🔼: [[🕯️ Meditation 🧘]], [[⭐️ Life Curation]] ##### 🧘 Pratyahara[^1] The meditation or practice of sensory withdrawal, which helps us [[💡 Focus & Concentration|focus]], become aware of our surroundings, heighten our senses, and become more [[🕯️ Mindfulness|mindful]] of attentional hooks. - The more attention is put into one sense, and the more others are reduced, the more sensitive that sense becomes. - [[🔑 Multitasking fractures our Focus]] - [[🔑 Everything we come into contact with leaves something behind]] - [[🔑 As speed decreases, wonder increases]] - [[🔑 We need Nothing]] - [[⭐️ Life Curation]] is more critical now than ever for owning our attention and reducing our [[💡 Cognitive Load|Cognitive Load]]. - [[🔑 Our mind is directly influenced by our surroundings]], so if we sit in a quiet room, close our eyes, and aren’t tasting or smelling anything, [[🕯️ Doing Nothing]], we start to become grounded in our [[⭐️ Body]] and very focused as our minds begin to quiet. If we have a lot of unmetabolized [[💡 Thoughts|thoughts]], it may take a while for this to happen. Once it does we’re better able act in the world [[🕯️ Unblending|unblended]] and centered. --- Consider how most people struggle to tolerate boredom. We get bored when our attention has nowhere to go, so we bounce around for something to watch, read, listen to, eat, engage with. Our inability to tolerate boredom leads to a [[💡 Reactive Protectors|Reactive Protector]] stimulating us. If we can’t tolerate boredom, we lose control of our life and others have the power hijack it by hooking our attention. These can drain our mental, emotional, sexual, problem-solving, empathetic energies into the void — we do not lend our gifts to the world when they’re expended this way. Pratyahara teaches us to retake ownership of our attention through the practice of [[⭐️ Life Curation]]. > [!important] > - Before doing this practice, see: [[🧘 Mindfulness Meditation#The Hazards of Mindfulness|The Hazards of Mindfulness]] > - [[🔑 The breath is not a neutral place of focus for everyone]] > - For some people, focusing on the [[⭐️ Body]] can be frightening or even [[💡 Trigger|triggering]]. It’s okay to skip this practice and get better acquainted with the parts who don’t want us to be in our [[⭐️ Body|⭐️ bodies]] instead. ###### Practice: Internal Sound In this practice we use fingers or ear plugs to block the ears, and become aware of internal sounds, which will be amplified. These sounds are always around, we just aren’t tuning into them. With practice we can learn to recognize the and tune-into these sounds without plugging our ears. This teaches us to [[💡 Focus & Concentration|Focus]] and to listen to subtleties. We become less distracted by notifications, talking, and other external noises. 1. Block the ears and drop-into internal sounds for thirty seconds or so. - respiratory sounds (breath from the front of the nose, throat, lungs) - cardiovascular sounds (heartbeat, tones, pitches) - gastrointestinal (burbling bowels) 2. Unblock the ears and notice any changes. Wait a few moments, then block the ears and drop-in a second time for another thirty seconds, noticing the same sounds. 3. Again, we unblock the ears and notice what we notice. Block them again, and drop-in for a full minute, focusing on whatever draws our attention the most. 4. Unblock the ears, and then just close the eyes and listen for the sounds. Try this 5-7 minutes a day for a week or two. ###### Practice: Sound with Eyes Open and Closed We have implicit beliefs that we enjoy eating more while watching something — otherwise we wouldn’t do it. But… - [[🔑 The mind can only hold so much]] - [[🔑 Multitasking fractures our Focus]] - [[🔑 The more mindful we are of a pleasant experience, the more fulfilling it is]] - [[🔑 As speed decreases, wonder increases]] How much does our attention change our enjoyment? Find out yourself. Modify it to your preferences, engaging various senses. - Listen to music with eyes open, then closed - Eat while watching or listening to something - Take a bath with and without music - Lighting candles while you take a bath, not having candles We may notice a difference in our enjoyment or depth of experience. ###### Kaya Shtiram (Body Stillness) Advanced [[🕯️ Meditation 🧘]] practices often require sitting still for extended periods. It can also be super helpful for people who are anchored in their [[Proprioception|sense of touch]] or are otherwise sensitive to physical stimulation. Sitting still will make our other senses more sensitive and nuanced. 1. Sit up with a straight spine and neck, relaxed arms, and (if it feels safe) closed eyes. We can also try the [[🛠 Constructive Rest Position|Constructive Rest Position]]. Sitting up is better, but it’s most important to be in a position we can maintain for several minutes. 2. Get into a comfortable posture, then set a timer for five minutes and stop moving altogether (besides breathing!). 3. Sitting completely still, notice any agitations, impulses to move that arise, but don’t move. This can be difficult, but remain still and just breathe. 4. Eventually we may notice ourselves focusing on the breath because it’s the only place of movement. We may notice while we focus on the breath, the agitation disappears, and it might reappear if we pause or stop focusing on the breath. 5. Practice [[Open Awareness]] and open to the entire body. Notice all sensations. 6. Pause between the inhale and exhale, holding the breath for just a few moments, and notice what arises while *completely* still. 7. Notice how interesting all of this is. 9. At the end of five minutes, take a deep breath, move, and notice how good it feels. We don’t need to be entertained to not be bored out of our minds — [[🔑 As speed decreases, wonder increases]]. Many of us have loads of opportunities to practice this, we can do this while waiting around for something instead of being on our phone. Sitting can be incredibly powerful if we want it to be. ###### Related [[Raja Yoga]] [^1]: [[📖 🟠 Dr. K's Guide to Mental Health]]