Dharana
Dharana – Concentration is the confining of the mind within a limited mental area (object of concentration). Dhāraṇā (from Sanskrit धारणा) is translated as “concentration of the mind, This term is related to the verbal root dhri to hold, carry, maintain, resolve. Dharana flows into Dhyana (meditation) and Dhayana into samadhi. The last three cannot be described, only experienced.
This is the first step of Antaranga Yoga (Inner/ mind Yoga), different from the first five components of Ashtanga yoga that are external (Bahiranga Yoga) in nature. The goal of the first five steps of Yoga is to eliminate, step by step, the external causes of mental distraction.
Yama and Niyama eliminate the disturbances which are caused by uncontrolled emotions and desires. Asana and Pranayama help to overcome the disturbances arising from the physical body. Pratyahara, by detaching the sense-organs from the mind, cuts off the external world and the impressions which it produces on the mind. The mind is thus completely isolated from the external world and the yoga practitioner reaches a position to grapple with it without any interference from outside.
Dhāraṇā is the initial step of deep concentrative meditation, where the object being focused upon is held in the mind without consciousness wavering from it. The difference between Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi (their “integration” constituting Samyama) is that in the former, the object of meditation, the mystic, and the act of meditation itself remain separate.
Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3.1
देस-बंध चित्तस्य धारणा:
desa-bandha cittasya dhârañâ
Concentration locks consciousness in a single area.
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