Pratyahara August 16, 2008

This event is the third part of the Beyond Asana series from Darren Deojee. Read more at www.beyondasana.co.uk. The event runs from 3-6pm at The Yoga Rooms in Manchester. You do not have to do the whole series, simply pick the ones which suit you. You can read about the whole series below the event info.

Event Info:
Pratyahara is among the most neglected of all individual practices, mainly because people just don't know how to go about doing it on its own. They can tie it in with asana practice, or pranayama, but to sit and consciously work on sense withdrawal?

This event looks at the essence of pratyahara, but unlike the traditional approach where your sense withdrawal is for deeper meditation, we are going to address its practicality out in the world.

Pratyahara, or 'Sense Withdrawal,' is a superb way to break our conditioned perception of self and the world. Of all the yoga practices, this is perhaps the best at it. It enables us to become aware of the power of our boundary, become aware of our own projection, and to be more aware of the environment we are in, contradictory though that may seem at first to the idea of withdrawing our senses.

To be able to fully withdraw all senses, we need an understanding and awareness of how the senses work, how their functionality was learned - basically how they were conditioned. Then we can go about undoing it. This is the direct approach to pratyahara, rather than the indirect method usually practised eg pratyahara via asana, or pratyahara via pranayama

During this day you will learn how this conditioning process took place, and ways to work on pratyahara consciously with an understanding of the benefits it will give.

You will also learn an open-eyed meditaton technique to be able to take into everyday life with you. This is a simple yet powerful tool for behavioural change, insight, situation management and breaking conditioning. Since this technique is for everyday life, some of the event will take place outside where you will have the chance to practice and share experiences.

When used properly, it will pave the way for going from living in and perceiving a world of objects to living in and perceiving a world of seamless energy.

Pratyahara is an essential tool for achieving the goals of yoga, as are all the limbs, yet, to me, its greatest dividend is delivered not when we achieve pratyahara in an isolated meditation, but when we achieve it on a crowded bus, or busy office, or in a group - then, we are truly on our way to becoming liberated from our conditioning, limited perception and awareness, and the resulting oft-undesirable behaviours that stem from those.

By the end of this event you will:

have an understanding of pratyahara

have an understanding of sense conditioning and functioning

be able to work on conscious pratyahara for 2 senses

have an open-eyed meditation technique for everyday, out-in-the-world use

be more aware of the power of your boundary and how to use it to save energy

be able to use the all of the above to help you make new behavioural choices in everyday situations

About the Beyond Asana Series

The Yoga Sutras mention Asana the least of all the yoga practises, yet here in the West we have classes filled with asana and very little else.

These are not just talk throughs of 'doing it' like asana class. Other practises are not so simple as asana where you just copy the teacher because many of them are internal or subjective. This series picks on that and helps us understand what these practises are all about, why we practise them and what their individual, and collective, purposes are. This will then arm you to practise them on your own without worrying about 'am i doing this right' or becoming disheartened because you don't feel you are getting the benefits.

The full course costs £100/£50 conc. when booked in advance, or each event is £20/£10 when booked in advance or £25/£15 on the day. Booking is advised as spaces are limited.

Each event is advertised individually, or you can check the website www.beyondasana.co.uk for more information.

Official Website: http://www.beyondasana.co.uk