Yoga 101: The 8 limbs of yoga

Yoga is more than the practice of postures or breathing exercises. Practicing yoga means blending the principles of yoga into your life, thoughts and actions. The 8 Limbs of Yoga, or the 'Ashtanga Yoga System' (ashta=eight, anga=limb), are an eight-fold path that act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They work as a prescription for moral conduct and self-discipline, focusing our consciousness toward one's health and encouraging us to recognize the spiritual aspects of our nature.

According to Patanjali, in The Yoga Sutras, through these practices, we can calm the mind and merge into oneness with the divine. When we awake to the divine essence, we can live fully from a place of authenticity. We can discern who we really are and what our purpose is. When we don't need to look at the exterior to determine right and wrong, all the answers are found inside us.

Yama

The first limb, yama, is related to the unspoken universal rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." They are ethical standards, focused on our behavior, that guide how we interact with others. There are five yamas:

• ahimsa (non-violence or non-harming);

• satya (truthfulness);

• asteya (non-stealing);

• brahmacharya (sexual restraint);

• aparigraha (non-possessiveness).
  

Niyama

Niyama, the second limb, are practices of self-discipline and spiritual observances. It relates to obligations directed towards ourselves, but can also be considered with our actions towards the external world. In Sanskrit, the prefix 'ni' is a verb that means 'inward' or 'within'. There are five niyamas:

• saucha (cleanliness);

• santosha (contentment);

• tapas (discipline or burning desire or conversely, burning of desire);

• svadhyaya (self-study or self-reflection, and study of spiritual texts);

• isvarapranidaha (surrender to a higher power).

Asana

The most known of the limbs, asanas are the postures practiced in yoga. In Pantajali's initial practice, it referred to mastering the body to sit still for meditation (it is derived from the root word 'as' that in Sanskrit means seat). In the yogic view, the body is the temple of the spirit, its care is an essential step for our spiritual growth.

Pranayama

In Sanskrit, the word prana means 'life force' or 'vital principle'. Pranayama, the fourth limb, is the practice of consciously controlling the breath. Breathing is the only bodily function that we perform consciously and unconsciously. However, through breathing techniques, we can master the respiratory process while acknowledging the connection between the breath, the mind, and the emotions. Pranayama helps us to improve concentration, health, focus, clarity, creativity, purpose and compassion.

Pratyahara

The fifth limb, pratyahara, is the practice of consciously withdraw from outside stimuli, drawing our attention inwardly. It is not about silence our senses, but quieting them enough to see beyond ourselves, mindfully returning to quiet through meditation and elimination of abstractions. This withdrawal enables us to impartially examine our yearnings and identify habits that are sometimes harmful to our health and which possibly interfere with our inner growth.

Dharana

Each step prepares us for the following. Having freed ourselves from outer disturbances, pratyahara, we can deal with the distractions of the mind itself. Dharana is the practice of deep concentration, typically centering on a single mental object, such as a particular energetic center in the body, an image of a deity, or the silent repetition of a sound.

Dhyana

Dhyana, the seventh limb of yoga, is the state of meditation or contemplation. In this stage, the mind has been silenced, and in the quietness it produces few or no thoughts at all. Although dharana and dhyana may seem the same, there is a fine line that distinguishes these two stages. While dharana exercises one-pointed attention, dhyana is a state of being intensely aware, but without focus.

Samadhi

Patanjali defines the eighth and final stage of ashtanga, samadhi, as a state of ecstasy. At this stage, the meditator fuses his point of focus and transcends the Self completely. It is transcendence, connection with the divine, coupling with the universe, a body-mind integration of the notion that "all things are one". This ultimate stage of yoga is also known as enlightenment and cannot be acquired or owned. It can only be experienced.

As you can see, the first four members of yoga focus on polishing our nature, gaining dominance over the body and developing an energetic awareness of ourselves, preparing us for the second part of the journey, which is about the senses, the mind and reach a higher level of consciousness.