Going to yoga classes on a regular basis you begin to go past just the asana (poses) and the breath (pranyama) and you begin to delve deeper into the self. You begin to notice that your world starts to change a bit. You breathe a little deeper, you are less likely to react when standing in a slow line at the grocery store, and you all of a sudden, literally, stop and smell the roses. You get out of your car after a long day and appreciate the sky and the night air, you hold the people you love a little closer to your heart, and you start a chain reaction of things to care for yourself- And no one ever even talked to you about The 8 Limbs of Yoga. You didn’t even know it existed, and yet, it started to unfold naturally, just through the energy of the practice- AMAZING RIGHT?
Well what the heck are these 8 Limbs of Yoga? Where did they come from and how can you use them to deepen your practice?
In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, that is estimated to have been written or at least orally accounted somewhere around 300 BCE, there is an eightfold path called ashtanga, which literally means “eight limbs” (ashta-eight, anga-limb). These eight steps are basic guidelines to yogic living and ways to achieve a more meaningful, happy, healthy and whole life.
- Yamas : Universal Morality
1. Ahimsa – Compassion for all living things
2. Satya – Speaking the truth
3. Asteya – Non-stealing
4. Brahmacharya – Sense control (watered down and in real world terms it is abstinence or using sexuality appropriately)
5. Aparigraha –only taking what you need
- Niyamas : Personal observances
1. Sauca – Purity and Cleanliness or yourself, your body and your space as well as clean energy- ie: not holding onto anger)
2. Santosa – Contentment (not being jealous, being happy with what you have, etc…)
3. Tapas – this has to do with creating fire in the body, keeping the body fit and healthy and eating clean
4. Svadhyaya – Self study and examination
5. Isvarapranidhana – Spirituality (I use that word and mean it to be simple because that means something so different to each person)
- Asanas : Body postures
- Pranayama : Breathing exercises, and control of prana (life force energy)
- Pratyahara : Control of the senses, moving away from attachments to objects
- Dharana : Concentration and learning to hold the concentration on one thing
- Dhyana : Meditation, and devotion.
- Samadhi : Union with the Divine
As any student of yoga will tell you, The Yoga Sutras are not an easy read, but it is a beautiful piece of writing that helps to explain all this yoga stuff. You understand the correlation between yogis and being vegetarian, this creation of community, loving each other and of your own divine spirit.
Think about exploring yoga a little further, and maybe for you that means taking a yoga teacher training program. Sink in and breathe. It is fun to explore!