The practice of Pratyahara teaches you to withdraw the senses and turn inward so that you can find greater healing energy,
Well-being,
And a sense of internal knowing.
We'll begin our practice either in a comfortable seat or lying down.
I suggest you cover the eyes either with an eye mask or an eye pillow.
A t-shirt or a towel would work fine as well.
Take a couple moments to settle in and then begin to find your breath.
We'll take a nice deep inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
Again,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Last one,
Inhale and let it go.
Draw your awareness into the body and then in towards your eyes.
Even with the eyelids closed,
Just notice what you can see.
Any lights behind the eyelids or figures or shapes moving across the eyelids,
Just notice what's present for you.
Then draw your awareness to your ears.
Notice the sounds beyond my voice,
Perhaps in the distance,
Perhaps nearby.
Draw awareness to your nose and just notice any sense in the air,
Anything you can smell.
Then draw your awareness towards your tongue and notice the taste on your tongue.
Feel the skin of the body.
Just notice any sensations,
Be it air passing over the skin or the body pressing into the surface below.
Notice that all five senses are fully alive,
Fully awake,
Fully engaged.
Then draw your awareness back to your eyes and the visions before your eyes.
With your next exhale,
Just imagine those visions completely dissipating.
Let all sense of vision completely go.
Draw awareness to the ears.
Notice the sounds again beyond my voice.
With your next exhale,
Notice those sounds completely dissipate,
Completely let go.
Draw awareness to the nose.
Notice again the waft in the air.
With your next exhale,
Let that scent completely go.
Draw awareness to the tongue and any taste that might be present on the tongue.
With your next exhale,
Completely let that taste go.
Draw awareness to the skin and any sensations on the skin.
And on your next exhale,
Completely let those sensations go,
Completely releasing the sight of the eyes,
The sounds of the ears,
The taste of the mouth,
The scent of the nose,
The sensations of the skin.
And if one of these sensory experiences continues to remain very present,
Use your next exhale to let it go.
We can draw our gaze to the third eye,
To the space in between the eyebrows,
Just inside the mind.
Imagine the eyeballs turning toward the center,
Staring up at the third eye.
Maybe you just start to notice a little black dot.
If the dot isn't there for you,
Try to manifest it.
Allow the dot to represent an empty space,
A vision of releasing or letting go,
A dissipation of all the senses from the bodily experience.
Spend a few breaths just working to dissipate the senses further,
Letting all of your awareness and focus center at the third eye.
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to do,
No one to be.
Give yourself permission to find spaciousness here.
That space at the third eye like an abyss,
Open,
Expansive,
And then letting your awareness travel deep into your body,
Into your being.
Notice what might live beyond the sight,
The sound,
The smell,
The taste,
And the feel.
Notice a life force,
Perhaps a sensory experience all its own right at the center of your heart.
If you feel those senses reigniting,
Coming back into the body,
Dive deeper into your breath,
Expanding your exhale,
And skillfully letting those senses go again,
Finding the awareness at your third eye center and down into your heart center.
Noticing the connection between head and heart as their own sensory bodies.
Notice the interconnection between the two as a form of consciousness.
Consciousness not of the senses,
But of your own internal compass.
Continue to find spaciousness within your heart.
Continue to find spaciousness within your mind and within that vast expanse of internal knowing.
Allow yourself to let go,
Not just of the senses,
But of anything else you might be holding on to.
Anything that's not serving you,
Anything that isn't part of your healing journey.
Notice that you can stay here.
You can stay in this vast internal abyss of deep knowing,
Deep healing,
Deep understanding.
If you are ready to come out,
The breath guides you,
Awakening each sense one by one until you're ready to join the sensory world again.
