Dharana-Patanjali’s 6th limb of yoga

Dharana- Patanjali explains concentration as the “binding of consciousness to a [single] spot.”  One pointed focus concentration.

We must get focused before we can truly meditate to levitate. This where breath work comes in. When our mind begins to wander we come back to the breath. Hear the breath, feel the breath, be the breath.  One pointed concentration.

Too often we get caught up in the business of our lives and lose sight of our life’s purpose. The last three limbs of yoga are known as samyama, the pathway to the true light of knowledge. Dharana is the sixth limb of yoga and the essence means “one-pointed attention,” teaching us how to focus our attention on the present moment.

The ability to focus all the mind’s attention toward one thing is the foundation of the next limb—dhyana or meditation—and is absolutely necessary if you want to reach the liberation of samadhi.

Staying Focused

Normally, our minds are like diffused light. Thoughts are spread out in many different directions. For most of us, our plates are full. We lead extremely busy lives and with all of the methods of working today tend to keep us distracted most of the time.  How can you expect to be focused when your work requires you to check emails and text messages, post on social media, go to meetings, finish projects, and answer phone calls, take care of the house, kids and so on.  Too often we are expected to respond immediately to many of these requests. Then begin to wonder why we’re not attaining our goals and moving toward our life’s purpose.

By definition, this focus cures the inner conflicts we so commonly experience. When you’re completely focused, you can’t be of two minds about something.

The ego is the master of distraction. Think of the ego as a two-year-old child striving for attention. The ego will tell you stories like, “I can’t focus; my to-do list is too long.” “My children need me.” Or “The housework must get done.”

Thus is the deception of the ego. Dharana is about being completely focused on the present moment in what you are doing. Have you ever seen two people on a date or even walking around on their phones not being fully present with the person they are with?  Have you been guilty of that? I know I have.

Heck, even writing this blog I have lost focus several times.  My mind jumps all around telling me I “need to…”, then I get up, get distracted.  If I just focused and concentrated for a little bit I would stop self-sabotaging myself and get this finished!