From Yogic Psychology to Educational Practice: A Conceptual Framework Linking Chitta-Vritti-Nirodha, Attention Regulation, and Meaningful Learning
Dhriti Tiwari *
Faculty of Education, Integral University Lucknow, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The possibility that contemplative disciplines can strengthen attention and thereby support learning has attracted interest across educational psychology, cognitive neuroscience and school-based yoga research. Yet the classical formulation yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ addresses an ethical and soteriological project, not a validated theory of academic performance. This critical narrative review examines the conceptual distance and potential connections between Pātañjala yoga psychology, experimentally studied attention regulation and meaningful learning. Relevant philosophical analysis, cognitive and educational theory, intervention trials and research syntheses were evaluated with particular attention to construct correspondence, comparison conditions, developmental context, educational outcomes and ethical implementation. The evidence supports a conditional, rather than direct, link: contemplative exercises may sometimes improve proximal attentional or emotional-regulatory processes, but improved performance on attention tasks does not establish durable understanding, conceptual change or transfer. School-based syntheses report heterogeneous and generally small benefits, with weaker or absent advantages against active controls and inconsistent effects on achievement. The proposed framework therefore distinguishes philosophical orientation, trainable regulatory practices, cognitive mediators, task-specific engagement, pedagogical mechanisms and learning outcomes. It treats curricular quality, learner agency, developmental suitability and sociocultural context as necessary moderators rather than incidental details. Four falsifiable pathways are advanced, while a competing explanation attributes some observed gains to movement, structured pauses, adult attention or expectancy. The review concludes that contemplative attention training is best understood as an optional enabling condition for well-designed learning activities, not as an alternative to explanation, retrieval, feedback, conceptual discussion or equitable teaching. Research should test mechanisms, potential harms and durable transfer through preregistered active-comparator studies using both attentional and curriculum-aligned measures.
Keywords: Pātañjala yoga, contemplative education, executive attention, metacognition, cognitive engagement, conceptual change, self-regulated learning, educational equity