The 8 Limbs of Yoga: Dhyana

We are officially approaching the end of the 8 Limbs of Yoga series here on my blog - it’s taken me longer than expected to make my way through them all, but it’s always better late than never… right?

In this post, we will be diving into the 7th limb: dhyana - or absorption… a state of mind where your focus is maintained to a point of absorption. This just might be my personal favorite limb! While dhyana is similar to meditation, there is a fine line that separates the two when it comes to how they apply to the practice of yoga.

Dhyana is really about the mind having little or no thoughts when in quiet and stillness… and to be honest, the level of skill and amount of practice it takes to achieve this can be intimidating. But, it’s something we can strive for, knowing that yoga is a practice. It’s not about reaching an end goal… it’s about showing up day after day to practice our yoga, whatever that may look like. And even thought we might never achieve the “perfect” pose or experience a completely quiet mind, the practice of working towards these things still benefits our wellbeing in many, many ways.

“The state in between the practice of meditation and dhyana can be called glimpsing the soul… In meditation, glimpsing the soul is referred to as slipping into the gap. The space between your thoughts is the gap. This is the space of infinite possibilities and unbounded creativity. You are touching your soul space.” - Deepak Chopra

To me, pranayama (breath awareness) and dharana (concentration) combined together is meditation, which will guide you to a state of dhyana. Ultimately, meditation is the pathway to dhyana, and dhyana is where love flows through you.

If you would like to read more about the Limbs of Yoga that come before dhyana, you can find them all here. From here, there is just one limb to cover to wrap up this series. Stay tuned for more :)

xo,
Kelsey