To really see we must stop looking

The fifth of the eight limbs of yoga, Pratyahara, is often overlooked, yet it might well be the most pertinent to mastering yoga. Typically, Pratyahara is translated as "sense withdrawal." But it could also be interpreted as drawing the senses inward or withdrawing from distractions and stories to more clearly understand  aspects of our true nature. Sometimes, in order to see, we have to stop looking outside of us, stop remembering, stop hoping to see.
While the eight limbs are not to be understood or practiced chronologically, Pratyahara is positioned between the outer dimension and the inner dimension. The yamas and niyamas teach about the art of right living, asana about taking care of the body, pranayama about the enhancement of vital life energy. Now Pratyahara begins to draw the attention inward and becomes an integral part of the next three limbs: focus, meditation and bliss.
Most of us suffer from sensory overload, we are constantly bombarded by television, radio, computers, newspapers, magazines, books—you name it. Advertisements stimulate interest by entertaining our senses with bright colors, loud noises and dramatic sensations. 
Let your yoga practice be a quiet retreat from the crazy world outside, a place where you can be you, where you look inside, beneath the skin, knowing that you are always enough. 

Let Go of Something (Danna Faulds)
Let go of something, somewhere. 
Use yoga to become aware, 
to touch what lies beneath 
the surface of the skin.
Is there tension longing
for release; a knot of
fear so deep and familiar
that you believe it's
part of who you are?
Ease into dark corners,
locked rooms, unexplored
hallways. Gain entry
not by force or will
but only by softness.
Enter on the wings of
breath, and turn the
key of self-acceptance
to let go of something,
somewhere.