The fifth of the eight limbs of yoga, Pratyahara, is often overlooked, yet it might well be the most pertinent to mastering yoga. Typically, Pratyahara is translated as "sense withdrawal." But it could also be interpreted as drawing the senses inward or withdrawing from distractions and stories to more clearly understand  aspects of our true nature. Sometimes, in order to see, we have to stop looking outside of us, stop remembering, stop hoping to see.
While the eight limbs are not to be understood or practiced chronologically, Pratyahara is positioned between the outer dimension and the inner dimension. The yamas and niyamas teach about the art of right living, asana about taking care of the body, pranayama about the enhancement of vital life energy. Now Pratyahara begins to draw the attention inward and becomes an integral part of the next three limbs: focus, meditation and bliss.
Most of us suffer from sensory overload, we are constantly bombarded by television, radio, computers, newspapers, magazines, books—you name it. Advertisements stimulate interest by entertaining our senses with bright colors, loud noises and dramatic sensations. 
Let your yoga practice be a quiet retreat from the crazy world outside, a place where you can be you, where you look inside, beneath the skin, knowing that you are always enough. 

Let Go of Something (Danna Faulds)
Let go of something, somewhere. 
Use yoga to become aware, 
to touch what lies beneath 
the surface of the skin.
Is there tension longing
for release; a knot of
fear so deep and familiar
that you believe it's
part of who you are?
Ease into dark corners,
locked rooms, unexplored
hallways. Gain entry
not by force or will
but only by softness.
Enter on the wings of
breath, and turn the
key of self-acceptance
to let go of something,
somewhere.

You know you are in India when you see cows on the beach. These blissfully calm, gentle creatures are revered in Hindu culture as sacred. To me, they are the symbol of the last three limbs of Pantanjali's path toward bliss. Wherever they are, they seem to practice dharana - focused attention - so much, that they seem to be meditating, dhyana. And most of the time, cows in India seem to live in a state of bliss, samadhi.

If I spend even just 10 minutes in the morning to meditate before heading out to teach, I feel more connected, centered, and content. In order to meditate, you don't have to deny worldly pleasures and live in a remote mountain cave. Just like these cows, just sit down, gaze softly on something beautiful (a candle, a statue, a picture, a crystal) or close your eyes. Suddenly, you'll notice how your mind is charging ahead afraid to be harnessed. You can simply count your inhale and your exhale, to give your mind an anchor.

I like to begin with some breathing exercises (pranayama). The easiest is the Dirga Breath (three-pointed breath). Take one hand on your chest, the other on your belly. On the inhale feel the filling of your torso from the belly to the rib cage, to the clavicles. On the exhale, feel the emptying from the clavicles, to the ribs, to the belly. Repeat.

Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes. Soon, you will want to do it longer. If you need help, download the free app Mindspace. It's awesome.

Shtira Sukam Asanam 2.46
When the body and the mind are steady without strain and at ease without being dull, we find a comfortable seat.

While the sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras makes reference to yoga as a pose, asana literally translated means "seat" and he didn't give any detailed instructions on how to exercise the body into different shapes. In fact, what we know today as yoga in the West is only a very small part of an ancient philosophy that includes exercise mainly as a form of preparing the body to sit longer in meditation to gain control over the ever busy monkey mind, to link up to the higher power some call God, Allah or the Universal Life Force.

Patanjali continues, that any given pose is composed of our attention to tension, relaxation and the infinite. The asanas we practice in Vinyasa Yoga today are designed to increase strength and flexibility, steadiness and ease, for both, the body and the mind. Through our practice on the mat, we stimulate all physiological systems, including the circulatory, muscular, immune and digestive system. And we also develop mindfulness and focus needed for not only meditation but also a happy life.

All movement can be a place for meditation. A pose may change, the world may change, but grace and ease are always available.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

(Mary Oliver)

tasmin sati svasa prasvasyorgati vicchedah pranayamah 2.49
Upon finding a pose we accomplish it by slowing and softening the unregulated breath through the inhalation and exhalation. This is called pranayamah, or the regulation of prana, our energetic connection between breath and consciousness.

By taking control over our breath, we can self-regulate our heart rate, our blood pressure and our digestive system. The breath is the access point to our parasympethetic nervous system. We instinctively know that because we automatically sigh to let off pressure or yawn to get more oxygen when we are tired. By simply exhaling longer than inhaling or creating an "HA" sound we calm the vagus nerve, our rest and digest nerve.

One of my teachers once said, yoga is not about how deep we can get into the pose, but how calm our mind is when we are  in it. The breath is like a litmus test for our inner calm. It is always with us and can be used to soothe the waves of anxiety or anger. When you notice through self-observation that your emotions are trying to hijack you, take a time out and breathe. Extend your exhale a little longer than the inhale and notice how that takes off emotional edges.

Here is a 5-minute sequence I started classes with this week. It's the same sequence I use to calm my mind before meditating.

Dirga - three-pointed breath - sit tall with one hand on the clavicles, the other on the belly. Observe your inhale filling clavicle, ribs, belly. The exhale empties belly, ribs, clavicles.

Nadi Shodana  - single-nostril breath - sit tall fold the right hand's peace fingers into your palm or place onto third eye. Close right nostril with thumb. Inhale left. Switch: Open right nostril and close left with ring finger. Exhale right. Inhale right. At top switch. Exhale left. That's one round. I complete at least 5 rounds. Pause and observe your regular breath.

Kapalabhati - skull-shining breath - sit tall, hand on lap. Big inhale into your belly. Exhale rapidly, vigorously pulling the belly button to the spine. let the inhale come by itself. I do three rounds of 30. Pause and observe your regular breath. (Avoid this pranayama if you have high blood pressure or recent abdominal surgery.)

Ujjayi - victorious breath - feels like you are fogging a mirror or the sound an ocean wave would make. The "HA" sound at the back of the throat is very calming to the parasympathetic nervous system. Once familiar with the feeling of constriction around the glutis, you may seal your lips and try to recreate the breath with mouth closed. Pretty soon, you'll feel it in both directions - on the inhale and on the exhale.

Breathe. Let go.
And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you have for sure.
(Oprah)