According to the yoga sutras, all of existence is of one piece. Our senses restrict us to the one-way linear field of time, but we have roots in another dimension. The goal of yoga is to dis-cover and experience the atman, the enlivening core of us that always dwells in that other dimension even as it animates us here on earth. The experience is called samadhi, or integration. It is characterized by particular brain activity that has been studied and measured.* Being able to observe this state still doesn’t tell us what it means, but yogis believe it is an experience of purusa (spirit or pure consciousness). Whatever it is, it is demonstrably healthy, physically and mentally.

We get there by not allowing ourselves to be distracted by the glittering of the world around and within us.

Visualize the self as a faceted gem. All the facets look to the core even as they reflect light in different ways. The yoga sutras suggest a number of different focuses for meditation but finish by saying anything can work.

If all of existence is a single whole, then you can see the center through any window.

In asana, our attention usually bounces around, directed by our senses to different facets of our being – our legs, maybe, or shoulders, or emotions like eagerness or trepidation. In this way, we get to know the general shape of us, and (to continue with the metaphor) begin to know which facets are polished and which are darkened by ignorance or disuse. This is valuable knowledge.

But we see more deeply when we restrict our attention. If you were trying to see to the center of a gem, you would look through only one facet. Even mindfulness meditation requires this restraint. In that practice, you restrict your attention to the passing experience of each immediate moment.

It’s interesting to experiment with what you discover when you restrict your attention. Say I do a well-rounded asana sequence focusing on the experience of rotation in my hips. With time and attention, I start to perceive a lot about the joint, but I also have a peripheral awareness of other parts of my body. Because of my focus, I experience those other parts (shoulders, feet, whatever) in relation to my hips. This peripheral awareness invites me to see and understand connections in a way that direct scrutiny does not.

It’s all a bunch of gobbledygook until you try it!

*https://biyome.com.au/meditation/waves-of-samadhi/#:~:text=In%20this%20study%2C%20the%20researchers,reached%20such%20an%20enlightened%20state.