The Inward Journey of Pratyahara

Pratyahara is the fifth limb of the eight limbs of yoga. It is translated as "withdrawing from the senses". This limb, Pratyahara, has always resonated with me so much because it feels like it is giving me permission to withdraw and take a break from all the noise, responsibilities and conversations going on in the world.

When I worked in an office in downtown NYC, every day I chose to go for lunch alone. In the summer, I would sit outside by the water watching the boats on the Hudson River, watching people and passers by, jogging, walking, eating, talking. I would notice that most of the other people I was watching were not alone. They were with colleagues or friends, continuing to talk about things going on in their lives, maybe even talk or gossip about other people in the office or talk about upcoming plans. I could never understand why all these people wanted to keep talking and using their brains so much during their lunch break. For me, this was my time for some peace and quiet and I just loved being with myself and finding this space of calm, whilst observation of my surroudnings. It felt like a mini vacation and I looked forward to it every day.

Another daily habit of mine at that time was to go for a run after work. Similarly, going for a run was my personal time. As soon as I started running, I would lose myself in a sense of freedom and liberation. I became like a child, with no worry, no plan, no analysis. I was present, even though I didn't know how to express it at the time. I felt like I was almost flying and energetically flowing through the universe. I could feel a sense of expansion and freedom with every step, every heart beat and every breath. My steps, heart beats and breath were like the beat or the rhythm of what kept me so present. Looking back now and contemplating those daily runs, I realize that was a form of my meditation.

Anytime a friend asked if I’d like to run with them, I always declined. In fact, it caused me a little anxiety at the thought of running with someone other than myself. Once again, this was my time to withdraw from all the noise, responsibilities, and conversations going on in the world and in my life.

I had never taken a yoga class and certainly never meditated.

15 years later, and I'm now practicing and teaching yoga. I recently started studying the Yoga Sutras in more depth, with one of my teachers, as a step towards deepening my meditation practice.

I've read so many articles online about Pratyahara and different interpretations about what it is and what it means.

Pratyahara is the state of withdrawing from the senses, where the mind is no longer connected to any of the senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste or touch, and we are no longer using our senses to create a specific state of mind. It's about bringing the awareness inwards, into a deeper state of consciousness where the senses are no longer activated.

It is from this state of Pratyahara within us from which we can more easily focus on a meditation object without using our senses (such as the breath, or a positive virtue like love or compassion) rather than focusing on an object in the outside world using our senses (such as holding a cup of tea or watching a beautiful butterfly). This state of focus on a meditation object is the next limb of yoga, Dharana, and is only possible if we have mastered Pratyahara and our mind is no longer connected with the senses or focused on an object or situation outside of us using the senses. Once we have mastered and realized Pratyahara and Dharana, we naturally find ourselves in the true state of meditation, Dhyana. This state of Dhyana is not possible when our senses are activated and we are focusing on situations or objects outside of us.

When we are focusing on an object in the outside world using our senses, this is called Mindfulness, as long as we have a gentle focus, with a sense of full awareness and presence. I say "gentle focus" because if we become too focused on an object or situation in the outside world such that we are no longer aware of our surroundings or no longer hear or see anything going on around us, this in my opinion is not a healthy form of focused attention and is not true Mindfulness. I believe this is more of a focused obsession rather than focused attention, that is likely to have a strong attachment to either the outcome or the "doing" as a way to "check-out" from our inner self. This state of focused obsession can often cause time to pass very quickly, and we can often forget things we did in the past because we are so focused on the present situation or object.

So are Mindfulness and Dhyana the same? No, however Mindfulness is certainly a helpful step towards practicing or achieving Dhyana, and even towards achieving the state of Pratyahara.

Mindfulness can be "using the senses to connect the mind with an object in the outside world, with focus, presence and awareness" (as in the examples above of holding a cup of tea or watching a butterfly). This object could be tangible object, or a thought in the mind, or a situation, or a person, or something we are doing at that time. Mindfulness can also be bringing the awareness inward, withdrawing from the senses, and focusing our mind on a meditation object. This Mindfulness technique is more closely related to Pratyahara and Dharana.

Pratyahara is "not using the senses so that we can bring our mind inwards, to a deeper state of consciousness within us, from which we can eventually tap into our true nature and ultimately reach enlightenment" through Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.

The ultimate goal of Yoga, and therefore why we practice Pratyahara since it is on the eight limbed path towards the goal of Yoga, is enlightenment, or Samadhi as in the Yoga Sutras. This is our true nature.

This true nature, enlightenment or Samadhi is made up of the "pure" sense of virtues such as peace, love and happiness, amongst others, that we already have inside of us. The peace, love and happiness that we experience as a result of using our senses and focusing on objects in the outside world, are not pure because they all have opposites. For example, the happiness we feel when we have a great job that we love, turns into depression when we no longer like it and want to quit. The love that we feel for our partner or lover turns into anger when we no longer love them and want to separate. All the feelings or emotions we experience that are based on external situations, or objects in the external world have opposites, and are therefore not our true nature and will never lead us to enlightenment, Samadhi.

I believe we will never find our true nature or the state of enlightenment from an external object, such as holding a cup of tea or watching a butterfly. We can only ever find this when we withdraw from the senses and move inwards, because our true nature is inside of us, and is not related to anything in the external world.

Mindfulness (through focused attention on things outside of us) helps us to be more present, awake and aware in the world. Mindfulness can also be practiced by bringing awareness to the breath or an internal state.

Prathayara helps us to be more present within and more connected to our true nature, our state of Samadhi or enlightenment.

The yogis in early time practiced reaching the state of enlightenment by sitting in a cave alone so that they could fully withdraw from their senses and practice moving inwards, Pratyahara, towards their true nature. I don't believe they or we would be able to reach enlightenment by being mindful or focused on things in the outside world because our senses connect so strongly with our mind to bring us the joy, happiness, peace and love that are not the pure forms of these virtues.

The concept of Aparigraha, non-attachment and non-grasping, is also very important to consider in this topic. When we bring our mind focus to any object (a meditation object or an object in the outside world), we want to practice doing so with no attachment and no sense of grasping, such that if we no longer had that object, we would not be upset, angry or depressed. I believe this is an important practice to fully understand and practice before practicing Pratyahara so we can shift our perception and state of connection with the objects.

Many modern day teachers are teaching practices to reach the state of Pratyahara by using Mindfulness techniques. My concern with this is that we are teaching A in order to reach B. The key concept in Pratyahara is about not using the senses. So why are we teaching people to use the senses and focus on objects in the external world? This is a great practice for people with ADHD or that have trouble focusing their mind on one thing at a time. That said, many people have a strong focused attention already, and in some cases too much focus that it can become what I call focused obsession rather than focused attention.

Many modern day teachers are also teaching Pratyahara as the "control of the senses", rather than not using the senses. So what did Patanjali really mean when he wrote about Pratyahara? The yoga sutras that mention Pratyahara state:

Sutra 2:54 When the senses withdraw themselves from external objects and faithfully follow the direction of the mind, this is pratyahara.

Sutra 2:55 Then follows supreme mastery over the senses.

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Author: Sally Mitchell, founder of Body Flows Yoga Retreats and RYT 200 Yoga Teacher leads yoga retreats in the USA, Mexico and Costa Rica. Living in beautiful Sonoma, California, after 15 years in NYC and San Francisco, her approach as a leader and teacher is holistic, balanced and grounded. She enjoys practicing and studying yoga, hiking and trail running in nature, traveling, writing, blogging and inspiring others to live a more spiritual and meaningful life.

Read more about Sally here.