Can we integrate pratyahara into our yoga practice?
Research Study At A Glance
The Research Question Asked
What is pratyahara and how does contemporary yoga practice incorporate it?
Type of Study
Academic philosophical and conceptual analysis
Methods
The author conducted an in-depth literature review on the concept of pratyahara and its role in contemporary yoga. She then developed a philosophical hypothesis on how we might use the practice of pratyahara based on her findings in the literature.
Results
Pratyahara practice in yoga may offer health and wellness benefits. However, there is a conflict between pratyahara as the practice of withdrawing from sensory experience and using an idea that a particular aesthetic and/or sensory experience will result from yoga (calmness, peaceful demeanor, material appearance of health), to sell yoga. The author proposes that thoughtfully applied pratyahara practice could result in greater discernment about when to engage.
Conclusion
Skillful practice of pratyahara as part of yoga practice may allow for greater discernment regarding when to withdraw from worldly experiences and when to engage.
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Background
Although the emphasis in many modern yoga classes is on the physical practice of yoga postures, Yoga as a philosophy is broader than that. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras describe eight interrelated limbs of Yoga philosophy. The first two limbs, the yamas and niyamas describe personal and relational practices. Asana, or the physical practice of postures is the third limb.
As we move up the limbs outlined by Patanjali, they get less concrete and more subtle. Limb number four, pranayama, or breathing practices, is considered by many to bridge that transition between more concrete and more subtle practices. Some schools and styles of yoga that emphasize the subtle more than the concrete may focus more on limbs six and seven. Those are dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation).
The fifth limb, pratyahara, however, is often left out of both practice and philosophical discussion in modern yoga classes. The author of the philosophical study that we summarized here was interested in why pratyahara often gets left out of modern yoga practice. She explored what it is conceptually to modern yoga practitioners, and what its role is in contemporary yoga practice.
Research question
What is pratyahara and how does contemporary yoga practice incorporate it?
Research methods
The author conducted an in-depth literature review on the concept of pratyahara. She researched its role in contemporary yoga. She then developed a philosophical hypothesis on how we might use the practice of pratyahara to understand ourselves and the world in new ways as well as orient towards social change.
Results
The author divided her findings into three categories. Those were: conceptual origins of pratyahara, pratyahara through contemporary ontologies, and pratyahara as resistance. More specifically, the author identified several themes and proposed some applications of pratyahara practice based on her in-depth exploration of the literature.
Based on the author’s findings in the literature, the concept of pratyahara could be summarized as a practice of withdrawing from the sense impressions left by the material world to move towards spiritual freedom from identification with material or sensory experience.
The author’s key findings and interpretation of the literature
- Initial research suggests health and wellness benefits of pratyahara practice may include reduced anxiety, decreased stress response, and increased relaxation.
- Pratyahara practices may also influence our orientation and perspective regarding how we experience our inner and external worlds.
- The author describes a potential tension in modern postural yoga between the practice of withdrawing from sensory experience as part of broader yoga practice and using the idea of a particular sensory experience resulting from yoga (calm, peaceful) to commercialize and sell yoga.
- Additionally, the author describes a conflict between the concept of pratyahara as the withdrawal of the senses and pressure from the yoga industry which idealizes a particular aesthetic as the material appearance of health.
- The author proposes that engagement in pratyahara practices has the potential to provide a refuge from discrimination and/or pain that practitioners may experience in the external world.
- Finally, the author also proposes that when thoughtfully applied, pratyahara practices could result in greater discernment. Through that lens, it could better enable practitioners to engage with social change.
Why is this relevant to yoga practitioners?
Most contemporary yoga practice centers asana practice. For that reason, it’s easy to get caught up in the achievement of postures and miss the wider experience of yoga practice. While yoga practice certainly offers physical health and wellness benefits, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras suggest these are actually side benefits of a holistic yoga practice.
When we practice all of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga, we recognize the possibility of experiencing samadhi, a spiritual transformation where we recognize the oneness of consciousness and no longer see ourselves as separate. Pratyahara practice has the potential to support us on that path. It allows us to experience discernment and reduce our identification with immediate sensory experience. This in turn can support us in healing, as well as cultivate an awareness of when to thoughtfully engage with the world and when to withdraw.
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Conclusion
The author suggests that skillful pratyahara practice can allow for greater discernment. She suggests we could apply that to deciding when to withdraw from worldly experiences and when to engage with the world, specifically to support social change.