On Turning Inward, Mental Health and Yoga with Dr Lauren Tober
These ordinary moments are doorways into the final four limbs of yoga, where we head inward.
This is the last episode in our five part series on Patanjali’s eight limbs.
Now that we’ve moved through the yamas, the niyamas, asana and pranayama, we now turn fully inward, through pratyahara and on to dharana, dhyana and samadhi.
These aren’t limbs that we can force or achieve. They’re what unfold on their own when the conditions are right.
In this episode, we explore:
- Pratyahara, the turning inward, and why it can’t be forced any more than sleep can
- ‘Throwing the mind a bone’, and why a busy mind settles when we give it something simple to rest on
- What a Byron Bay heavy metal band next door taught me about pratyahara
- Why we never instruct our students to close their eyes, and how to offer the choice safely
- Dharana, dhyana and samadhi as the fruits of practice, rather than practices in themselves
- Why ‘I’m meditating’ really means ‘I’m creating the conditions in which meditation might arise’
- Why these deep inward states can be destabilising for some
- How all eight limbs, in the end, point us home to ourselves and our own inner wisdom
Download the accompanying Patanjali’s Eight Limbs and Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook
Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training in September
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Dr Lauren Tober (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist, Yoga Teacher, founder of the Yoga Psychology Institute, host of the A Grateful Life podcast and author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers.
Lauren developed the Mental Health Aware Yoga training to help yoga teachers make their classes safe, nourishing and transformative for all.
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The information provided on this blog is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.
Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs for professional training.
Any statements, claims or endorsements expressed by our guest authors, speakers and podcast sponsors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Mental Health Aware Yoga and the Yoga Psychology Institute.
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As a Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher of nearly two decades and the author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers, I'm passionate about integrating yoga and psychology on the mat, in the counselling room and in the world.
With the growing interest in mental health and yoga, yoga students are attending yoga classes for the mental health benefits in unprecedented numbers.
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