Читать книгу Ashtanga Yoga - The Intermediate Series - Gregor Maehle - Страница 36

The ancient texts describe more than one hundred forms or techniques of dharana. They generally agree on the following point, however: dharana is practiced once proficiency in asana, pranayama, and pratyahara is gained and not before. Yogis achieve dharana once they can use willpower to focus on the chosen object. But because this concentration is powered by a willful effort, it may be frequently interrupted, much as an Internet connection is sometimes interrupted when you are using an old-fashioned dial-up connection.

Practically, dharana is done in the following way: You assume Padmasana, Siddhasana, Swastikasana, or Virasana and commence pranayama until breath retention (kumbhaka) is reached. Once in kumbhaka, you rest the mind on your chosen location, beginning with the base chakra (muladhara). Rather than just visualizing the chakra in its location close to the coccyx (tailbone) and stopping there, you concentrate now on a particular aspect of that chakra. The first aspect would be the solidity of the earth element (prithvi). You then go on to the Sanskrit letters that are associated with the four petals of this chakra — that is, va, sa, sha (retroflex), and sha (palatal). The next aspect may be the root syllable (bija akshara) of the base chakra, lang. After that you may concentrate on the subtle essence or quantum (tanmatra) of the chakra, which in the case of the base chakra is smell (gandha). At this point you may conclude concentration on the base chakra and go on to the water chakra (svadhishthana). It is not specified how many breath retentions one has to spend on each aspect of the chakra.