The Eight Limbs of Yoga: Part 8: Dhyana Explained | Meditation & the Flow of Awareness

We explore dhyana—effortless meditation and continuous attention— and how it differs from dharana’s deliberate focus. Drawing from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, modern flow science, and contemplative prayer traditions, this episode dives into how meditation supports resilience, creativity, and the path toward samadhi.

What you’ll learn:
 • Dharana versus dhyana: shifting from effortful focus to effortless flow
 • Patanjali’s definition of meditation as unbroken attention
 • Parallels with Taoist wu wei and Christian contemplative prayer
• Real-world flow states in art, music, sports, and surfing
• How self-boundaries soften, creating timelessness experiences
• Neuroscience insights: stress, the amygdala, and gray matter growth
• Practical meditation steps: breath, mantra, candle gazing, sequencing after asana
• Why is dhyana the gateway to samadhi and integration across the eight limbs of yoga
• Updates on upcoming practice videos and guided sessions

If this kind of content on yoga, meditation, neuroscience, and spiritual practice resonates with you, please subscribe, share this podcast with a friend or family member, and leave a review—especially on Apple Podcasts. Reviews and shares help this work reach more people who might benefit.

Chapters

• 0:03 Welcome and Series Context
• 3:20 From Dharana to Dhyana
• 4:34 What the Sutras Say
• 7:12 Flow State and Wu Wei
• 8:59 Christian Contemplation Parallels
• 11:51 Real-World Entry Points to Dhyana
• 15:17 Boundaries, Ego, and Timelessness
• 18:19 Why Practice: Science and Benefits
• 20:41 Gateway to Samadhi and Integration

