Really feeling.

I decided that from now on I won't go in detail into the core phillosophy which is interesting sometimes, but often it becomes boring. For most of us, the use of fancy names make something that would be otherwise very simple and down to earth, out of reach and elevated.
What Patanjali tried to do is to simplify the whole deal through the writing of 196 aphorisms. I have to say most of the times we get lost when we try to find a very "barroque" meaning to the sutras or by trying to impress ourselves with the use of sanskrit words like "Pratyahara". To your own practice, it is irrelevant if you know how to pronounce the word Pratyahara or any of the other seven limbs of Astanga Yoga, although it is interesting, the point of reading Patanjali is not repeating funny words. It is fun to chant the sutras, but it is better to know what you are saying and seeing it through, REALLY FEELING :)

Pratyahara is the fancy word for one of the eight limbs of the yogic road proposed by Patanjali in the sutras which we call now Astanga Yoga, or "Eight Limbed" yoga.

Out of the eight limbs (Internal and External code of ethics, Posture, Breathing, Withdrawal of the Senses, Attention, Meditation, and Full-being [Samadhi, which is difficult to translate]), withdrawal of the senses (Pratyahara) is for me the most confusing of all.

Withdrawal of the senses means literally that, to stop using the perceptive organs of the body in order to connect within, most of my teachers say it is an spontaneous process in which suddenly you find yourself not paying attention to the universe as a turtle inside its shell. It sounds extremely difficult. It was not until a few days ago that I got a better glimpse of this whole concept, and in my personal experience, what I have been previously told is a bit illogical, because I don't want to withdraw from the universe but pay attention to it fondly.

It is very nice to notice that this connection (which we used to call yoga, but we won't do it anymore) is not exclusively limited to a matt when you are open to it: it happened in one of my compulsory philosophy courses at university, when the teacher was talking about perception. He said that no other young generation had seen [or perceived] as much as ours, and that the higher the exposure and intensity to different stimuli, the higher the perceptive threshold moves. The more you feel the less you feel, the louder the music, the less you hear, feel, or see. He asked many of us to describe all that  we felt on our way from home to class. Embarrassingly, in one of the most unequal countries, none of us was able to feel the so prevalent poodom and unfairness. This got me into thinking a bit about this feeling and not feeling situation: social injustice is so common that we no longer perceive it. Isn't that worrying and dangerous? But then I asked myself if it was too much social inequality that made me feel less,  if social inequality was so overwhealming that it was easier to turn up the volume of the radio and put the airconditioning to the max or if it was just both of them happening at the same time.

The solution proposed in class was to decrease the intensity of the stimulus and to enhance the attention payed to it, and automatically I remembered about the withdrawal of the senses proposed by Patanjali.

Did I really need to go into the so-called tortoise pose (Kurmasana) in order to achieve this withdrawal as it is proposed by many yoga authorities or was it enough with lowering the volume of the radio and facing the music played by the world?   Many other events this week including today made me analyse myself in relationship to this whole concept, and convinced me that many of the problems of today's society arise from having "snail-eyed" senses which are projected outwards in search for stimuli rather than perceiving what is already there.

Parties intended towards the consumption of alcohol; meals loaded with additives; excessive use of flavour enhancers, sugars, and colors, music played at the highest end of the volume knob, sexual insatisfaction, you name it. How many times is this done in order to neglect what is really happening inside? How many times do we want to feel more because we are bored of feeling a little? How many times is being at home completely unexciting, and going out to the lights of the big city and the noise of a club feels like the best option?

Maybe withdrawing the senses is indeed, slowing down on what we are doing, and paying attention to what is really happening, to what the world needs from you. Being in synchrony with the universe means looking deep within the heart, even inside those darker parts, facing the music, the good and the bad.
Approaching the known routine with innocent eyes which want a new experience could open a door to feeling the detail. It would suck completely if you had to go into the tortoise pose (Kurmasana) everytime you wanted to get in touch with the world. What if I cannot go into a complete tortoise pose?

Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar in toirtoise pose (Kurmasana), the symbol of withdrawal of the senses.

 I assure you that you don't need any posture or any excersise but paying attention to the detail. As I mentioned previously, grounding your feet on the ground leads to a more enhanced feeling experience. Maybe, that way, a subtle caress will feel like surfing over the clouds and the unseen will appear to your eyes as if it was clear and obvious.

 It's all about daring to feel! How about trying it for a week? Would you dare??