... So you sip water three times out of your hand, and the fourth you put onto the ground. And then you request the ground to make the place where you are going to sit nice and firm. The place where you're going to sit is your asana. So, yes, asana means these things over here, but asana also means the place that you have established that you are going to be sitting on. If you and the earth element have established a good seat for yourself, then you will be firm during the period that you are performing your ritual and reciting your mantra, to accumulate the energy that is inherently to be found in the mantra. If you don't establish a good asana, then there is the possibility as things go on there will be some instability. And that instability will interfere with your achievement of the goal that you are attempting to achieve by establishing the ritual that you want to perform.
So, establishing a good asana is accomplished by worshipping the earth element. And by something that is definitely not a coincidence; Ganesha sits in the body at the Muladhara chakra, which happens to be the place where the earth element is located. Ganesha also rules the earth element. So, if you make Ganesha happy, then he will go down and he will talk to Mother Earth and instead of you trying to make Mother Earth happy, which could be difficult, especially because humans have performed a lot of very naughty things in the world, if instead of that you bribe Ganesha with a stick of sugar cane and he goes and makes the earth element happy, then that makes things easier for you...