The one thing to do is to
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  separate oneself from these movements, to find one's inner
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  self and live in it. These movements will not then
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  any longer appear as belonging to oneself, but a surface
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  impositions of the outer procrity upon the inner self or
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  Purusha. They can then be more easily
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  discarded or brought to nothing. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 4 Desire Food
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  Sex, pages 79 to 80.