8 limbs of yoga

Mindful movements in a heated room - as an athlete, I am super excited about how challenging hot yoga is. The sweat cleansing and so much of my body moving in ways it doesn’t during the humdrum of everyday life. My energy often shifts and my mind finds something to concentrate on. As I discover more and deepen my practice I’ve found that most of what I had been practicing is asana or postures. Asana is only one aspect of yoga. Yoga is more of a lifestyle than a type of physical workout if we integrate the other aspects of yoga into our lives.

Yoga has deep rich roots filled with knowledge and wisdom derived from Southeast Asia. There is an abundance of spirituality and sacred texts that help guide a yoga lifestyle. Patanjali was a sage in India at approximately 400 CE. He is attributed for composing the Yoga Sutras, consisting of 196 verses that serve as a guide to attain wisdom and self-realization. They direct attention to mind, body, and spiritual health. Below are the eight limbs of Yoga. The first two Yamas and Niyamas have five parts to them.

• Yamas - moral discipline/social ethics

  • Ahimsa - nonviolence/kindness

  • Satya - truthfulness

  • Vasteya - nonstealing

  • Brahmacharya - self restraint

  • Aprigarya - non attachment

• Niyamas - Positive Duties/personal practices

  • Saucha - cleanliness

  • Santosha - contentment

  • Tapa - discipline

  • Scadhyaya - self study

  • Isvara Pranidhana - relationship to wholeness

• Asana - physical postures - comfortable positions of the body connecting mind and spirit to experience stillness

• Pranayama - breath control - honor the breath to uncover the light within

• Pratyahara - withdrawal of senses - providing an alternative point of attention (like breath or chakras) to go inward

• Dharana - concentration - focus and attention

• Dhyana - meditation - dropping all the efforts and letting go

• Samadhi - pure bliss - constant complete harmony with Self and the universe