Pratyahara or the 'withdrawal of the senses''s the fifth element among the Eight stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, as mentioned in his classical work, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali written in 2 BCE . It's a bridge between the bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and the antaranga (internal) yoga. Having actualized the pratyahara stage, a practitioner's able to effectively engage into the practice of Samyama. At the stage of pratyahara, the consciousness of t… (More on Pratyahara)