Pratyahara

One of the advanced stages of the Hindu system of yoga practice. According to the Indian teacher Patanjali (ca. 200B.C.E.), the following stages are prescribed: yama and niyama (ethical restraints and moral observances), asanas (the physical positions of hatha yoga ), pranayama (breathing exercises), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), and dhyana (meditation ), culminating in various degrees of samadhi (superconsciousness).

Pratyahara involves withdrawing sensory perception from external objects to concentrate on single-minded contemplation as a preliminary phase of meditation.

Sources:

Inengar, B. K. S. Light on Yoga. New York: Schocken Books, 1966.

Majumdar, Sachindra Kumar. Introduction to Yoga Principles and Practices. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1976.

Pratyāhāra (Skt., ‘withdrawal’).
1. In Hinduism, sense-withdrawal, the fifth ‘limb’ of ‘eight-limbed’ (aṣṭaṅga) or rāja yoga, referring to the contraction of consciousness from the external world and senses, as a tortoise contracts its limbs.

2. A technical sense in Sanskrit grammar meaning the compression to one syllable of a series of letters or affixes, by combining the initial letter with the final.