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:03

Hello everybody and welcome back to the daily practice with me, Benita. This is the second to last final part of the series on the eight limbs of yoga as described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. So this is part eight out of nine. Once again, this is a perfectly fine standalone episode if you feel like diving straight into dhyana or meditation. If you want a more complete picture of the whole yoga philosophy as outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, feel free to go back and listen to the previous eight um uh sorry, seven parts. And um yeah, starting from an outline of each of the limbs, and then each consecutive episode outlines uh or explains more in detail each one. So starting from Yamas, Nyamas, which are the observances towards self and others, asana, which is what we often think about when we think about yoga, which is the postures, pranayama, which is uh breath retention, breath expansion, or life force expansion or extension, then pratyahara, which is turning the senses inward, dharana from last week, uh, which is bringing focus to a single point. And now we are in dhyana or deep meditation. So um once again, one more thing before we begin. I really thank you for being in this space with me and joining in and listening. If this kind of information and conversation brings you joy, value, uh benefit, please do consider subscribing, sharing this podcast with a friend or a family member who might also enjoy or benefit. And of course, uh if you're watching on YouTube or any other platform where comments are available, please do drop a comment, maybe tell me where you're listening from, and uh also maybe if there's any other topics that you'd like to you know hear about uh in the realm of yoga, meditation, spirituality, health, wellness, and really anything adjacent. So without further ado, let's start. So what does Patanjali actually say in the Yoga Sutra? Yoga Sutra 3, 2 says, Tatra pratyayay katanata dhyanam. Again, excuse my Sanskrit pronunciation, I haven't brushed up on it that much. When the flow of attention is continuous toward that object, it is meditation. So, like we talked about last week, dharana is focus with effort, is a single-pointed focus where there is uh a concerted effort and an intention, and really there's a kind of trying or attempting, or it's like a it's like a doing. But then we when we get to dhyana, meditation, focus becomes effortless, like a stream. So, yeah, I guess in modern phrasing or modern wording, we talk a lot about the flow state. So dhyana is really like a flow state. Uh meditation, like it's like um in in Taoism, we talk about the concept of wu wei, which is doing without doing. Like there is kind of like an action happening, so there is a presence and uh doer, but when we get to the point of dhyana of meditation, focus on that object of meditation becomes effortless, and it's just it it just is, it's not like a strenuous action. Um okay, and in these episodes I've always liked to have a little reflection on how this contrasts with Christianity, which is still the dominant, I guess, belief system or religion of much of the West. So Christian contemplative prayer, uh like the centering prayer or the cloud of unknowing, also emphasize investing in divine presence beyond words. Um Christianity emphasizes a relationship with God or the divine, whereas yoga emphasizes emphasizes dissolving mental fluctuations to glimpse pure awareness. But once again, to me, these are not necessarily contradictory or uh antagonistic practices or belief systems that like through meditating on the divine, on godliness, uh and really achieving those deep states of meditation is when we can hear God. So some people like to refer to prayer as talking to God, and meditation is like listening to God, listening to the divine and becoming still in knowing that there is this creator consciousness that is always with us and is there for us. So, what are some of the real-world examples of dhnana? Uh is it possible that you already have achieved a state of jnana or deep meditation in your life? So obviously, in the yogic tradition and in other contemplated traditions like uh Buddhism, there is formal meditation, formal seated meditation or walking meditation or different ways. And often this dhyana would be achieved by first getting the focus, dharana, on a single point, whether it's a breath, a mantra, a visualization, and then when we achieve dhyana, it is uh where that focus becomes effortless and it just kind of naturally occurs, and it's it's it's there's no longer uh a strain or an effort in that focus. That's when dhyana happens. So we could also, like I mentioned just a few moments ago, see that this flow state can also happen when we're practicing art, painting, do you know, playing an instrument, doing music, surfing, whatever it is, is where you're like actually so in the thick of it that you lose completely track of anything else. There is just complete full presence in that moment. And there's a lot of uh, I guess, scientific research looking into what this flow state actually is, and a lot of people are really trying ways to find it or achieve it, but it is often that point where it's hard enough, but not too hard. So it has to be right on that border of like what you've already achieved and what you already mastered, and then pushing a little bit further, uh, and then all of a sudden that becomes the new flow state or jnana. So what's kind of important to emphasize here is that jhana or meditation is not escaping from anything, it's not like uh some kind of uh alienating pursuit of self-centeredness. It is really becoming so present that the self or the ego structure recedes so that we're not no longer really aware of where the self begins and the world ends, and and and like there's this loss of boundaries of self and other. And sometimes when I've sat in meditation and I've actually achieved this dhnana state, uh at first it can be quite uncomfortable. It's like, oh, there's no more time, and then when you kind of realize that you're in it, it often snaps you out of it. So, so because in the state of flow or jnana, or like like I mentioned in a previous episode, jnana is the same word as zen in in Japanese, zen Buddhism, and really there's no way to be in it and aware of it, or or in in some