The Eight
Limbs of Yoga
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Yama Niyama Asana Pranayama Pratyahaya Dharana Dhyana Samadhi
What is Yoga? What does it mean? How do I achieve it?
Yoga means to yoke, harness, bind or union. Yoga harnesses lower, or individual, consciousness to a higher or universal consciousness. Yoga binds body and mind.
In Book I of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as "the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind, or the selective cessation of the fluctuations of the mind". Patanjali, goes on to say that when you learn this you will experience yoga.
There are two ways that you can experience this level of yoga:
- Through practice and
- Through non-attachment
In Book 2, Patanjali elaborates on the means of the yoga practice. These are known as the "Eight Limbs of Yoga", and provide a step by step guide of how and what to practice. You progress through the Eight Limbs of Yoga slowly until you reach enlightenment.
The Eight Limbs of Yoga are:
1. Yama (restraint or abstinence):
- Non-violence
- Truth
- Non-stealing
- Non-accumulation.
- Walking with a sense of higher goodness.
You can incorporate the ethical principles into your yoga practice by practicing non-violence to yourself. This is achieved by practicing gently and by being truthful about how your body feels in a pose and responding to that feeling. Yoga is not a competitive sport. Recognize your limits and do not push yourself beyond those limits.
2. Niyama (observance):
- Purification (cleanliness of mind and body)
- Tapas (burning out mental and spiritual impurities through practice)
- Study of spiritual books and/or of ones self
- Santasha (practice of contentment)
- Surrender to the worship of God
These observances are incorporated into your physical practice by the purification and burning out of bodily impurities implicit in the poses. Ideally, you should complement this with diet and lifestyle. Observe yourself in the poses. Learn about your body and your reactions to your body. Practice contentment in each pose. Never strive for more than what your practice session presents. The asanas are about purifying and strengthening your body and should not be done competitively.
3. Asana (the physical postures):
Patanjali says that when an asana is correctly performed, the dualities of body and mind and of mind and soul have to vanish. Asanas should be practiced in such a way as to lead the mind from attachment to the body towards the light of the soul so that the practitioner may dwell in the abode of the soul.
4. Pranayama (the Science of Breath):
Prana means energy. Ayama is creation, distribution, and maintenance. Pranayama is the science of breath which leads to the creation, distribution, and maintenance of vital energy.
5. Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses):
Withdrawing the senses from the outside world, and drawing them into the core of the being; the soul. When the body is rested in their positions, the body, senses and mind lose their identity. All are yoked together and consciousness shines in its purity.
6. Dharana
(concentration):
To bring the wandering mind to a state of restraint. Dharana is the practice of complete attention. Always seek to bring your attention back to the body. Concentrate on practicing non-attachment and equipoise. Spread your intelligence through your whole body.
7. Dhyana (meditation)
Eventually your yoga practice will become a meditation in motion.
8. Samadhi (bliss, super consciousness, enlightenment)
Sama means balanced - in harmony. When the soul diffuses and harmonizes everywhere, that is samadhi. In one interpretation, diffusing the soul into each and every part of the body can also be called samadhi. In an asana, both the self and body can be forgotten but by forgetting them you go deeper into them and at the same time experience a little bit of samadhi in the actual pose.