Ok, double d’s refers to Dharana (concentration) and Dhyana (meditation), you see how they kinda go hand in hand! Concentration and meditation, the next building blocks in this BEAUTIFUL tree of yoga!

Dharana, or concentration can be best described as being present… Focusing the mind, calming the thoughts enough to be in the present moment so that no distractions can detour you! On the mat, this could be looked at as focusing your drishti (your gaze) on one point (like the point between your eyebrows, your third eye or perhaps focusing on your heart center as you move from asana to asana). You could also stay connected with your breathing and have that be your concentration. Off the mat you could practice dharana by focusing on the task in front of you instead of multi-tasking, trying to spread your attention across multiple activities. Concentration, it’s what’s for breakfast, help yourself to some focus and see what difference it makes!

Dhyana, or meditation, quieting the mind, or a deep connection to the stillness. We’ve moved, honed the breath, turned the sense inside ourselves, learned how to focus, and now we combine all these to sit in stillness or to find the stillness, connect with it and let it be a part of us. There are many forms of meditation! Heck you can do a little “meditation exercise” on the Wii, you can using walking as you meditation, or some use cooking, chopping or washing as there meditation. By using asana (the poses) to open the body, release those tight hips, open the heart, where ever it is in your body that needs to open up that is why we practice on the mat. Controlling the breath is how we start to bring focus into our minds and allows us to be present. Sitting “still” can be difficult at first, our thoughts can be like monkeys swinging from branch to branch, from one though to the next. At first you may think it’s helping you, “well here we are sitting still, we can do this” and then it can turn to “but you know we could be doing the laundry or mopping the floor with these five minutes”.  So start small. Set a timer and count your breaths. Count to ten and then start all over again, keep doing this until the timer goes off. The first few times may feel weird, but once you’ve tried it a few times it will become easier. Slowly adding more time.

There you have it, the double D’s focus and meditation… how will you begin to incorporate these limbs into your day to day life or make it part of your practice? I’d love to hear, so feel free to share!

xx

liz