profound way, of course, we are aware because then but then as as soon as you start thinking about being in it, you're no longer in it in kind of uh a strange way. Um so why are we talking about this in the first place? Why is it meaningful or why does it matter to practice or try to achieve jnana? Well, obviously, meditation has numerous, multiple, multiple, numerous benefits, reducing stress, building resilience, enhancing creativity, and obviously there's so much research into this flow state that uh there's a lot of neuroscience to back it up that it shows that meditation actually changes gray matter density, strengthens the prefrontal context, and lowers amygdala reactivity. So there are so many benefits of becoming more connected in this way of through focus, through concerted effort, achieving this state of well, it's in on the way to union, on the way to samadhi, of of of actually yoking with the highest self. But really these like glimpses of flow state, of effortless focus are so wonderfully healing for our brain and nervous system and uh our stress responses that it's truly something that we all would really benefit from practicing. And like I mentioned, obviously it spiritually speaking in the yogic um in the yogic philosophy we see this as the gateway to samadhi. And um yeah, even though the limbs of yoga are all mutual mutually supportive and they're not necessarily steps on a path or steps on a ladder that need to be taken individually, and and e each one can be achieved or practiced on its own in some ways, uh it does obviously remarkably make it easier if you've done been practicing all the other steps in whatever ways, small or big ways. And then we achieve dhyana, and through dhyana there's a gateway open to samadhi that we'll talk about more in detail next week. So, how can we practice dharana uh dhyana? So, off of course, like starting with an meditation object first. Do two minutes, three minutes of looking at uh burning candle, and then when it kind of like you're no longer focusing on focusing on the thing, you will naturally flow into dhyana, and the same thing can be done with a mantra or breath. And and um for me sometimes these states are much easier to achieve uh either after a you know yoga asana practice, but for me also like a beautiful time to practice jhana and where that state has seemed to be more accessible is for instance after surfing when I've already exerted my body, been in touch with the elements, released anything that I don't need into the ocean, and then afterwards I'm sitting on the beach just breathing, focusing on my breath, lengthening the breath, doing a small pranayama practice, and then focusing on the bodily sensations, focusing on the third eye, and all of a sudden there's this sense of timelessness, and I'm actually in I'm becoming one kind of one with the breath, and it's just it it doesn't I don't even have to try to focus, it instead it's just happening and and I'm noticing the breath, I'm noticing uh this sense of and I guess I guess one could say that this is almost uh a samadhi samadhi experience um where where really the self is absorbed into a greater uh expansive consciousness. So just um focusing on a thing and then allowing that focus to flow. It's it's hard to explain uh and it it really comes through practice, but I encourage each and every one of you to maybe look back at your life and look back at your experiences and see where have I experienced flow. Can I remember any any moment where time didn't exist, where the self didn't exist, instead there was just like a perfect effortless focus on the present moment. So once again, jnana is the same as zen in Zen Buddhism, where meditation has become the center or even the sole focus of the practice. But jhana really is a word that signifies meditation, it's natural absorption into the thing that's being focused on. There's one wise man by the name of Jeremy Taylor who says meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit. And I think that's a good place to end. Thanks so much for joining in this short exploration into dhyana or meditation as a part of the eight limbs of yoga, and um and um this uh has been a great journey for me too to kind of revisit and explore all the beautiful parts of yoga that often get overlooked if we just go to classes somewhere. So thank you all so much for joining me again on this journey to the roots of yoga through exploring the eight limbs of yoga as described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. And I was about to say previously my battery for my microphone died, so my audio got cut off, so I'm just recording this part separately. That I've really enjoyed revisiting all the limbs of yoga in these brief explorations through this podcast, and they serve as great reminders that we can actually practice yoga all the time, not just on the mat, not just in a class. Uh, instead, it's really um a practice that can kind of sit um permeate all aspects of our lives, and it's really beautiful that way. If you have enjoyed this series uh or this content in general, please do subscribe, share, like uh on whatever platform you're connecting through, and uh especially on Apple Podcasts, please do leave a review that will help me massively to get this content heard by more people uh if it's off service as I wish it is. And frankly, I'm gonna be recording next week's episode on Samadhi, and then I believe I'm gonna be focusing a little bit more on just the practice videos on YouTube. So now my posting schedule has been 10 a.m. Mondays for this podcast, uh longer form, uh deeper exploration into different concepts or theories, thoughts, and such. And Fridays, 7 a.m. uh on YouTube for the practice videos, and I'm gonna wrap up this 8 Limbs of Yoga series as planned. Uh so I expect next week episode uh on a schedule, but then uh there will be more focus on the Friday videos. Perhaps I'm gonna make them a slightly longer and have a little bit more energy resources and focus on the practice videos. Also, uh I'm exploring the idea of starting to put out two practice videos each week or perhaps doing a live practice on YouTube one day a week, uh perhaps on Mondays. So that will still be confirmed in the next weeks. Um, but yeah, thanks again so much for tuning in, and this has been a joy to explore the path of yoga with you, and remember, a good practice is the one you do.