Yoga Philosophy

Patanjali, a learned scholar who lived approximately 2000 years ago, is credited with having written down the Yoga Sutras. The Yoga Sutras are 196 terse aphorisms that teach about the Ashtanga Yoga or the "eightfold path," the "limbs" of yoga. They are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. The eight limbs are not a linear path. In fact, all the limbs may be practiced and integrated into Asana, the third limb of Asthanga Yoga. For example, Dharana, concentration, requires complete attention, being in the present tense, thinking about neither the past nor the future, while focusing on the techniques of the pose to bring on the inner awareness. Yama, universal moral values, can also be understood within the practice of Asana. For example, when you ruthlessly "attack" your practice and go beyond your limit, you may end up creating an injury by acting in a violent manner toward yourself. The practice of Ahimsa, nonviolence, one of the Yamas, must be learned within your daily practice and transferred to your daily life, words, thoughts, and deeds.

Ashtanga Yoga—Eight Limbs of Yoga Philosophy

1. Yama. The universal moral values: nonviolence, truth, nonstealing, continence, non-coveting
2. Niyama. Self-purification by discipline: cleanliness, contentment, burning desire, self-study, dedication of one’s actions to the Divine
3. Asana. Postures, sequenced together to achieve a state of well-being of the body, mind, and soul
4. Pranayama. The regulation of the life force through channeling the breath
5. Pratayahara. Withdrawal of the mind from the domination of the senses
6. Dharana. Concentration, single-pointed attention
7. Dhyana. Meditation, attention focused internally and externally at the same time
8. Samadhi. The state of absorption in which the aspirant is one with the object of meditation