Pratyahara Yoga: How Can We Withdraw Our Senses?

Pratyahara is one of the steps in the eightfold system of yoga. It means to withdraw the mind from attachment to external objects. It is practiced in a variety of spiritual paths with methods to bring attention away from the outer objects and towards the inner workings of the mind. Dada Vedaprajinananda (aka Dada Veda) reads from a passage in Shrii Shrii Anandamurti’s Discourse “Form, Vibration and Color,” to show another method known as “offering of colors.” This process allows a person to empty the mind from the objects impeding meditation. This episode is based on the discourse “Vibration, Form and Colour” contained in Subhasita Samgraha Part 3 by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti If you want to learn this method personally visit Dada’s website https://www.dadaveda.com and contact him. You can also visit the sites https://www.pathofbliss.com and https://www.anandamarga.org to be connected with your closest teacher. Audio versions of all the podcast can be found at https://www.dharmacast.com and on all major audio platforms, search for Ananda Marga Dharmacast. You can get a complete digital version of the works of P.R. Sarkar (Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) here: https://pathofbliss.com/Sys/Store/Pro… All the discourses that are referred to in this series are located there. #yogapodcast #pratyahara #Anandamurti

Ashtanga Yoga: The eight limbs of yoga practice

This podcast is an explanation of the eight limbs of yoga practice as formulated by Patainjali around 200 years BCE.  The presenter is Dada Vedaprajinananda.

The eight limbs mentioned in the podcast are:

1. Yama – practices of controlled contact whose result is to bring a person in harmony with the society around him or her.  These practices are : 1. Ahimsa, 2. Satya  3. Asteya 4. Brahmacarya and 5. Aparigraha  (listen to the podcast for the explanation!)
2. Niyama – practices whose result is inner purification.  The components of Niyama are 1. Shaoca 2. Santosa  3. Tapah  4. Svadhyaya  5. Iishvara Pranidhana
3. Asana – yoga postures
4. Pranayama – control of vital energy
5. Pratyahara – withdrawal from sensory stimuli
6. Dharana – concentration of mind at particular points
7. Dhyana – meditation, making the mind move in an unbroken flow towards the Supreme Consciousness
8. Samadhi – absorption of mind and unit consciousness in the Supreme Consciousness