Simple techniques for lifting your mood and freeing your mind

Considering how 2021 has started – with more COVID-19 lockdowns, the fallout from Brexit in the U.K., political unrest in the US, and problems with getting the COVID vaccine rolled out in both those countries – this feels like an excellent time to talk about clearing out negative habits and focusing on our mental health. That’s why I’m going to spend the next couple of blogs talking about the last four limbs of yoga’s eight-limb path: pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Yoga is Ayurveda’s ‘sister science’. When practised in conjunction with each other, they are complementary philosophies that form the ultimate physical and spiritual wellness system. You don’t have to practice yoga as part of your ayurvedic lifestyle, but I highly recommend it because their combined benefits can be extraordinary. And, if you’ve ever thought yoga is purely about stretching, strengthening and improving the balance in your body, you might be surprised to know that it strengthens and improves the balance of your mind just as powerfully. So, even if you’re still reluctant to begin yoga as a form of exercise, I’d always encourage you to use the principles of pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi to control your senses, improve your concentration, and calm and focus your mind.

What is pratyahara?

Where pranayama is mastery of the breath and physical energies, pratyahara is mastery over the senses. They are both essential to successful meditation.

In Sanskrit, prati means either ‘against’ or ‘in a reverse direction’, and ahara means ‘food’ or ‘anything external that we take into ourselves.’ As a result, combining those terms into pratyahara means ‘taking control/gaining mastery over external influences’ or, more usually, it’s translated as ‘withdrawal from the senses.’

In yogic philosophy, there are three types of ahara (‘food’):

·      Physical food composed of the five body-nourishing elements – earth, water, fire, air, and space/ether.

·      Senses that nourish the mind: sound, touch, sight, taste and smell.

·      Relationships with other people that nourish our soul.

When we practise pratyahara, we mentally withdraw from taking the wrong food, following the wrong senses, and leading the wrong relationships. At the same time, we open ourselves up to taking the right food, following the right senses, and leading the right relationships. In the same way that following an ayurvedic lifestyle protects our body from toxins and strengthens our immune system, pratyahara protects our mind from noise, distraction, and negative sensory influences, and gives us the freedom to think healthier thoughts, take healthier actions, and make healthier choices.

How to practice pratyahara

Pratyahara has four main forms:

·      Control of the senses (indriya-pratyahara)

·      Control of actions (karma-pratyahara)

·      Control of the life-force (prana-pratyahara)

·      Withdrawal of the mind from the senses(mano-pratyahara)

There are different ways to achieve each of those, but this blog would take you a lot longer to read if I explained all of them! So, instead, I’m going to tell you about a simple method that, if you practice it regularly, will help you withdraw from your senses as easily as a turtle withdraws its limbs into its shell (which is how pratyahara is sometimes described.)

·      Lightly close your eyes and lift your upper eyelids, just slightly, so that the upper and lower lids aren’t pressed together. Don’t tense your forehead. With your eyelids lightly in position, roll your pupils gently downwards, looking towards your chest. Keep everything soft; don’t strain.

·      Relax your jaw and the corners of your mouth. Relax your tongue so that it rests gently behind your lower teeth.

·      Focus your attention on the bridge (root) of your nose, to relax your sense of smell.

·      Relax the upper edges of your cheekbones, and feel the tension drain from your inner ears.

·      Relax your face and imagine that a centre line from your hairline to your neck divides your face symmetrically in half. Now, imagine that a line just above your eyebrows divides your face into two parts. Gently focus on moving the skin on your forehead from the centre line to the edges. Now focus on the lower part, softly moving the skin from the centre line to the bottom of your earlobes.

Repeat these steps as many times as necessary until your face is relaxed and your senses are withdrawn and turned inwards.

Alternatively, focusing entirely on whatever task you’re doing is also a type of pratyahara. Shut out the world and its distractions and give the task your full attention.

That’s where dharana comes in.

What is dharana?

Dharana is a Sanskrit word that means ‘holding’ or ‘concentration’. In other words, it is the practice of concentrating/holding your mind in one place, object or idea. It prepares us for the last two limbs of the eight-fold path, dhyana and samadhi, which I’ll talk about in my next blog.

How to practice dharana

Dharana is the natural next step of pratyahara. While pratyahara teaches us not to be distracted by external stimuli, dharana teaches us to concentrate entirely on whatever we’re doing, looking at, listening to, etc. without wavering or interruption. When we control our mind's focus, unnecessary, restless, or anxious thoughts cannot intrude.

Think how much you would accomplish if you could totally laser-focus your thoughts for thirty to forty-five minutes at a time. Dharana allows us to do that, but, like anything, it takes consistent practice.

The good news is, you can practise dharana anywhere and everywhere, so it shouldn’t take long to become a habit.

Practising dharana in day-to-day life

Focus on one thing at a time. If you’re working on an involved task, set a timer and concentrate solely on the job until you’re finished, or until the timer ends. Switch off any distractions (like email pop-ups and social media, if you’re working on a computer) and, to begin with, set the timer for twenty-five minutes and then give yourself a five-minute break. As you become more focused, extend the time to thirty minutes, thirty-five minutes, forty minutes, and forty-five minutes. Take a five-minute break at the end of each twenty-five to forty-minute period, and a ten-to-fifteen-minute break at the end of every forty-five minutes.

Alternatively, if you’re doing chores around the house, reading a book, eating a meal, spending time with other people, always give the activity your full attention. Turn off your phone, turn off the television or background music (unless they’re helping you concentrate, or providing an ambience that makes the activity more pleasurable) and devote your time to solely doing that one thing.

Practising dharana for meditation or relaxation

Concentrating your mind on the sound of a mantra is a typeof dharana. A mantra that many people use is the single word ‘Om’ (or ‘Aum’)which is repeated either aloud or in the mind until the thoughts become still.

Concentrating on a candle flame, an everyday object, a flower, or a symbol that means something to you. Sitting relaxed, with your gaze soft, focus on whatever you’re looking at until there is nothing else in your mind.

Concentrate on an isolated part of your body, excluding everything else. Only tune in to what that part of your body is doing, the way it feels, the sounds it’s making. Some people find this easier if they visualise the body part as something else, like a lotus flower or the Bodhi tree.

Concentrate on your breath and observe its journey in and out of your body. Don’t be distracted by anything else; gently follow the flow of your breathing.

Daily practice of pratyahara and dharana will calm and strengthen your mind, fortify the essential connection between your mind and body, and help keep your emotions balanced. It will also give you greater control of your entire physical and mental state by helping you become more aware of how your mind works throughout the day.

Why don’t you try it? If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I’ll do my best to help.

Until next time, to your enduring health and happiness in Ayurveda.