Exploring Pratyahara For Inner Balance and Bliss

In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with sensory input from various sources like media, advertisements, food, lighting, and fragrances. 

While some of these stimuli help us relax, others can trigger stress. Chronic stress can keep the body’s “fight or flight” response on high alert, resulting in an overactive nervous system. This can lead to inflammation, illness, disease, and a weakened immune system.

According to Yoga and Ayurveda, our sensory impressions are the main food for the mind, shaping the back door of our mind. We notice this when our thoughts keep replaying the latest gossip we heard or the last movie we watched. Just like junk food can make the body toxic, junk impressions can make the mind toxic. Junk food needs extra salt, sugar, or spices to make it appealing because it lacks real substance; similarly, junk impressions rely on intense drama—like sex and violence—to seem real, even though they are just colors projected on a screen.

While many of us are careful about what we eat and who we spend time with, we don’t always apply the same mindfulness to what we take in through our senses. We often accept content from mass media that we would never allow in our personal lives—letting strangers and unhealthy ideas into our homes through screens.

To truly turn inward, we need to quiet our minds by withdrawing our senses from the outer world.

 The five senses—sight (eyes), hearing (ears), taste (tongue), smell (nose), and touch (skin)—are constantly interpreting our surroundings, and if we let them run the show, we can become overwhelmed and lose the quiet needed to find inner peace.

Pratyahara, a Sanskrit term meaning “withdrawal of the senses,” involves disconnecting the mind from the outside world and turning inward. It is the fifth limb of Ashtanga Yoga, a key step that bridges the external practices of yoga, like physical postures and breath control, with the deeper, more internal practices of concentration and meditation. By withdrawing from sensory distractions, we create space for self-awareness and inner calm, setting the foundation for greater mental focus and spiritual growth.

Join me for a transformative journey to detoxify the central nervous system and cultivate inner peace.

What to Expect

• Insightful discussions on the impact of external stimuli on your mind and emotions.

• Asana, pranayama practice

• Guided meditation

• Sensory activity

• Ayurvedic tips and everyday life practices to keep cultivating inner peace

  Price: $50