The 6th limb in Patanjali's 8 limbs of yoga is Dharana – Focused Concentration.
Dharana can be translated to ‘focused concentration’. Dha meaning ‘holding or maintaining’. Ana meaning ‘other’ or ‘something else’. Having worked through the first 4 limbs to prepare our body and mind and moving through the 5 limb, Pratyahara to draw our attention inwards, being undeterred by outside influences, Dharana now prepares us to deal with distractions of our own mind with focused concentration. This stage utilises techniques that enable us to focus our mind intently which include breath or visualisation.
Focusing our mind completely can be an incredibly difficult task to do and takes practice with repetition and discipline. One of the biggest forms of anxiety and mental stress is thinking the same thought over and over, creating stories or scenarios within our own mind. Have you ever noticed when you first sit in your meditation that your mind begins to wander. One thought leading to another and another and before you know it you are thinking intensely, creating further distraction, the opposite of Dharana, focused concentration. It is impossible to switch off our thoughts completely, but we can teach our mind to recognise when we are drifting, and pull it back to a single point of focus. Focusing on our inhalation and exhalation as we breath. You'll hear your yoga teacher repeat this many times throughout a class, but its for a reason. It helps draw our attention back. Using visualisation techniques, or guided meditation are also tools that we can practice daily to focus our mind.
The more we practice this, the more internally focused we will become, this in turn preparing our mind the 7th Limb, Dhyana - meditative absorption
Next time you meditate, be a little gentle on yourself. Your mind might settle, it might not and that's ok. Keep practicing, and however you choose to meditate, you are doing it right. It's personal to you.