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Indifference to Pain (Part II)

Wednesday, December 22, 2021
On my mat a bit behind schedule at 5:27am as I type this.  

Today's title (and yesterday's title), is something that I plan to talk about more, but the concept of being indifferent to pain isn't necessarily tied to a yoga practice, or to the art/science of yoga as a whole; indifference to pain is merely something that I've personally connected to my practice as a benefit that I receive. 

Why would anyone want to be indifferent to their pain?

There are 8 limbs to the tree of yoga; Asana (or physical postures) are what most of us think of when we think of "yoga", but Asana is only one of the 8.  

Pratyahara is the 5th limb, and it is the withdrawal from the senses.  I won't expand too much on this concept because, even after 10+ years of a practice, this is a difficult concept to understand but, at its core, I believe this principle is meant to focus our mind.  Your mind controls your body (where pain originates from), and if you can control your mind, and your focus, then you can be "an observer" of your body, and any pain or discomfort it's in.  

No, I don't mean that you begin to physically levitate on your mat while focusing your mind, but you do begin to "withdrawal" from your surroundings.  You're fully aware of everything that's going on around you, but it's "over there" and you're "over here".  Pain, and discomfort can, therefore, be considered illusions (#meta) and, as long as you maintain focus of your mind, you become indifferent to any physical sensations. 

That's enough gum-flappin.......time to begin.

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