Many of us are familiar with the physical movements of yoga (known as asanas). You may also be familiar with breathing practices (known as pranayama) and meditation (known as dhyana). And these are commonly discussed as tools to address the impact of our stressful, over-connected, sedentary modern lifestyle. These are three of the eight limbs of yoga.
But pratyahara may be just as vital. Pratyahara is one of the lesser known eight limbs of yoga. It’s often simply defined as withdrawal.
I got to thinking about this because I’ve been thinking about closing my Facebook account. I’m convinced at best I gain little from it, and at worst, it’s a time suck consuming unfiltered marketing.
But the more I think about it, the more I realise how disconnecting one thing doesn’t really do it. Before I know it, something else has filled the gap. Maybe it’s the latest headlines from the NZ Herald, or solitaire on my tablet or reading a book. They are still a stimulus, a distraction, something taking my focus.
And this made me think about pratyahara. Pratyahara is more than just disconnecting. It’s more than closing a facebook account or putting your phone down. It means going offline from everything.
I like the explanation of Yogajournal.com:
…the conscious effort to draw our awareness away from the external world and outside stimuli. Keenly aware of, yet cultivating a detachment from, our senses, we direct our attention internally. The practice of pratyahara provides us with an opportunity to step back and take a look at ourselves.
The challenge is making time for no stimuli. That means both stopping the consumption of information, and also the other distractions – like doing laundry or making a to-do list. To do…truly nothing, so that you have time to be aware, to observe, to reflect on the difference between being connected and actually disconnected. Ultimately, to make conscious choices about what you do and don’t connect to.
So the next time you disconnect, go the full noise. Sit down, take a breathe, look out the window and just be.
For more about pratyahara and different types of ‘withdrawal’ see an article from Yoga International.
And about those eight limbs…
The eight limbs of yoga refers to the eightfold path described by Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Patañjali was a sage, known for writing these yoga sutras (scriptures) around 200 BCE – 200 CE. In these he described Ashtanga or the eight limbs (or paths) of yoga which offer guidelines for living a meaningful and purposeful life.
