The very basic yoga practice or teachings of yoga that the students of yoga learn in the yoga class even before trying to learn about some basic yoga exercise or yoga asana and pranayama practice, is about taking full responsibility towards oneself, towards all the different impermanent states of mind, of the thinking, understanding, feelings, emotions, ideas, belief and values, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, desires and don't desires, behaviors, actions, and reactions being generated through the body and mind, towards looking after oneself physically, mentally and/or emotionally, as well as towards making decision to be performing certain action/inaction, and to be active or take rest physically and/or mentally, in the present moment NOW accordingly, under the respective internal physical/mental and external environmental condition/situation/ability/disability/limitation/possibility/impossibility in the present moment NOW, that is impermanent, that is constantly changing.
Even though there is no infinite immortal individual self existence of 'I' existing in the selfless impermanent limited and conditional body and mind, but the selfless body and mind is indeed the one that is wittingly and/or unwittingly generating different countless cause after cause that give rise to respective different effects, deriving from certain behavior/action/reaction that are being generated under specific conscious desire/choice intentionally and/or under instinctive urge non-intentionally.
There is no infinite immortal individual self existence of 'I' that exists in the selfless body and mind to be responsible towards all the causes being generated by the selfless body and mind, while the selfless body and mind is responsible towards all the causes and effects that are being generated either wittingly (consciously by conscious choice and desire) or unwittingly (non-by choice unconsciously/instinctively/autonomously).
Regardless of whether wittingly or unwittingly, consciously or instinctively, intentionally or unintentionally, the body and mind is still the one that is responsible towards all its actions/reactions/behaviors being generated under conscious desires or instinctive urges of autonomous physical and mental activities being over-powered or conditioned by internal genetic inheritance or by external influential conditions.
There is sickness, or injury, or painful/unpleasant sensations in this body and mind, and this body and mind is undergoing this sickness, or injury, or painful/unpleasant sensations, while all the other bodies and minds are not undergoing all THAT, that is only happening in this particular body and mind, being perceived under the presence of the selfless conscious mind awareness of this particular mind.
Even when the mother can commiserate towards the painful physical and mental suffering that her child is suffering, and she herself is also being in a state of painful suffering upon seeing her child being in a state of physical and mental suffering, but she cannot replace the child or swap place with the child, to be the one who suffers the painful physical and mental suffering that the child is undergoing or suffering. She cannot take the medicine and receive the treatment, for her child to be recovering and become better. Her child has to take the medicine and receive the treatment to be recovering and become better.
It is the responsibility of the selfless perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting mind towards how it behaves, acts and reacts towards all and everything that it perceives/experiences/comes in contact with or doesn't come in contact with, as well as towards the consequences of all its behaviors, actions and reactions.
The minds that think and believe that there is completely no conscious freewill by choice to choose how to behave, act, and react under conscious awareness, where they think and believe that all behaviors, actions, and reactions are 'instinctively/autonomously/under the absence of conscious freewill' being influenced by the existing internal and/or external specific cause that leads to specific effect (that they think and believe as fixed, or non-modifiable), it is because they haven't attained direct self realization towards the truth of Thyself, or the selfless perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting mind, the mind stuff, the ego and egoism, the veil of ignorance, the selfless universal consciousness, the conscious mind awareness, the conscious mind evolution or the path of self inquiry and self realization, Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, Non-self, Non-grasping, Silence, and Transcend, even if they have been accumulating all kinds of knowledge and information about all that coming from someone and somewhere, or under the help of innovative tools under advanced science and technology.
The mind that understands this, it is free, as it is.
It knows that its selfless impermanent states of mind, of happiness and unhappiness, peacefulness or peacelessness, doesn't need to be determined by whatever it perceives/experiences or doesn't perceive/experience internally and/or externally, regardless of whether the internal and/or external experiences/non-experiences/conditions/situations are pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable, desirable or undesirable, enjoyable or non-enjoyable.
The selfless impermanent restless modifications/states of mind, of all kinds of random thinking/thoughts/ideas/feelings/emotions that ceaselessly arising and passing away/coming and going, also cannot determine the ignorance free thinking and acting mind that knows what is non-grasping/non-attachment/non-identification/non-craving/non-aversion/non-comparison/non-judgment/non-expectation to be what it is, to be existing and functioning, to be performing action/inaction, without being determined by the selfless impermanent modifications/states of mind/mind stuff that is non-self, that doesn't belong to the selfless thinking and acting mind, not to say, all kinds of mind perception of names and forms being perceived through the senses via the sense organs, internally and/or externally.
