Dharana

Dharana is the sixth limb of Ashtanga Yoga and the first of the three inner stages of meditation. It means concentration — the developing and extending of our powers of focus. Having withdrawn the senses through Pratyahara, the practitioner now gathers the freed attention and directs it, steadily, to a single point.

Dharana consists of the various ways of directing and controlling our attention and mind — fixing the mind on a chosen object and holding it there. The object of focus may be, for example, one of the chakras (energy centres), the breath, an image, a sound, or simply the act of turning the attention inwards. Whenever the mind wanders, the practitioner gently brings it back to the chosen point, again and again, and with repeated practice the power of concentration grows stronger and steadier.

Because it trains the very ability on which meditation depends, Dharana is the direct preparation for Dhyana. When concentration becomes deep and stable — when the mind can rest on the object with less and less effort — it flows naturally into the continuous, effortless attention of meditation. In short, Dharana is the stage of establishing focus, and it is the essential foundation of the two inner limbs that follow.

How Dharana is practised

A practitioner chooses a single object of focus — external (a flame, an image, a sound) or internal (a chakra, the breath, a mantra) — and repeatedly returns the attention to it the moment it wanders. Unlike Pratyahara, which withdraws the senses from the world in general, Dharana goes a step further by fixing that withdrawn attention onto one chosen point and holding it there with effort.

Why repetition matters …