Focus and Concentration: Stress Management and Mental Wellbeing Through Yoga

It's often said these days that we are constantly bombarded with stimuli, a relentless barrage of notifications and distractions (often through our phones) which leads to our attention becoming scattered, our stress levels heightened, and a pervasive sense of being overwhelmed. As an anxious person, I can confirm that I had this experience well before the era of smartphones, and it's sad to think that it's becoming more common.

Fortunately, yoga has some very applicable wisdom to offer.

The mental health benefits of focusing the mind were well known to ancient yogis

Yoga, through and beyond the physical postures, offers a powerful practice in the cultivation of focus and concentration, known as dharana and dhyana in Sanksrit. These practices are not just mental exercises; they are transformative tools for managing stress, enhancing mental clarity and moving towards an abiding inner peace.

Dharana and Dhyana: A Bridge to Inner Calm

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the ancient text within which most of our modern yoga practices are based, outline the eight "limbs" of yoga as a progressive path towards self-realisation. Dharana is sixth tool or limb, which describes concentration or focused attention. It involves the deliberate focus of the mind on a single point, like the rhythmic flow of the breath, the resonant vibration of a mantra, or the visual anchor of an object.

It's the ability to hold the mind steady, preventing it from being swept away by the currents of thought.

Dhyana, the seventh tool, is meditation or sustained concentration. This is an effortless flow of attention, where the mind becomes deeply absorbed in the object of focus, transcending the usual mental chatter and moving towards a state of real stillness.

Can you think of a time when you have practiced yoga and found yourself deeply engaged in the breath and movement to the point where your mental chatter and external concerns just dropped away?

Dharana prepares the mind for dhyana, laying the foundation for a deeper, more profound yoga experience. Together, they create a bridge from the external, physical practices of yoga to the profound internal realms of the mind, guiding us towards a state of inner tranquility.

Stress Management and Mental Health Benefits

The benefits of developing dharana and dhyana for stress management and mental health are significant, and although it might seem counterintuitive when life is filled with distractions, diligently training the mind to focus reduces the tendency to ruminate on negative thoughts, anxieties, and worries that often go hand in hand with distractibility. Improved focus leads to a cascade of positive effects:

• Reduced Stress Response: Focused attention calms the nervous system, lowering cortisol levels, the body's primary stress hormone, and promoting a state of relaxation.

• Improved Emotional Regulation: Observing thoughts and emotions without judgment helps us gain greater perspective over reactions, allowing us to navigate emotional challenges with better resilience and stability.

• Enhanced Mental Clarity: Regular focus on dharana and dhyana improves concentration, memory and cognitive function, allowing us to approach unrelated tasks and challenges with greater focus and clarity.

• Increased Sense of Presence: Being fully present in the moment generally reduces feelings of overwhelm and cultivates a profound sense of inner peace, grounding us in the here and now.

• Reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression: Regular focus training can help to create distance from and perspective on negative thought patterns, allowing for increased emotional balance.

  
  

Cultivating Focus in Yoga Asana

In the physical practice of yoga asana, we can generate focus and concentration through each posture or movement sequence directly. Physical yoga may become a moving meditation, a practice in focused attention.

By seeking to experience each part of each movement, noticing the precise alignment of each part of of the body, noticing the way the body moves with the breath, yoga asana can turn into a mindful movement practice where each movement is an act of conscious awareness.

Drishti or fixed gazing point is used in many yoga traditions to anchor the attention, especially in challenging poses and balances to prevent the mind 'checking out' and redirect the attention inwards. That said, balances require intense concentration and the ability to cultivate physical and mental stability, so they are an excellent practice for working with dharana and dhyana.

In certain types of yoga asana practice, such as Yin Yoga where the poses are well supported and can be held passively for many minutes, the aim is to move towards physical stillness and develop a sense of inner stillness as the mind and body settle. Yin yoga tends to have a profoundly meditative quality as the sensations in the body offer a point of concentration and focus.

Focus in Meditation

Meditation is the core practice for developing dharana and dhyana, providing a direct path to inner quiet, although as explored above it does not all have to be done whilst sitting on a meditation cushion.

Breath awareness, sometimes also known as anapana, is the focus on the natural rhythm of the breath, using it as the anchor of attention to move towards concentration. This is one of the best known but also fiendishly difficult mindfulness practices.

Body scan meditation or sensory awareness are often used as part of Yoga Nidra and other practices where one notices the sensations arising and changing within the body, creating deeper mind-body connection and self-awareness.

External focus, such as candle gazing or mantra meditation using a chant can be a useful way of anchoring the mind, especially when it's difficult to do so or the inner volume is turned up for some reason (like during stressful life events).

Developing Focus and Concentration in a Distractible World

Given all the benefits of cultivating dharana and dhyana listed above, it's no wonder that many people are turning to yoga and mediation to counter the overwhelm and negative consequences associated with shortened attention span and increased distraction. Unfortunately however many people find it's just too difficult to develop that focus and concentration when it seems like literally everything else about life is pulling them in the other direction. So how do we begin to develop dharana and dhyana in this harsh environment?

• Start small: even 5 minutes a day of some type of meditation practice will have benefits if you can make it a sustainable practice.

• Build it into your existing practice: if you have a yoga asana practice, try focusing on the way your body moves in and out of each part of the movement each time you get on the mat. If you have a regular breathwork practice, try to keep your mind on the breath experience. If you do other activities such as running or weightlifting, see what it's like to do it without music or allowing your mind to wander.

• Leave your phone elsewhere: studies show that when our phones are nearby our concentration is negatively affected (no, you don't even need to be looking at it!). Leave your phone in another room, use a regular clock to time your practice. Don't take it with you to the yoga class or studio.

• Try a new approach: if, for example, you already tried seated meditation and it was unbearable, see if you can find a mantra class. Spoken mantras not only give you the 'anchor' for developing focus and concentration, they also help to regulate the nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve. The same goes for yoga asana classes; if you find your mind wanders way too much in the silence of a yin yoga class, try a more vigorous hatha or vinyasa type of yoga.

  
  

Conclusion: Dharana and Dhyana for Stress Management

It's true that many of us find it hard to focus in our present environment, and that this is having a large impact on our stress levels and mental and physical wellbeing.

Although they didn't have smartphones, the ancient yogic sages including Patanjali, who gave us the bases of our modern yoga practices, deeply understood the tremendous calming power of focus and concentration on the human mind, body and spirit. Yoga offers us varied ways to cultivate our focus and concentration which are both useful and doable 'off the mat' or meditation cushion. Even though at times it can seem impossible, through yoga practice there are always small ways to focus, deliberately step away from mental business or distraction and support our stress management and mental wellbeing.

Develop your dharana and dhyana with me in class or book a 1-1 so we can tailor the yoga practices to your personal journey and requirements.

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