Mental state/Yoga sutra-s

hello sir,
         i wanted to ask what work the mind should be occupied with when we are ill. as empty mind is a devil's workshop and swami sivanada says that we should be extra careful when ill. i dont know whether my illness is karmic or not because even though i have been trying to get establish in brahmacharya since march i have had not much success , the best being 22 days and current stretch is 9 days this time i have to achieve brahmacharya with yoga and have to make some strides towards self realization.the illness is not severe but is causing very tiredness and weakness.

2)i also had a doubt about yama and niyama. In the book by I K Taimni on Yoga
II-34 :"As improper thoughts, emotions (and actions) such as those of violence etc., whether they are done (indulged in), caused to be done or abetted, whether caused by greed, anger or delusion, whether present in mild, medium or intense degree, result
in endless pain and ignorance; so there is the necessity of pondering over the opposites."
  he explains that
"The man who sees a thief breaking into a house but
does not do anything to prevent the crime is partly responsible for the crime and will to that extent have to bear the Karmic result and degradation of character.But more noteworthy than this doing of evil action indirectly is perhaps the third way of participating in it. We some times witness a crime but owing to callous ness or desire to avoid getting into trouble do nothing about it or may even silently approve of it. We assume that because we have not taken any part direct or indirect in the crime we are quite free from blame. But it is not so according to the Yogic ethics embodied in Yama-Niyama. According to the more stringent rules of Yogic morality a man who connives at or is indifferent to a crime being done in his presence in which, from common humaneness he should have interfered is partly guilty of the crime. ‘Inaction in a deed of mercy is action in a deadly sin’ as the Buddha warned."
but in a past answer you said that we must ignore the surroundings and be indifferent to people otherwise we may get very involved with them which may prove harmful.
this time i am taking the practice of yama niyama seriously as i have realized that without them no meditation can be possible and maintaining brahmacharya is also not possible.this time i have to achieve this ideal and experience what happiness is in samadhi  which as said by everyone that it has to experienced and cannot be described.