From Aruna Yoga Teacher Training Manual by Nicki Forman:
“Pratyahara is an essential step to stilling the mind. By witnessing and observing our reactions we are given a chance to notice our habits, thoughts, and reactivity [...] we become self-observant and consequently less reactive [...] we “invert ourselves from the world of objects.” Patañjali speaks of mastery over the sense organs in Sūtra 2.55.”