“Use every distraction as an object of meditation, and they cease to be distractions.” – Minjyur Rinpoche
Weekly Focus: Pranayama & Pratyahara
Pranayama and Pratyahara are the fourth and fifth limbs of the 8-limb path in the Yoga Sutras. These refer to the control of our energy, breath and senses. Each of these practices helps us to filter what comes into the mind as we seek spaces of clarity.
Consider — have you ever invited someone, something, or some energy into your home and upon it’s departure, felt it’s lingering presence? An argument, a toxic individual, heck, even a weirdly haunted feeling object 😬 — it can hang heavy in the air like a thick fog. It can cloud you, making you feel off, a kind of distraction.
Sometimes our senses can be bothersome distractions that disturb our clarity. Perhaps rather than truly enjoying a walk in nature we are distracted by a stain on our shirt or the music in our earbuds. The beat of our heart or the pace of our breath may even distract us into feelings of panic and anxiety, when in reality nothing to fear is at hand. Pranayama & Pratyahara are tools to help us manage these distractions. And as the quote states above, we may choose to make them objects of our meditation as a means to alter the states they create within us.
Pranayama is energy or breath control. At times we may be hyper aware of our breath and at other times we may not even be aware when we are holding the breath. By shifting our focus to a soft state of awareness of the breath, the very manner in which we breathe can become a meditation to bring calm, clarity and ease.
Pratyahara is sensory deprivation or, your may think of this as sensory management. It is sometimes too easy to hyper focus on sounds or lights when we all we want is to sleep, but on the flip side, while enjoying a sit on our front porch, we may not even take in the wonderful senses around us at all. By shifting ourselves to a soft state of awareness on only one of these senses, the very things that distract us can become a way to focus and find stillness.
As with everything in Yoga, this is simply a tool, and not a fix-all pill. These practices take just that — practice! And they do not work the same way in all of us, especially at the start. However with time, they may help our state of mind come to more ease, clarity, and openness.
Is you breath or perhaps the sounds you hear ever distracting to you? Do you ever become unaware of the many senses around you due to other distractions? What distractions to you find the hardest to overcome?
Passive Pose of the Week: Vajrasana (thunderbolt/diamond pose)
Vajrasana is a common seat for meditation and breathwork. A place to shift your focus to the space within rather than the space outside of yourself.
- Begin on hands and knees in a tabletop position.
- Come to a kneeling position on the knees.
- Sit back with your hips on your heels.
- Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap.
- Hold for 7 – 10 breaths or as long as you like, before coming out.
Sitting all the way back on your heels could be uncomfortable for the thighs, knees, ankles or feet. If you find this to be true, support the pose so that you are comfortable. These discomforts in the body show up as distractions. We can use this as a practice in pratyahara, managing the sensation we feel with the support of props. If you feel too much stretch in the thighs or the knees, sit up on a block or two, elevating your seat. If you feel too much strain in the ankles or tops of the feet, take a small rolled up towel and place it under the ankles or tops of the feet. If having the legs together is uncomfortable, try straddling a bolster. You may combine any of these props as well to get comfortable. Find a position where you focus is more meditative, such as quietly noticing your breath, rather than distracting.
Active Pose of the Week: Pillar Pose
Pillar Pose is a simple balance requiring full focus, steady breathing and a control of the senses. An excellent place to practice both Pranayama and Pratyahara.
- Begin in a standing Mountain pose (tadasana).
- Steady your gaze (or drishti) first. Focus your gaze on a non-moving point in front of you. Pro-tip: the lower your gaze the more helpful it will be with the balance. A higher gaze challenges the balance.
- With your hands at your hips first, lift your left knee to about 90 degrees.
- If you feel steady, reach your arms overhead.
- Hold for 3 – 5 breaths and switch sides.
Balance is hard. Taking it in stages can be a helpful tool in building better balance. If balancing in pillar pose is hard for you, try this progression: 1. Start with your lifted foot just resting on a block, this will make your work on the positioning of your body. Progress this to reaching your arms overhead. 2. Start to balance just your toes on the block with hands at hips. Progress to arms overhead. 3. Start to hover your leg but keep it low, about to the spot where the block was. Keep your hands at your hips. 4. With time, slowly raise the height of your leg. Layer in the overhead reach as the final peice to the puzzle. And be gracious! Balance won’t feel easy every day, and progress is not linear.
Join us in class this week to practice your self-reflection and acknowledgment of the Kleshas. See the full schedule HERE.
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