pratyahara; first one learns to keep things out of the mind, then one learns to keep them in. Intense meditation, or dhyana, is the next step. Here one learns to forget the self in uninterrupted concentration that no longer needs the external stimuli of the preceding phase.

and you can’t argue with their technique because, for many years, they dominated the sport. However, go to any of our sporting events and nobody is having any fun unless they are winning. That is what we focus on. Our minds are reeling with judgments about where we are in the competition, and we are experiencing all the emotions that come with all

The demand that the door of the senses be closed is not met by turning energetically away from the sensible world, but rather by a readiness to yield without resistance. In order that this actionless activity may be accomplished instinctively, the soul needs an inner hold, and it wins it by concentrating on breathing. This is performed consciously