Antaranga Sadhana: Inward Practice as Grief Work

Antaranga sadhana refers to the internal or inward dimensions of spiritual practice, as opposed to external rituals. For Mirabai, this meant kirtan (devotional singing), meditation on divine names, and the introspective examination of longing itself. Antaranga sadhana offers containers for grief that pure psychology cannot: the repetition of mantra or sacred song, the rhythm of prayer, the structure of contemplative practice. These aren't distractions from grief but refined ways of feeling it. When you practice antaranga sadhana around lost identity—perhaps through journaling as prayer, through movement that expresses rather than suppresses emotion, through repetition of words that name what you're experiencing—you're not trying to fix or transcend the grief. You're honoring it through disciplined attention. The structure itself becomes healing; the practice says: "This grief is worth showing up for regularly, worth meeting with intention, worth transforming into consciousness."