One good way is to start by sitting down quietly, then taking attention to the breath and breathing rhythmically. Following the breath for some time, the mind calms down. Then pratyaha, withdrawal of the senses. Cognitive capacity is taken up by processing sense data. If you continuously see things, hear things, smell, taste, touch,. So those things have to be shut down. Shut down means the mind is turned inwards. Dharana means focus. And when you try to focus, focus on what? The one which we are most familiar with is the meditation on an object of meditation, like Buddhist do on the breath. Or we in our tradition, we have