February 1, 2022
The sixth limb of yoga takes us away from a physical practice and into an internalized practice. The last two weeks we used Pratyahara (the fifth limb) to enhance some senses and reduce the distraction of others. Dharana, the sixth limb, is pointed focus or concentration. This is the start of meditation.
January 25, 2022
Pratyahara is mostly still a physical practice. You could simply remove/bind the sense or allow it to slowly float into disappearance. Some of the senses are harder to “bind” but you can feel the enhancement, or the diminishing effects, by binding another sense instead. Here are a few practices for each of the senses you can try to incorporate into your daily life.
January 5, 2022
How do you breathe? Do you think about it? Do you ever pause to notice what happens when the breath comes in? And then what happens when it goes out? The 4th limb is arguably the “easiest” of the 8-limbed path - Pranayama - aka breathing. Typically we neglect the breath until it feels strained or absent. We all breathe automatically, it’s autonomic. We don’t have to think to breathe, but there are ways of breathing that are better than others for us physiologically.