From Misery to Mastery – Creating Restraint through Pratyahara. Welcome to Part 5 of our Exploration of the Eight-Limbed Path of Yoga
Before we dive in, let’s review our journey to date:
If you’ve been on the journey of this latest resource series, you’ll know that we’re bringing the holistic practice of yoga into the Mindful Creativity mix. The first four blog posts exploring the first four of the eight-limbed path, with associated resources, are:
- Choosing Equilibrium – a really helpful theme to explore as you look to build a sustainable and fulfilling art practice.
- The practice of Niyama, with a focus on exploring clean self-expression.
- Mountain Pose: how asanas, or physical yoga postures, can help us feel more grounded and connected to our creativity.
- Pranayama: exploring the Creative Outbreath as part of general breath awareness and control.
Part 5: Can the eight-limbed path of yoga help you to navigate the trials and tribulations of artistic life?
Well, the short answer to the question is yes! The holistic practice of yoga can help you stay in the zone and navigate the hardest parts of being creative – the ‘slog’. This post is going to tell you how – but first, let’s look at the fifth of the eight limbed path of yoga, Pratyahara.
Pratyahara
According to Yoga International, The term “pratyahara” is composed of two Sanskrit words, prati and ahara. “Ahara” means “food,” or “anything we take into ourselves from the outside.” “Prati” is a preposition meaning “against” or “away.” “Pratyahara” means literally “control of ahara,” or “gaining mastery over external influences.” The term is usually translated as “withdrawal from the senses.’
The fifth of the eight limbs of yoga is where we start to journey away from the physical world, and towards our inner landscapes. This withdrawal of the senses can also be interpreted as a reduction of external stimulation, and helps prepare us for deeper reflection, meditation and inner contemplation.
In her analysis of the fifth limb, Glyn Hubbard notes that ‘ Although the senses provide us with many great experiences it is true that it is a continual bombardment of stimuli that can create a busy-ness in the mind so it is in a state where it cannot rest. It is difficult for the mind to be content due to this continual stimuli as it is constantly processing all of this information from the natural world. Especially in todays world there are not only natural stimuli but also man made stimuli (in the form of technology – phones, computers etc). It seems now that there is more a need than ever to quieten the mind and bring some peace from this continual activity.’
The slog – otherwise known as the final stretches of creative work
Have you ever experienced this situation?
- You’re bored.
- Your creative work feels tedious.
- You’re in a never-ending slog – there seems to be a continuous far horizon, where completion feels so very far away.
- You’re desperate for some kind of fun distraction – but there’s nothing around
- You’re not feeling the usual buzz that you get from your projects
- The work feels hard, and there’s no–one telling you that you should keep going with it, and you’re starting to doubt whether you should.
- You’re tired.
The terrain you cover in the journey of your creative work can be incredibly varied. But one thing is often true, and that is that the final stretches of a project are vast, rocky, often hard and and often lonely. This is where creative work can be most at risk of dying a sad death – you’re almost there all the fun’s gone out of the project – all that’s left are the hard bits and the struggle. Ugggh! It’s no wonder that it can seem so easy to just give up.
Ways to explore Pratyahara
Go to your room!
How many times did we hear this directive as a child? Back then, it was no doubt a form of punishment. But there’s another way to look at it. Pratyahara is about reducing sensory input. It’s a way of distilling the moment by taking the busy-ness out of it. Reducing the clutter in our daily moments can actually help to reduce our sense of fatigue, as well, by giving us less to process. So, give it a go! Take yourself to your bedroom, or another quiet space, and give yourself some time out. Fall onto your bed, close your eyes and simply enjoy a bit of stillness. If you can stretch out the time, you might want to reduce the light in the room by drawing the curtains and shutting the door. If you’re not keen to lay down, then simply sit. Or, if you’re not able to stop completely, you might want to tidy up a bit. Got clothes lying around? Pop them away. Clean spaces also help us relax find a deeper sense of calm.
The key point here is that often when we are bored with our creative work, we start multi-tasking. We move off onto another project, get excited about starting something new, and before we know it, the project we were working on – and getting so close to finishing, has faded to the background. Once it does that, it can be hard to get momentum again. So, don’t take a break from one creative project by moving onto another when you’re at this stage. A sidenote here is that if you know me, you know that I love having a hundred creative projects on the go. So believe me, I know how weird this guidance sounds, coming from me! But the final stages of a creative project are special, and require a different approach. My recommendation is that you keep focusing on the one project to ensure you get it across the line, and take mindful breaks that allow you to restore your sense of wellness through quiet moments, rather than through other creative work.
Mix it up – and take a moment to check your thoughts.
Pratyahara is about withdrawal of sensory input – and that can mean what thoughts and ways of looking at things, as well as the more obvious kinds of noises and distractions of life.
So, when you’ve had a breather and are ready to get back to it, find a way to be present with the work – but take a step back and consider your own thoughts about the work. Are there any unhelpful thoughts circling around in your brain that you can re-write? Here are some of the sentiments that might be surfacing in your mind as you slog through your work:
- I’m not getting anywhere.
- Why doesn’t anyone else struggle like me?
- Is this going to be worth it?
- No-one’s going to notice my work, why am I bothering trying to get it right?
- I’m wasting my time – it’s not worth it.
- This is so tedious.
It’s interesting that these kind of thoughts can start to sneak in, even when we’re not aware that they have started to surface. You might have successfully avoided these thoughts appearing – but if you’ve noticed one or two of these kinds of thoughts surfacing, it can be worth taking the time to sit with them for a while, and then find a more productive spin that you can re-code into your work, like:
- This is all part of the journey – I’m OK with the boring parts if it makes the work better.
- I’m sure everyone feels like this at some stage – I’m not the only one.
- I’m nearly there – and I’m not ready to give up just because this part of the work is harder than some other parts.
- I’m going to let the work teach me new things – isn’t that part of why we do creative things?
- Every minute I’m spending on this work is helping me to be a better artist.
- I’ve set my intention to be present with the work, do what it asks of me, and then I’ll be ready to get it out into the world.
Why not give Pratyahara a go? I’ve found it a great way to mindfully restore myself so I can remain present with the challenges of creative life. I hope you enjoy experimenting!
Sources
1. https://www.springwoodyogastudio.com.au/post/pratyahara-the-5th-limb-of-yoga
What is Mindful Creativity?
Hello, my name’s Jordan. Mindful Creativity is a great way to relax, unwind and enjoy creativity to enhance our sense of wellness. If you’re looking for a way to connect with your inner voice as you develop your own personal creative practice, it might be just the thing for you.
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