(First published 25/5/2008)

In this chapter of Inside Yoga, we turn to the final three aspects of Hatha Yoga’s eight limbs: dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

As a reminder, the first five parts were yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and pratyahara.

The sage Patanjali, author of the yoga sutras, groups dharana, dhyana and samadhi under the word, samyama, which translates as the integration of the body, breath, mind, intellect, and self.

Dharana means in simple terms, concentration or focus of attention in one direction. For example, in a yoga posture, this focus would be on the body, and to a large extent, simultaneously, on the breath. In our yoga practice we develop the ability to focus/concentrate our attention.

Once we have that focus, once the mind is directed in one direction, with nothing else happening, we enter the next stage: dhyana, which means meditation. As Desikachar puts it: “In dhayana, one becomes involved with a particular thing – a link is established between self and object. In other words, you perceive a particular object and at the same time continuously communicate with it.”
Dharana must precede dhyana: dharana is the contact and dhyana is the connection.
The meditative state arises when there is no separation between subject and object, for example, your mind and your breath.
In another way of describing meditation, it is not something you do, its something one lays the conditions for it to arise, hence the six steps that precede meditation in yoga.

Once absorbed in something so completely that our mind becomes one with it, we are in a state of samadhi.
Samadhi means “to bring together, to merge”. In this state, nothing separates us from the object of our choice; instead we blend and become one with it.
While practising a certain yoga posture, that state of absorption or samadhi might be felt, or in fact, one might feel this samadhi while doing what appears to be a mundane task, like washing the dishes: completely absorbed in the action, or a musician playing a certain piece becomes completely absorbed.
What one learns to do in yoga is to have more control of this process, developing the ability to enter such states at will, and importantly, be able to hold this state for an extended period of time.

As Iyengar concludes: “Though samadhi can be explained at the intellectual level, it can only be experienced at the level of the heart. Ultimately, it is samadhi that is the fruit of the discipline of yoga.”

This is why, in yoga so much emphasis is placed on practice and direct experience, and the repetition of instruction, exercises and all other aspects within yoga. It pays to persevere.

One can describe the process of learning yoga: if one wants to bring life to a dry and barren soil, one starts by gradually watering it, allowing the soil to absorb the water, slowly, without flooding, and eventually the soil is filled with moisture and is able to grow plants.
Likewise, we gradually develop our understanding of yoga practice, our relationship with it and where it can take us.

With regular practice you will experience shifts, be it a physical posture that suddenly you understand more, or can physically move into; or, on an emotional level, one day you might realise that you mood has shifted into a better space and that you feel more balanced than you were, say one year before. Yoga has the tools and techniques to help you function and deal with the demands of the world.

All these changes, when felt deeply in the heart, in the mind, in the cells of your body, are part of the process of yoga. It’s a gradual, but deep, awakening.

To be continued…