One Moment. One Thing. - Practising Steady Attention

Have you ever noticed how often your body is in one place, while your mind is somewhere else entirely?

You might be halfway through a class, already thinking about what’s next on your to-do list. Standing in a queue while replaying a conversation from earlier. Folding laundry while mentally planning tomorrow. Even during rest, the mind can keep racing ahead.

This scattered feeling is so normal that we barely question it - but it’s also quietly exhausting.

This is where an ancient piece of yoga wisdom feels surprisingly relevant to modern life: Dharana.

In traditional yoga philosophy, Dharana is one of the later stages of the eightfold path described in the Yoga Sutras. It’s often translated as concentration or single-pointed focus - but not in a forced or rigid way.

At its heart, Dharana is simply this:

✨ Choosing one place to rest your attention — and returning to it when it wanders.

No pressure. No perfection. Just a gentle commitment to this moment, rather than the next one. As simple as this sounds it can be surprisingly challenging since we live in a world that constantly pulls at our attention. Notifications, multitasking, background noise, endless choice.

Even rest can feel busy and without meaning to, we train ourselves to do several things at the same time, rush through experiences and always think What's Next?

Over time, this can leave us feeling unsettled, distracted, and strangely disconnected - even from things we enjoy. But the principle Steady attention offers an alternative. It doesn’t ask us to retreat from life or empty the mind completely. It simply invites us to stay. One thing. One moment.

On the mat, Dharana isn’t about holding the 'perfect' shape or pushing deeper. It’s about where your attention goes while you move.

In Yoga it might look like:

• Staying with one breath as you roll through the spine

• Choosing a steady gaze in Tree Pose and gently returning to it when you wobble

• Feeling the feet in Mountain Pose, instead of thinking about what comes next

• Noticing the urge to fidget, adjust, or rush - and choosing to stay

In Pilates, it could be the difference between doing the movement and inhabiting it:

• Feeling one articulation of the spine rather than racing through the exercise

• Staying present with the effort in your centre instead of bracing or overworking

• Letting the breath support the movement you’re in, rather than anticipating the next one

When attention drifts, that’s not failure - that’s the practice. Dharana lives in the return to the moment.

The beauty of Dharana is that it doesn’t belong only on the mat. The steady attention shows up in ordinary moments, quietly transforming them:

• Standing in a queue and feeling your feet on the ground instead of reaching for your phone

• Making a cup of tea and really noticing the warmth, the smell, the pause

• Washing dishes and staying with the movement of your hands rather than replaying the day

• Writing one email, fully, instead of juggling five things at once

  
  

This isn’t about slowing everything down - it’s about being where you are while you’re there. It isn't about narrowing your life or doing less. It’s about giving your energy a place to land.

When attention is steady:

• Movements feel clearer

• The nervous system settles

• Effort becomes more efficient

• Even simple moments feel fuller

Paradoxically, doing one thing at a time often leaves us feeling more spacious, not less. Like Brahmacharya’s 'Being Enough', Dharana asks us to step out of autopilot and into awareness - moment by moment.

You don’t need to meditate for hours or change your routine to try and practise Dharana. Just try once or twice today, to pause and ask:

✨What is the one thing I’m doing right now?

✨Where can I rest my attention for the next few breaths?

It might only last ten seconds - and that’s enough. Because Dharana isn’t about how long you focus - it’s about noticing when attention wanders, returning, and letting that small act of presence shape how you move through your day