It respects and doesn't restrict the freedom of thinking or not thinking, belief or disbelief, understanding or non-understanding, desire or don't desire, and the different types of behavior, action, and reaction of all the other minds being what they are, as they are, but all that and all kinds of pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable treatments coming from others unto itself, cannot determine itself to be happy and peaceful, or not.
Under the presence of conscious awareness on top of the presence of correct understanding, the ignorance free thinking and acting mind can choose how it behaves, acts, and reacts towards all and everything.
It doesn't need to control anything. It doesn't need to defy the nature's law of cause and effect being what it is. It doesn't need to defy or deny the natural process of decay and disintegration, or death. But it has the conscious awareness and correct understanding to be influencing the selfless impermanent changes in certain way in NOW, even if the body and mind is existing and functioning under certain inevitable restriction or limitation.
It doesn't need to stay there not moving away from any kind of natural disasters/hazards/dangers/risks/man made difficult and hurtful condition and situation, or ill treatments from others.
It doesn't need to argue with or fight against the ignorance of others.
It doesn't need to change or convince and convert others to be thinking, believing, understanding, desiring, behaving, acting, and reacting in certain way or not in certain way.
It may or may not do its best to help all the others to be free from the influence of ignorance, if there is the opportunity and possibility, without any obligation, and without egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, or expectation, allowing and respecting all and everyone to be what they are and what they are not, as they are, and to take their own pace under their own cause and effect, to be changing in certain way or not in certain way, or not.
That is what mental and emotional independence is about.
That is what the basic yoga and/or buddhism practice is about.
The mind that doesn't understand this, it thinks and believes that, "It is because of you and how you treat me, it is because of them and how they treat me, it is because of everyone and everything that had happened and that is happening to me, that is why I behave, act, and react like this and not like that, that is why I feel disturbed or pleased, meaningful or meaningless, that is why I am happy or unhappy, peaceful or not peaceful, and that is why I do this and not doing that, that is why I behave like this and not behaving like that." And more so, "It is because of my genes, that is why I am thinking, believing, reasoning, understanding, desiring, behaving, acting, and reacting like this and not like that," or even, "It's not my fault. Don't blame me for my bad behavior and ignorance. It's the responsibility of my bad genes inheritance inherited from my bad parental lineage."
It is true that a mango seed (the original cause) gives rise to a mango tree that gives mango flowers and fruits of mangoes, and it doesn't give rise to all other kinds of trees, flowers, and fruits that are not mango, however, the selfless impermanent changes from the seed being planted, to being nurtured, to be growing into a full blown matured tree that give rise to flowers and fruits, or not, are conditional, are not fixed. It depends on the availability and non-availability of certain environmental conditions, as well as the planter of seed/tree under the presence or absence of conscious awareness and understanding and effort that can influence the entire process of planting and nurturing that mango seed/tree/flowers/fruits.
The seed, the tree, the flowers, the fruits, the planter, or the environmental conditions, are all selfless, impermanent, limited, conditional, and non-self. It doesn't mean that under the truth of selflessness, impermanence, limitation, conditional, and non-self, there are no conscious by choice activities deriving from the selfless thinking and acting minds functioning under certain ideas and understanding/non-understanding, that have the organs of actions to be performing all kinds of intentional and non-intentional activities under certain conscious desires/don't desires or aspirations in this world of diversity that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, that are impacting and influencing all and everything in certain way, selflessly, regardless of constructively or destructively.
If the mind has only one single opportunity of one single timing to be learning yoga and/or buddhism during its entire selfless impermanent limited and conditional life existence and function, is to be learning about taking full responsibility towards its selfless impermanent limited and conditional existence and function that is non-self, that doesn't even belong to itself.
If the mind truly knows how to take full responsibility towards itself, towards its selfless impermanent modification/state of mind, of all kinds of selfless impermanent conscious by choice or unconscious autonomous instinctive thought activities, ideas, thinking, feelings, emotions, understanding, desires, behaviors, actions, and reactions, regardless of whether it is being conditioned by genetic inheritance condition, or being influenced by some external influential conditions and situations, this mind will have peace, unconditional peace, not being determined or disturbed by the presence/absence of all kinds of pleasant or unpleasant/agreeable or disagreeable/desirable or undesirable/enjoyable or non-enjoyable experiences/happenings/conditions/situations/impermanent changes, that are happening internally or externally.
The more the mind has peace, the more the mind can understand this and that clearly, as it is.
If the mind wants to be happy, none and nothing can make the mind unhappy.
If the mind wants to be unhappy, anyone and anything also cannot make the mind happy.
And it's okay, if the mind doesn't understand something or many things.
Keep practicing.
Never give up.
Inquire the truth of everything.
Purify. Meditate. Inquiry. Realize.