Yoga 101: The Eight Limbs

Some time again, I posted a weblog that sketched out a really fundamental define of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. After all, we will’t presumably seize the essence of the sutras in a single weblog put up, or perhaps a collection of them. It’s greatest once we digest them over time. And it’s even higher once we think about them within the context of our personal lives. In the present day’s put up will define the Eight Limbs of Yoga.

The sutras are divided into 4 padas (chapters). The second pada is the one which yoga academics and practitioners most frequently check with. It’s because the second pada contains the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Eight Limbs present a scaffolding for the entire system of yoga, based on the sutras.

Whereas the sutras record the limbs in a selected order, they aren’t hierarchical. They’re not like a ladder with eight steps. As an alternative, all of the limbs feed into the entire, type of just like the limbs on a tree. Training any one of many limbs helps all of the others.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

Right here’s a brief synopsis of the limbs:

1. Yama: Yama means “restraint.” The yamas are moral or ethical precepts for dwelling peacefully on this planet. They embrace ahimsa (non-harming), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (smart use of sexual vitality), and aparigraha (non-greed).
2. Niyama: The niyamas are private practices that assist us create a wholesome basis for our day by day lives. They embrace saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (vitality or dedication to observe), svadhyaya (self-study and examine of inspiring texts) and isvara pranidhana (dedicating our observe to one thing bigger than ourselves).
3. Asana: That is the limb we most frequently affiliate with yoga—the bodily postures.
4. Pranayama: Pranayama is the observe of controlling and increasing the breath.
5. Pratyahara: The commonest description of this limb is “withdrawal from the senses.” I interpret it as a refinement of our relationship with our senses.
6. Dharana: Dharana is focus. It’s the gathering of the thoughts onto a single object.
7. Dhyana: Dhyana is meditation. It’s the flexibility of thoughts to remain current it doesn’t matter what we’re experiencing by our senses.
8. Samadhi: Samadhi is the fully settled, expansive thoughts.

That is only a bite-sized description of the framework for yoga observe. Any of the limbs—and even any a part of the limbs, say one of many yamas—could possibly be fodder for years of observe.

If you happen to’re fascinated by studying extra, my ebook Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Apply, outlines the Eight Limbs and goes into element about each. There are additionally ideas for tactics to observe each.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Apply and Yoga for Meditators, each printed by Rodmell Press. Her third ebook is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Purple Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards in 2010.