How to Practice Pratyahara: A Guide to the Fifth Limb of Yoga

Pratyahara is the fifth limb of yoga in the Ashtanga yoga system—also called the eight-limbed path—and it serves as a foundation for meditation. The experience of pratyahara is the ability to disengage your mind by controlling your reaction to external disturbances. During pratyahara, your five sense organs still detect external stimulation, but you don't allow them to disrupt your state of mind.

Pratyahara is a Sanskrit word meaning "withdrawal of the senses.” The two root Sanskrit words of pratyahara are prati, which means “to withdraw,” and ahara, which means “food;” in this case, “food” refers to any external stimuli that you consume with your mind.

There are four sub-types of pratyahara that allow you to fully experience its benefits.

1. 1. Indriya pratyahara: To create the best environment for relaxation of the mind, indriya pratyahara focuses on withdrawal from the external stimuli you experience via the five senses: hearing, taste, smell, sense, sight, and touch. To withdraw from the senses, concentrate on your natural breathing pattern or turn your attention to a chakra.
2. 2. Prana pratyahara: When practicing pratyahara, it’s essential to control your prana—which is the universal energy flowing throughout the body—so that you can avoid focusing too much of that energy on your senses.
3. 3. Karma pratyahara: This is the control of action. Karma pratyahara is about surrendering all actions or thoughts of personal reward in favor of acting in service to humanity or the divine. You can practice this through karma yoga, which teaches that desire is limitless and happiness is attainable when it is not attached to the results of your actions.
4. 4. Mano pratyahara: This final type of pratyahara is withdrawal of the mind. When you practice mano pratyahara, you not only withdraw from external stimuli, but you actively control your reaction to it and redirect your attention inwards.

You can practice these pratyahara steps while practicing physical yoga poses, known as asana. It's normal for the mind to wander during asana, especially if you are thinking about whether you're doing a pose correctly or if you should switch to a new pose. Practice pratyahara by taking the energy you're using to think about your handling of the pose and turn that energy inward to concentrate on the pose itself. Savasana, the final resting pose that concludes many yoga sessions, is another great opportunity to practice pratyahara.

The eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga outline ways to live a purposeful life. The earlier limbs focus primarily on basic ethical teachings, and the later limbs—including pratyahara, the fifth limb of yoga—focus on internal concepts like meditation. The eight limbs of yoga are:

1. 1. Yamas: Social restraints and moral codes of yoga. The Yoga Sutra describes five different yamas, including ashimsa (non-violence), asteya (non-stealing), satya (truthfulness), aparigraha (non-possessiveness), and brahmacharya (celibacy or fidelity).
2. 2. Niyamas: Observances, rules, and guidelines. The Yoga Sutra describes five different niyamas, including saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (self-discipline), svadhyaya (self-reflection), and ishvarapranidhana (surrender to a higher power).
3. 3. Asana: Yoga postures or poses. This limb emphasizes the importance of caring for the body and developing the discipline to advance spiritual growth.
4. 4. Pranayama: Use of breath. Pranayama consists of breathing techniques that can reduce stress and improve physical and mental health. In pranayama, you focus deeply on breath control through inhalation, breath retention, and exhalation patterns.
5. 5. Pratyahara: Withdrawal. Pratyahara involves disengaging your mind from external disturbances and controlling your reaction to them. During pratyahara, your five sense organs still detect external stimulation, but you don't allow them to disrupt your state of mind.
6. 6. Dharana: Concentration. The goal of dharana is to bind your consciousness to one particular object, place, or idea. Focusing your attention on one thing helps quiet your mind by closing off paths by which other thoughts intrude.
7. 7. Dhyana: Meditation. Dhyana is similar to dharana, except during dhyana, you reach a state of being where you are so completely immersed in your meditation that it becomes a part of your consciousness.
8. 8. Samadhi: Bliss or enlightenment. Samadhi is the highest state of consciousness you can achieve through meditation. It consists of a yoga practitioner reaching spiritual enlightenment where the self, the mind, and the object of meditation merge together into one.

Every limb builds off of techniques in the previous limb. As such, the conscious withdrawal of energy from the senses during pratyahara is an important preparatory measure before you dive into the more internal, meditation-based later steps of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.

Proper form and technique are essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of a yoga practice. If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before practicing yoga. Yoga poses may be modified based on your individual needs.

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