Dharana (Concentration)

Dharana is the sixth limb of Patanjali’s eight-limbed yoga and is often translated as concentration. Patanjali defines it in the Yoga Sutras as desha bandha chittasya dharana — the binding of the mind to one place. Where the preceding limbs (asana, pranayama, pratyahara) work primarily with the physical body, the energy body, and the senses, Dharana works directly with the mind. It is the first of the three inner limbs of yoga, which Patanjali calls the samyama group: Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi.

The Difference Between Concentration and Meditation

In everyday language, the words concentration and meditation are often used interchangeably. In Patanjali’s framework, they are distinct stages. Dharana involves effort — the active, repeated return of attention to a chosen object whenever it wanders. It is characterised by interruption: the mind holds the object, wanders, and is brought back. This effort is necessary and healthy. Without it, meditation cannot occur.

Dhyana (meditation) begins when the effort of Dharana becomes so habitual that the mind holds the object without interruption, in an unbroken flow of attention. The transition from Dharana to Dhyana is not marked by any dramatic shift — it is simply the point at which the gaps between returns of attention become imperceptibly small. Dharana is the practice; Dhyana is its fruition.

Objects of Concentration

Patanjali does not prescribe a single object for Dharana but says the mind can be fixed on any object. Classical objects used in practice include:

• A physical object: A candle flame (Trataka), a symbolic image or yantra, or an object associated with a deity.
• A point in the body: The tip of the nose, the point between the eyebrows (Ajna Chakra), the heart centre, or the navel.
• The breath: The sensation of the breath at the nostrils, the movement of the belly, or the sound of the breath.
• A mantra: The mental repetition of a sound, word, or phrase. This is perhaps the most widely used object of Dharana in the Indian tradition.
• An inner sound (Nada): Advanced practitioners work with the subtle internal sounds described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika’s fourth chapter.

The object matters less than consistency. Switching objects frequently prevents the depth of concentration from developing. A practitioner who has worked with the same object for years will have a fundamentally different relationship with it than one who changes objects regularly.

The Practical Method

A simple session of Dharana practice:

1. Establish a comfortable seated posture where the body will not need to move.
2. Take several slow, deep breaths to settle the nervous system.
3. Choose your object and place your full attention on it. If working with the breath, attend to the exact sensation of air at the nostrils.
4. When you notice the mind has wandered — to a thought, a sensation, a sound — simply bring it back. Do not evaluate how long it was away or berate yourself for the wandering. Just return.
5. Continue for the duration of your session — anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes.

The returning of the mind is the practice. Each return is a repetition of the exercise. In this sense, Dharana is to the mind what a bicep curl is to a muscle — the resistance (mental wandering) is not an obstacle but the very thing that builds capacity.

Prerequisites for Dharana

Patanjali places Dharana after Pratyahara for good reason. Pratyahara — the withdrawal of the senses from their objects — is a prerequisite for sustained concentration. When the senses are constantly drawn outward, the mind cannot hold a single object for more than a few seconds. A practitioner who has developed even partial Pratyahara through pranayama and asana practice will find Dharana far more accessible than one attempting it with an untrained mind.

Dharana at Medhya Laya

Every meditation session at Medhya Laya begins with explicit Dharana practice before moving toward deeper states. Students are taught to be patient with this — the wandering mind is not a sign of failure but the natural condition of an untrained mind that is beginning to be trained. The teachers consistently remind students that the number of times the mind wanders in a session is less important than the consistency of the practice over months and years.