The goal of yoga according to Patanjali I am told is citta vrtti nirodha, which means to be silent or free from mental fluctuations.

Mental development is a by-product of hard work and effort.

I do not believe you could intellectually comprehend all the different forces playing upon us. Yet what you can do is become very silent, so you are not distracted and then begin to feel how these forces playing upon us are affecting us, and according to how we feel, we can then make intelligent decisions as to how far, how deep, how much, we explore in any pose.

Have you ever noticed the perfection of nature? The seasons and how one changes into the next, the falling leaves, composting soil, rains, new seedlings, sunshine, growth, blossoms, etc. Grass grows, deer eats grass, lion eats deer, deer population is stabilized so there is grass for other animals; sunrise and sunset, boy and girl, winter and summer.

Simply because everything is perfect does not imply there is nothing to be done. Actually, it is pretty much the opposite. There is everything to be done.

Higher states of awareness is a by product of mental development and conscious evolution.

From inanimate object, to microorganism, to plant, to insect, to animal, to human, there is an evolving level of intelligence.