Yoga for Life: Inner Peace and Calm

Yes, it’s Friday again, and this week’s topic is especially meaningful to me. When I say that yoga changed my life, it’s the lessons of letting go and tuning out external distractions that have created my sense of personal happiness, freedom, and peace. I also attribute these yoga principles to shaping my personal leadership style.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

Sanskrit mantra: May all beings everywhere be happy (and free from suffering)

Pratyahara: Withdrawal of the senses

Several years ago, a yoga studio opened within walking distance of my home. This made it easy for me to attend classes, and I began practicing yoga on a regular basis. I already had a longstanding habit of working out first thing in the morning, so I started going to the studio a few days a week. One winter morning when it was still cold and dark outside, I remember lying on my yoga mat, resting in savasana (corpse pose). The peaceful feeling I had begun to cultivate was rudely interrupted by the sound of a truck slowly backing up behind the studio. Beep beep beep beep! 

“Ugh,” I thought,”how annoying! Now savasana is ruined.” But my teacher had a different reaction, gently pointing out that it was an opportunity to practice pratyahara and tune out the external distractions. In that moment, I decided to give it a try, to not let the noise bother me, and I was able to be present again. This was a lightbulb moment in my yoga journey.

Pratyahara is one of the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga in Patanjali’s yoga sutras, or texts. It refers to the withdrawal of the senses from the external. Without getting too deeply into the spiritual concepts, pratyahara enables peace and calm from within, regardless of what is going on around you, by decreasing mental stimulation. The ability to do so comes in handy because there are a lot of things going on around us that are outside of our control, many of which can range from upsetting to downright devastating. 

You can practice pratyahara by focusing on your breath, or on one sense at a time. I get gentle reminders to practice pratyahara to this day because both of the local yoga studios I attend are close to the train tracks and it’s not unusual to hear a train passing by, sometimes with the loud sound of the horn, at least once during a class. Maybe that’s more than coincidence.

Aparigraha: Non-attachment

I often associate pratyahara with another concept from Patanjali’s sutras, aparigraha, which is one of yamas, or moral guidelines of yoga. Aparigraha can be translated as non-attachment and non-greed, or simply letting go of what you do not need. It can refer to material possessions, but for today let’s focus on the non-tangible things. 

Take anxiety, worries, or guilt, for example - when have these negative emotions ever served any purpose beyond making you miserable? Often we fixate so much on the outcome of our efforts that we miss out on being able to enjoy the experience and the journey. And then there’s the mental baggage that we lug around with us, beliefs about ourselves that are no longer true, comparison to others, or concern about what others think of us. Negative feelings can manifest in stress that is stored in your body as tension.

What thoughts, outcomes, and goals are you gripping so tightly onto that it’s to your own detriment? Let it go. Or to paraphrase Marie Kondoh, what are you holding on to that no longer sparks joy? Thank it for serving its purpose and then get rid of it.

While pratyahara is about not letting external factors disturb you, aparigraha sets you free from dependence on external things for your personal happiness and peace, boosting your self-reliance. Both are about finding peace and steadiness within yourself, and for me they complement each other.

Both pratyahara and aparigraha are useful for the practice of being present and impervious to what is going on around you. The ability to stay calm and cool is something we expect from leaders during a crisis or other difficult situation, and we’ve had a lot of those lately. So the more you can be present, the more you are able to have presence, and this inspires confidence and calm in others.

The physical practice of yoga can be a great means to experience inner peace and calm. Here are a few free yoga channels on YouTube that I recommend:

• Yoga with Adriene

• Yoga with Tim

• Tana Yoga

• Yoginimelbourne

If you’re not interested in doing yoga, give meditation a try. I prefer the moving meditation of yoga, but do try to incorporate the occasional two-minute meditations, which are surprisingly effective. There are lots of great meditation apps like Insight Timer (free), and Headspace and Calm, which offer a free trial.