Self-preservation

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra - II.9
svarasavahi vidusah api tatha audhah abhinivesah

Self-preservation or attachment to life is the subtlest of all afflictions.  It is found even in wise men.
(B.K.S. Iyengar - Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)

Most of us fear death and have a strong attachment to life.  We don't want miss being around the ones we love and being involved in their day to day lives.

Mr.Iyengar writes in Light on the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali, that "while practicing asana, pranayama or dyana, the sadhaka penetrates deep within himself.  He experiences unity in the flow of intelligence, and the current of self-energy.  In this state, he perceives that there is no difference between life and death, that they are simply two sides of the same coin. He understands that the current of self, the life-force, active while he is alive, merges with the universe when it leaves his body at death. Through this understanding, he loses his attachment to life and conquers the fear of death."

Let drawing inward to the source of the fear begin the process of letting go, through yoga and meditation one can still the fluctuations of the mind.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
www.plnyoga.vpweb.com