Yoga Journal Singapore — February 09, 2018

ashta = eight · anga = limbs

Ashtanga}

BY SHERRIANN MELWANI

MODEL : SHERRIANN MELWANI; ART DIRECTION : ANUJA BAGADE, PHOTO CREDIT : ESTHER TAY

ASHTANGA

practice well

DHYANA

The Seventh Limb of Ashtanga

The ability to direct the mind to concentrate on

one point (dharana), leads to a state of prolonged

concentration or meditation (dhyana), and then bliss

(samadhi) follows. These last three limbs are the

higher inner practices that are born organically from

the practice of the initial preparatory five limbs: Yama,

Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, and Pratyahara. 

An old zen saying goes: “You should sit in meditation

for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy; then you

should sit for an hour”. It is on those very days when

we are overwhelmed with life that we need meditation

even more to help us feel balanced and healthy.

Compare dhyana (meditation) to the process of

pouring oil from one container to another: there is

no distinction between the two containers and the

flow connects them together as one without any

interruption. The same is with the mind during dhyana.

When the mind experiences uninterrupted focus and

merges with the object of meditation, it experiences

peace. Think of a time when you were very thirsty, and

when you finally drank water, you were completely

immersed in the moment, your mind merging and

losing the concept of separateness between you and

the water. In that moment, you become one with the

water—this union you experienced is dhyana.

Dhyana is Meditation: the continuous

fl ow of cognition (or sustained focus)

toward the object of concentration.

Yoga Sutras 3:2

76

february / march 2018

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