PRATYAHARA: “withdrawing your senses inward”

Pratyahara is Sanskrit for “drawing your senses inward”

What this means is simply:
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👁 closing your eyelids so you can gaze inward to the inner light of your breath, heart, focal points, organs and energy pathways within you.
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👂 turning your hearing inward, away from the noise of the outer world, and towards the inner sound of your breath, your heartbeat, and your inner wisdom.
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👄 closing your lips and quieting your outer voice to honor, give reverence to, and pour love into the repetition of the inner mantra.
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👐🏽 refraining from “reaching out” for stimulus and experiences outside of yourself, to open to experience the flows and landscapes within your physical, emotional and energetic body.
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🍯 Taking a break from reaching outwardly for foods or substance to satisfy your cravings… and turning inward to savor the sweet nectar of practice, bhakti (love of the divine or diety), dedication, relaxed effort, burning aspiration, humility and simplicity.​

🕸 Please know that your practice is a great service to your deepest wellbeing, and to the wellbeing of all sentient beings visible, non-visible, and beyond