What are the Eight Limbs of Yoga?

Yoga itself is a lot more then just "stretching", which is what most people in the West think of when they think of yoga. But the practice of yoga goes much deeper then lengthening muscles or reducing mental anxiety. It allows an individual to discover deeper and more subtle layers of consciousness and life itself.

To start simply, the word yoga means "to unite" or "to yolk" and defines any system or practice that serves the purpose of connecting towards one's True Self, Soul, Divine Self, Atman, Consciousness, insert spiritual identity word here. So the practice of yoga helps us strip away all of the layers that keep us from seeing this innermost reality or Truth. This type of separation and desentanglement from things that aren't our true nature reveals a lightness of heart, and a liberation of mind and spirit. This path requires a steady and compassionate discipline of heart and mind.

To shed light on the Eight Limbs, let's take a look at how it originated. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, accepted as one of the most authoratative texts on yoga, contains 196 Sutras (threads, aphorisms) that provide philosophy of yoga and its application for the aspiring yogi. These texts offer an amazing clarity of the meaning of yoga and how it has the ability to clear away the things that do not serve one's higher purpose, health, peace, and vitality.

In the sutras, there are 8 prescribed limbs of yoga that offer us a pathway towards peace. One of the mistakes is that people often mistake limbs to mean steps. Limbs grow simultaneously and thus I believe they were called limbs because our practice can slowly develop all of these qualities in various degrees at various times.

Ok... Can we see the Limbs already?

The 8 Limbs of Yoga

Yamas: The limb of Yamas refers to disciplines and restraints concerning the world around us and how we interact with it. Although yoga is an internal practice, our actions in the outside world combined with our internal thoughts and intentions provide an integral part in our practice. When following the guidelines of the yamas, one's lifestyle begins to subtlety change towards a more peaceful and compassionate vibration. These virtues can be practiced at all times by anyone from any tradition. They not only apply to the sentient beings around us, they pertain to our own sense of self-love and care of body, mind, and spirit.

Ahimsa (non-harming)

Satya (truthfullness)

Asteya (non-stealing)

Brahmacharya (conservation of life force/right use of energy)

Aparigraha (non-attachment)

Niyamas: These are self-observances that one applies to the every-day life along side your practice. A balanced life culminates with a blend of taking care of one's self (Santosha), having a positive attitude (Santosha), keeping up with ones yoga practice (Tapas), continuing to have an open mind towards learning and studying one's own behaviors, emotions, and thoughts (Svadyaya), and learning to let go of the need to control things, surrendering to the mysteries of life, accepting the way things are in any given moment (Ishvarapranidhana).

Soucha (cleanliness)

Santosha (contentment)

Tapas (zeal for yoga)

Svadyaya (self-study)

Ishvarapranidhana (surender)

Asana: The physical postures or asanas in our yoga practice. Asana means "seat" in Sanskrit. The only instruction Patanjali gives for our asana practice is "sthira sukham asanam", "Your seat should be steady and comfortable". When we apply this philosophy to all poses, we realize it isn't about doing an incredible back bend or contorting into the hardest possible yoga pose in existence. It's rather about finding a blend of energy and relaxedness in our pose. This continual physical practice gives rise to translations off the mat of being able to handle tough situations with steadiness and ease (sthira sukham).

Pranayama: Prana is thought of as the energy that supports all of life around us. It also is said to connect directly to our breath. So in yoga philosophy, when we control our breath, we can cultivate and direct our own life force. The translation of Pranayama could also mean Prana and Ayama (freedom) which can mean allowing the freedom, liberation, and expansion of our breath and life force. Whichever meaning you may take, the ultimate principle here is that your breath can have a profound influence on our quality of life as human beings.

Pratyahara: Pratya (withdrawal) and ahara (that which we take in/food/senses) gives us the limb of withdrawing our senses and emptying our own sense perceptions to draw the mind into a deeper state of focus. This is why typically eyes are closing during meditation, so that consciousness begins to move inward as sense faculties (vision) are reduced. This aspect of sense-withdrawal isn't about eliminating sense perception, but rather augmenting it so that the entire body-mind is engrossed in the present moment. Feeling, smelling, sensing, taking in the entire environment around us, we begin to feel the aliveness of life in our bodies and atmosphere.

Dharana: Translating as focused concentration, Dharana and Pratyahara can be seen as two sides of the same coin. The further we empty our senses, the easier it becomes to focus our mind on one thing, such as our breathing or visualization practices.

Dhyana: Dhyana is our state of meditation, which happens simultaneously as other limbs continue to grow (remember the limbs of yoga are not steps but rather an integrated whole that can flourish at different moments). Meditation is not something that can be forces, but is the natural by-product of continuing to settle the mind through the limbs of our practice such as asana, pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana. The steady routine of our practices releases a nectar of relaxation, peace, and calm. When we find ourselves in Dhyana, we begin to notice space between our thoughts and a deeper sense of calm.

Samadhi: Bliss, peace, joy, state of yoga, oneness. Experiencing Samadhi is what we are all striving for. Whether we realize it or not, I believe (along with many spiritual seekers) that our bodies were designed to experience bliss, peace, and joy. The further we continue to cultivate all of the levels of our inner and outer reality, the deeper we penetrate into a field of boundless oneness with all things. Sama means "equal" and dhi means "see" so Samadhi is a state of mind when we see things equally. This translates in our lives as being able to face pleasant and unpleasant circumstances with a sense of balance, poise, and calmness.

No matter what happens, we begin to see that underlying our fortunate or unfortunate circumstances lies an infinite being-ness of everything and everyone. I used to think that reaching this state would be something akin to never feeling anything anymore or being emotionally stoic, which actually made me scared! I enjoy feeling the ups and downs and life! The thought of sameness honestly made me anxious! But the more I access present-moment awareness and the less I try and think about Samadhi, the more I find moments of Samadhi happening in my life. I realized I was thinking about it rather then trying to experience it, which can only be experienced right NOW. No thought, concept, image, or form can relay the meaning of Samadhi. The smile of an infant fully engrossed in it's activity, emersed in the fragrance and atmosphere of the forest, or a couple in a loving embrace, these are moments where wee find ourselves experiencing the magic of life.