Praty-what? Yes, you heard me right. The P and the R go before the A, so it is not PAR-ty unlimited; but quite the opposite actually, it’s about stillness.
Turn off the mobile phone, shut off the world and totally emerge yourself in the process of becoming the Infinite you. Like a kind of spring cleaning for everyday use.
Under modern terms, we are in fact talking about detox. Spring time is the season to cleanse: household, body… but what about your mind? The term pratyahara is composed of two Sanskrit words, prati and ahara. Ahara is “food” or anything we take into ourselves from the outside. Prati is a preposition meaning “away.”
Question: when you contemplate spring cleaning, are you also contemplating cleansing from wrong impressions and wrong associations?
The most important form of pratyahara is control of the senses. In our mass-media oriented culture, we are being overloaded with information. Our senses are being flooded with drama and noise. We are constantly connected and exposed.
Information overkill.
“We run after what is appealing to the senses and forget the higher goals of life. For this reason, pratyahara is probably the most important limb of yoga for people today”.
Just like you are careful of what to eat, be careful about the food you are feeding your thoughts. Withdraw your senses from the information overload once in a while: turn off your mobile phone, stay offline, and control the intake of impressions. Especially when you meditate.
“You take a bath to clean the body; you meditate to clean the mind. There is nothing more to it.” (Yogi Bhajan)
Meditation has numerous benefits, many of which have been scientifically proven. As little as meditating 3 minutes a day can already prove efficient to your health. In yogic terms, meditate reconnects your Self, synchronising your soul, your mind and the infinite, and maintaining a state of dedicated devotion. This is pratyahar.
Kundalini Yoga incorporates each of the 8 limbs of Patanjali’s yoga. When you practice, you know the importance of breathing – pranayam – and how much weight is given in each class to consciously focus your mind on the breath and the bij mantra Sat Nam “Truth is my Identity”. It allows you to control your senses.
Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah
Yoga is the cessation of the movement of the thought waves of the mind.
When you practice pratyahar, you experience Infinity and you realise that all is aligned in the universe, coming from the divine and flowing into divinity. The cause of all causes is Infinity.
Have you noticed that our brain’s neurons look exactly like the structure of the universe? Also, why do you think that words are sounds that vibrate?
The universe is working for you. Your words are sound vibrations that attract other vibrations. All you need is to become aware of your infinity. Therefore, do not meditate or practice from the ego, but from the space of the sacred divine teacher within:
ONG NAMO GURU DEV NAMO
Light & Love
