Pratyahara

A translation of pratyahara, is the withdrawal of any or all of the sense organs; touch, smell, sight, taste, or sound. After years of practicing yoga, I felt that I could dull some of those senses, and I had never thought of completely eliminating one or more while a yoga session. The initial thought of blindfolding myself to practice asthanga yoga, honestly petrified me! To my surprise, once I was blindfolded, I found strange comfort without sigh. A red isosceles triangular scarf from my maternal grandmother covered my eyes. My eyelids were closed, that aided to remove light from penetrating through, leaving me in deeper darkness. I was facing a fear of mine; no sight to guide me and show me where my body parts were in relation to my core. I couldn't observe the angle of my knee in warrior; was it above my ankle? Nor could I occasionally see the shape of another practitioner as they followed their rhythm. The absence of the visual perception of where I was in space, without judgment or confusion, was a beautiful and clarifying moment where I only felt myself.