Pratyahara is the fifth limb of Ashtanga Yoga.
Pratyahara means drawing back or retreat. The word ahara means "nourishment";
pratyahara translates as "to withdraw oneself from that which
nourishes the senses." In yoga, the term pratyahara implies
withdrawal of the senses from attachment to external objects. What does
this mean? It means our senses stop living off the things that
stimulate; the senses no longer depend on these stimulants and are not
fed by them any more.
Let us look at this concept a little closely. When we see a sunset,
first our eyes are drawn to it; the eyes sent a message to the brain;
the brain computer will assimilate the information sent by the eyes and
form the picture of the sunset. This is the way our senses function
normally. But there is also the possibility that the most beautiful
sunset on earth will not attract our attention, will not engage our
senses, because we are deeply immersed in something else. We may be
concentrating on something without any awareness of what is going around
us. Normally the senses say to the mind: "Look at this! Smell this!
Touch that!" The senses register an object and the mind is drawn to
it at once.
In pratyahara we sever this link between mind and senses, and the
senses withdraw. Each sense perception has a particular quality to which
it relates: the eyes relate to the form of something; the ears to the
sound, the vibration it makes; the nose to its smell. In pratyahara it
is as if things are spread out with all their attractions before our
senses, but they are ignored; the senses remain unmoved and
uninfluenced. In effect the brain will disregard all that is received by
the various sensory organs and will only accept and process the signals
sent by sensory organs at the command of the brain. Now we have control
over our senses rather than being controlled by them.
For example, when we are totally absorbed in the breath during
pranayama, pratyahara occurs quite automatically. The mind is so
intensely occupied with the breath that all links between mind, senses,
and external objects that have nothing to do with the breath are cut
off. So pratyahara is not a state of sleep. The senses are quite capable
of responding, but they do not because they have withdrawn or detached.
