Perfecting the 8 Limbs of Yoga

Anyone who has been introduced to yoga soon learns that Asanas (postures) and Pranayama (breathing) are but two of it’s practices. Those two are actually part of the eight subjects that are known as Ashtanga Yoga, or the Eight Limbs of Yoga. One of the most famous books from India, “The Yoga Sutras” by Patanjali describes all these limbs in great detail. This series will lead you to the path of freedom walked by all the great sages and yogis who came before us. These rare classes will reveal powerful insights, inspire profound meditations and create a background of philosophical understanding to support your yogic practice and search for truth. Under normal circumstances you would have to spend many years to acquire the knowledge and vision these classes reveal.

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Asana is defined as sitting in a pleasing, steady and comfortable posture. Other asanas or yogic poses are designed to balance the bodily energies and cultivate the life force. Ultimately, Asana is meant to steady our relation to the Earth as the platform for meditation.

Air, life force, prana, chi, qi, all these interconnected terms are part of understanding the subtle relationship between breathing, mental state and our vital energy. Yoga teaches the art and sciences of bringing these subtle energetics into balance.

Pratyahara is the stage of yoga where the senses are withdrawn from their outer attachments in order to develop greater awareness of our consciousness. When this stage is reached, the seeker goes through a searching self examination. Sensory control and purification that are not only essential in yogic practice but form the basis of the control of addictive behaviors, the healing and full functioning of one’s body and the highest level of athletic and professional skill.

Dharana is the Limb of Patanjali’s Ashta Anga Yoga that deals with the nature and control of the mind. It teaches the techniques of mental focus, one-pointedness, clarity and inner vision. The mind is the “king” of the senses and Dharana is the crown of knowledge teaching how to remove unconscious habits, impressions and tendencies.

The central limb of the 8 limbed Ashtanga Yoga is Dhyana, which means meditation. In China the word was pronounced CHAN, and in Japan it became ZEN. There are many kinds of meditations, each leading the practitioner to specific goals, powers and states of being. This class contains “The Secret” of Yoga.

Samadhi is the final stage of yogic consciousness and results in the ability to become completely absorbed in the objects of meditation. Through this skill, all forms of self-realization and perfection can be achieved. Samadhi is the final step of meditation in which the fruit of transcendental awareness becomes available.

Yama is the Limb of Ashtanga Yoga that teaches correct action in relation to the world. This limb includes techniques for overcoming anger, mastering sexual energetics, learning trust, non-attachment, the art of aligning speech with action and many more important yogic lifestyle skills.

This limb of yogic action reveals the internal or personal actions and qualities that support and sustain individual practice. External and internal cleanliness, contentment, correct austerity, self-awareness and proper worship are just some of the important topics of this limb.

Although the practices of Ashtanga Yoga are difficult and originally meant for practice in a pure and isolated environment, there is much in the 8 Limbs of Yoga that can empower our modern yogic lifestyle. This integration of all 8 Limbs summarizes their key points and gives strategies for living a dynamic yogic lifestyle based on these timeless principles.