Pratyahara and Ayurveda.

To deal with ourselves is something really hard to do; I think and I feel from experience that dealing with our own perceptions which is through our senses, can be really overwhelming, especially when you don´t know where to start, and honestly, almost nobody knows from where to start; but here I have some good news for you... there is always a way, Pratyahara practice and Ayurveda, are the doorways to a new You.

Yoga is a complete system developed to be used in every aspect of our lives. There are 8 “limbs” in Yoga, each one of them completes the other, just as an ecosystem providing balance from the inside out to our lives. The eight limbs are: yama (observances), niyama (disciplines), asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (control of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). So, as you can see, Asanas is only a small part, that will provide you just certain percentage of well being. Pratyahara is the almost fogotten one; maybe because people don´t know about it, or they don´t consider it to be relevant in their lives, and I respect that, but it is important for me to ask; how much are you willing to heal yourself?. “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.” So, I think the meaning of Pratyahara is pretty explicit; and I find it really necessary to include it as part of our healing process; we are bombarded by social media, information, beliefs, family, work, and all of these wonderful things that tell us what to do, how to feel, and I may be sounding just as them, but the truth is that I´m giving this information by experience; after being sick for a long time, and trying almost anything I came to the realization that if I really wanted to heal, I had to start by educating my thoughts and perceptions. There are four main forms of pratyahara: indriya-pratyahara—control of the senses; karma-pratyahara—control of action; prana-pratyahara—control of prana; and mano-pratyahara—withdrawal of mind from the senses. Each has its special methods. According to ayurveda, sensory impressions are the main food for the mind. Ayurveda; the “science of life” tells us that everything counts, it is not so important what you eat, but how you eat it; and according to your own personality, and characteristics, what you need to eat, and when is good for you to eat it, just the way it works for our body, it is the same concept for the mind. I know that you know what you want and what you need to improve your life, but sometimes knowing or wanting is not enough, especially if your mind is always telling you how bad your life is, or how difficult is for you to learn math; and it can get harder if everybody tells you the same. With a good guidance from Ayurveda along with Pratyahara practice, you can achieve the “light” that your mind is searching for.

Namasté!