Patanjali Yoga Sutra - II -

Putting the mind in place!

Desha Bandhaha Chittasya Dharanam||

Dharana means concentration. The concentration of the mind on a point, an image, person, place or object holds the mind in a place towards which it is directed. It binds it to the space on which it concentrates, instead of following its own natural way of flitting about here and there into a million memory routes of the past and the anxiety routes of the future. Dharana is a tool to put the mind in its place i.e. the present moment! - Swahilya Shambhavi.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - II - 53

Pranayama leads to better concentration

Dharanaasu Cha Yogyata Manasaha|

With the regular practice of Pranayama or regulating the flow of vital energy, through regulating the flow of breath, the covering over the inner light is removed and life appears more clearly now. You begin to see which is the right path to move forward and focus your attention on that growth with absolute concentration. The mind becomes fit for concentration or dharana. - Swahilya Shambhavi

Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2: 29

Eight steps to liberation

Yama Niyama Asana Pranayama Pratyahara Dharana Dhyana Samadhayoshtavangani||

The eight limbs or parts of yoga are yama or self-restraints, niyamas or following certain regulations, asana or a steady posture, pranayama or regulation of the flow of prana by regulating the breathing pattern, Pratyahara or withdrawing the sense organs of smell, touch, taste, hearing, vision and the mind from going outwardly into objects of the world and turning within towards the supreme consciousness, dharana or the one-pointed concentration as an uplifting symbol, person or thought, dhyana or meditation. The eighth part, Samadhi is a natural outcome or the terrace space of emptiness after you climb the other seven steps. Of these eight parts, practice of the first five constitute Bahiranga Sadhana or outward practice while the last three amount to internal practice or Antaranga Sadhana. This can happen well within the mind unknown to other onlookers.
- Swahilya Shambhavi. (Pic. by Swahilya Shambhavi taken of a step farming in Ukhimath, Himalayas.)