Prātyāhāra - The Fifth Limb of the Eight Limbs of Yoga
Prātyāhāra
II.54 Sva-visaya asamprayoge cittasya sva-rūpa-anukāra iva idriyānām prātyāhārah
II.55 Tatah paramā vaśyatā indriyānām
The fifth limb of the Eight Limbs of Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga is prātyāhāra. There are two sūtras about prātyāhāra, Sūtra II.54 Sva-visaya asamprayoge cittasya sva-rūpa-anukāra iva idriyānām prātyāhārah and Sūtra II.55 Tatah paramā vaśyatā indriyānām. When translated, they mean, “Restraint of the senses or sense withdrawal is when the mind disconnects from the objects as its own, and as if it is imitating the original form of the senses” and “Consequently, then is the highest mastery of the senses.”
The word prātyāhāra means to retreat or withdraw. It is a process through which we stop the mind from trying to make sense of things or make them relatable and instead we allow the mind to simply record and perceive. The goal is to train our minds so that whatever is being presented to our senses is just there — no attachment, recognition, or connection. What is there has no influence over us.
A common prātyāhāra application used in āsana practice is the tristana, or the three pillars of ashtanga vinyasa yoga: ujayii breath (a prānāyama), bandhas (energy locks), and dristi (focal point or gaze).
During our āsana practice the teacher tells us to begin our ujayii breathing; this creates focus on our breathing patterns and causes us to listen to the whispering sound we create in our throat. Next they tell us where our dristi should be (every āsana has a specific dristi) which narrows and focuses our vision. Then they remind us which bandhas we should be engaging within the body, thus bringing more of our focus inward and internally. Think of a turtle retracting its head and limbs into its shell — this is essentially what we are trying to do with our mind and senses.
Maintaining the tristana, for an entire practice is very challenging. Imaine this: You're in class and fully focused in your downward facing dog. Your ujjayi is smooth and steady, all three bandhas are engaged, and your dristi is locked on your navel. Then someone opens the door and walks into class late. Bam! You turn to look (dristi lost), you see it’s your friend (bandhas disengaged), and you smile (bye-bye ujayii). All at once, in less than a second, your senses took over and your mind reacted to them. At that point, you have to start the tristana application all over again.
This happens to us all the time, all day long. Our minds love stimulation. We seek it out, and our senses are direct gateways to the mind, feeding the beast.
The practice of prātyāhāra helps us learn to better control and restrain both our senses and our mind’s reaction to them — reducing what is being fed to the beast, and moreover, training the beast not to eat.
Then Sūtra II.55 Tatah paramā vaśyatā indriyānām, explains that over time and practice of prātyāhāra, the highest mastery of the senses is procured. The senses operate the way they were designed to, but without any influence over the mind or the identity. They are just clean, clear senses that do not cause distractions.
The senses learn to disregard the different objects around them and faithfully follow the direction of the mind, instead of distracting or influencing the mind. This is prātyāhāra, which prepares us for the practice of the next limb, dhārana.
A note for context: My perspective is based in the Viniyoga/Desikachar lineage. Viniyoga is a traditional Indian lineage of Yoga taught by TKV Desikachar, who was the son of Krishnamacharya. My teacher, Chase Bossart, was a 20+ year private student of Mr. Desikachar. I have studied this text with Chase, word for Sanskrit word, consistently for the past four years.
Stay tuned to learn more about the rest of the Eight Limbs in my upcoming blog articles.
Namaste,
Kelly