One might assume when we close off one or more of our five senses, that we are experiencing "less." Human practice tends to absorb the complexity of worldly information visually, first, and this is an external focus. Even our hearing is directed outside of ourselves when we learn or interact; but how often do most people direct their seeing and listening internally? When do we take the time, to listen for what we may find inside?
One might wonder why internalized focus would merit our attention at all, because what could possibly be going on "in there?" Nobody pays us to listen in or even suggests to us that there is merit to looking inward with focus, unless we are measuring with inanimate instruments...but I ask, how perceptive can the organic instrument be, in measuring its own self? I will speculate that very few of us experience internalized perception past the act of random thoughts, fears and projections, or whatever we are currently focused on. All that actually goes on inside ourselves all the time, remains beneath our ordinary notice.
Feel free to click on the interactive "Inner Complexity Mandala" rendered by Vaysha Hirsch, as you explore this post. Although the mandala is an external visualization, the feeling of internalizing meditation may still be enjoyed by gazing, eyes half-lidded, into its center...and breathing with the release of thoughts.
What if one were to purposefully seal-off from the external senses for even five sustained minutes in order to pay close attention to the internal truth of "what is." This action of pulling back from one's senses is, in yoga / sanskrit terminology, called "Pratyahara," meaning "withdrawal of the senses": I invite you to turn off all external distractions for the short term...all smart phones, MP3 players, computers, TV, etc. so you may have "environmental quiet" (although once you begin, you will notice that all of these sounds will become "replaced" anyway). Actual silence is rare, so we do our best to "turn off" the "white noise" of what is in our sphere of influence.
Once we have controlled our environment, it becomes all about finding a comfortable seat which we are able to maintain for a stretch of a few minutes without having to adjust. We may sit cross-legged, half or full lotus, possibly with back against a wall for support, or sitting on our knees and heels of our feet for Thunderbolt Seat's healing pressure and strong foundation. If in Thunderbolt, our knees have issues, we may place a pillow or bolster behind our knees for relieving excess pressure.
Now begin your kriya action of Pratyahara, or purifying your sensory mental space. Initiate your easy flow of breath through your nose as you consciously rise up through your spine, liberating your internal organs in your comfortable seat. Once you are in touch with the breath-flow, SEAL OFF YOUR EYES WITH "PINKY FINGERS" drawing down eye-lids like window shades. Next, PLUG YOUR EAR CANALS WITH YOUR THUMBS, while maintaining pinkies drawing down your eye-lids. Your arms will have to maintain raised position for these sealing, hand-positions to work their simple magic in the practice.
Follow the breathing cycle in through your nose, into your body, as it leaves and then returns, all with focus. Recognize mind-activity as it begins to draw attention from breathing or listening and detach from thoughts by maintaining focus on the breath...and listening to 'what is' or the internal sounds which will gradually rise into your hearing's perception, filling up your mind-space. Exercise patience required to sit still and "do nothing" but observe with your remaining senses of INNER HEARING and FEELING.
Pratyahara is the beginning of deeper yoga meditation because it "ups the ante" from one-pointed focus of breath monitoring used for simplifying thought processes, into a deeply immersed meditation, listening for the harmony of one's internal world of energetic reality operating automatically for us, all the time. As The Universe is always humming "out there," SO HUM, It ceaselessly vibrates with Nature's complexity inside of us: THE MIRRORS OF NATURE.
The sounds one may expect to hear on the inside, once accomplishing all preparation, are: a gradual rise of higher frequencies like whistles or chimes, a fluttering or thumping base-line not unlike a more intense perception of your own pulse, and various layers of sound frequencies in between. This is the listening observation of your internal complexity of cells, flows, and organs, or your "internal computer." The sounds will feel or sound "electrified," as you listen to the energies which power your internal functioning, beneath your ordinary, everyday notice.
Connecting inward with this auditory "symphony of sound," along with one-pointed focus, in my experience, will detach you from distracting mental activity, and induce a calmness or re-charging...because instead of plugging into the television or your computer monitor, you are going inside, not philosophically, but through deep personal experience of yourself. I will add, that plugging into the internal computer, while sealing off the usual escape conduits to your own consciousness, will find a sonic re-mix of neural patterns in the brain, like a shake-up of your mind into feeling awakened and mentally rejuvenated.
During Pratyahara, you may attain a mental silencing of random thoughts where mind-chatter "shuts off," a relaxation or refuge clearing brain fog and producing a calming of anxiety, a fascinating experience with one's internal sounds or processes, and an appreciation for how one has the power to block-out the distracting outer world for an enlightening inner experience. How may one actually cease the constant prattling of the restless mind in this case? This is accomplished because the mind can only focus on so many things...and while staying with your breath, and listening freely to a multitudinous layering of sound which rises and remains, filling your ears and mind, there really isn't much room left for distraction, which as an energetic or mental entity, shrinks by comparison to the omnipresence of your own Inner Universe.
When you emerge from this meditative practice, you will likely feel uniquely refreshed, subtly, unlike any other physical or entertaining method of relaxation you would typically rely on...and more effortless to experience. This practice may be done for any comfortable or sustained period of time, as you become familiar with the process, and the benefits you derive from taking this "time-out" for yourself. Be sure to shake out your limbs to liberate any stiffness from maintaining arms raised, or in holding up your good posture, before shifting back into your ordinary world of daily activities or going to bed.
Always remember...privacy is not only to be found inside an empty room...but can be sought and achieved, on a deeper level, anywhere, by going inside one's own full self...THE FULLNESS OF YOU.
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