In “Fabric of the Cosmos,” Brian Greene describes entropy as an inevitable process of time. It’s inevitable because, statistically, disorder happens so much more frequently than order.

Greene uses War and Peace as an example. There are 693 pages in the book, and there is only one way they could be in order. If we threw all the pages up in the air, let them land, and then bunched them all back into a stack, how many ways could they be in disarray? Greene calculates the number of ways for the pages to be in disorder to be:

124552198453778343366002935370498829163361101246389045136887691264686895591852984504377394069294743950794189338751876527656714059286627151367074739129571382353800016108126465301823420562057147320617202938290291250213170227821191347358265588154107136014311932215753415973385542846729869139815159925119085867260993481056143034134383056377136715110570478694133391293419244096105142887984779085360950895401401259328506329060341095131494663898390526767610427804166730154945522818861025024633866260360150888664701014297085458481514159839254687623129529334782951868123707745965224321488873516792844834030007871706366846238435362424516736228610919853939181503076046890466491297894062503326518685837322713637024739040189109406498813983802654511148768648958164914034264441108719118441642809027571377380906725870843021579501589916232045813012950834386537908191823777738521437536312253164159858926810597652814480138774869702652546264393718939273059217967471691669781551985697692692494673836422782273345776718073316240433636952771183674104284493472234779223402722563072119385391247288092907203427169237793620765019045710978877445354435868033191609592498774431949869977003332494630732437553532290674481765795395621840329516814427104222760812428904871642866487240307036486493483250999667289734464253103493006266220146043120511010932823962492511968978283306192150828270814393659987326849047994166839657747890212456279619560018706080576877894787009861069226594487269341000087269987633990030255916858206397348510356296764611600225159200113722741273318074829547248192807653266407023083275428631264667150135590596642977337131834654748547607012423301287213532123732873272187482526403991104970017214756470049929226458643522650111999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999.

I don’t need to mention how much more comically large this number is than one.

Despite the odds, we are here, creatures who are able to think and perceive thanks to a bit of gravity and the material of dead stars. The odds also convince me that disorder is always happening to us. My yoga practices help counter this disorder.

Take our fascia for example. As we sleep, our bodies lay down new connective tissue in the body in a disordered way. We humans can only organize it with passive and active movements. The movements burn away the tissue that’s not useful and reinforce the tissue that is.

We can also keep our DNA from disorder. Writing about a 2003 study, Jorge Pinto Soares et al. (2015) writes “it is expected that exercise may decrease nuclear DNA damage, reducing the risk of developing cell mutations associated to [sic] several diseases.” Mutations are an expected disorder in the system, and we can mitigate it somewhat.

I also see my meditation practice as a way to shield my mind from what the world dishes me. Happenstance is always happening, and our minds can latch onto all these random events. Meditation can help us see these events for what they are–entropy–and help us reorder our outlook.

If you’re interested in self-organizing with me, I teach Saturdays at Schoolhouse Yoga. I also have monthly “HIIT, Yin and Release” sessions. Finally, I’m setting up my fall schedule with offerings that target various aspects of our yoga practice. Stay tuned, and I hope you can join me.