27/08/2023
🧘♀️ Yoga is about making progress, not about perfecting anything. The physical practice of yoga is a tool and a journey, not a destination. Finding patience and joy in the process and meeting ourselves where we are helps us to let go of perfectionism, one of the greatest thieves of self-love and acceptance.
Accepting is surrendering. Accepting is also a process such that surrendering is not failing or giving up but succeeding and progressing in a quest to find, sit with, and embrace the truth. Acceptance, when done with grace, is intentional. It brings you into the present moment.
Pratyahara itself is termed as yoga, as it is the most important limb in yoga sadhana.
The term “pratyahara” is composed of two Sanskrit words, prati and ahara. “Ahara” means “food,” or “anything we take into ourselves from the outside.” “Prati” is a preposition meaning “against” or “away.” “Pratyahara” means literally “control of ahara,” or “gaining mastery over external influences.” It has been compared to a turtle withdrawing into its shell—the turtle’s shell is the mind and the turtle’s limbs are the senses. The term is usually translated as “withdrawal from the senses,” but much more is implied.
In yogic thought there are three levels of ahara, or food. The first is physical food that brings in the five elements necessary to nourish the body—earth, water, fire, air, and ether. The second is impressions, which bring in the subtle substances necessary to nourish the mind—the sensations of sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell that constitute the subtle elements: sound/ether, touch/air, sight/fire, taste/water, and smell/earth. The third level of ahara is our associations, the people we hold at heart level who serve to nourish the soul and affect us with the gunas of sattva, rajas, and tamas.
By withdrawing our awareness from negative impressions, pratyahara strengthens the mind’s powers of immunity. It is not possible for most of us to move directly from asana to meditation.
✨ 4 Forms Of PRATYAHARA
✓ Control of the Senses - Indriya Pratyahara.
✓ Control of the Prana - Prana Pratyahara.
✓ Control of Action - Karma Pratyahara.
✓ Withdrawal of the Mind - Mano Pratyahara.
