top of page

Eight Limbs of Yoga

When looking at the history and philosophy of yoga, there is a well-known text named ‘The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali’. The yoga sutras are a guide on how to live in order to advance along a spiritual path towards enlightenment. There are eight ‘limbs’ to the Yoga Sutras, which describe a different element of the yoga practice, which are commonly known as the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Eight Limbs of Yoga are:

  • Yama

  • Niyama

  • Asana

  • Pranayama

  • Pratyahara

  • Dharana

  • Dhyana

  • Samadhi

Yama

Yama is the first of the eight limbs of yoga and refers to restraint, moral disciplines, and moral vows, within the world around us and in out interactions. Yama is split into five categories – five yamas – which can be followed to instil these within us. The five yamas are:
 

  • Ahimsa (non-violence)
    Ahisma means to do no physical, verbal or mental harm to yourself or others. Within yoga practice, the principle of Ahisma includes being compassionate and sensitive to yourself and not sacrificing the positive feeling gained by pushing yourself too far. Ahisma can be practiced by being kind to yourself and making the effort to show up for yourself and accept where you are within this, and without judging where others are around you.
     

  • Satya
    Satya means truthfulness/ to speak the truth but not when this could cause someone unnecessary harm. Within Satya, one should consider what is said, how I is said and what way it could affect others – so the truth should be spoken, unless it has a negative consequence, in which case it would be better not to say anything. Furthermore, one should not lie, even if the lie is pleasing to hear and even when the truth would be harmful.

 

  • Asteya (non-stealing)
    Asteya is the principle of not stealing. Within Asteya, one should consider not only not stealing belongings but also another person’s happiness, confidence, time, energy or ideas. Asteya teaches to be satisfied with ourselves, with gratitude being the basis needed to live happier with ourselves. Patanjali teaches that wealth comes to those who practice Asteya, which we can achieve by practicing more gratitude and sharing of our gifts and talents freely.
     

  • Brahmacharya (right use of energy)
    Brahmacharya means the practice of discretion and care within our sexuality, sexual union with another, and the rest of our yoga practice. It is a commitment to careful, considerate and gentle living. Practicing Brahmacharya can help one benefit with the rise of ojas – vitality and radiant health.
     

  • Aparigraha (non-greed or non-hoarding)
    Aparigraha describes all that we are attached to, including all possessions, people, opinions or ways of living. In a physical yoga practice, an asana practice, aparigraha may show as an attachment to practicing yoga in a certain way. BKS Iyengar discussed Aparigraha being the most difficult yama to master but results in gaining pure knowledge of ‘what I am’ and ‘what I am meant for’.
     

Desikachar, T. K. V. (1995) The Heart of Yoga. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International.

Niyama

Niyama is the second of the eight limbs of yoga and refers to positive duties or observances. Niyamas can be practiced to build character and to progress further along the Yogic path. Similar to Yama, Niyama is split into five categories and these five Niyamas are:

 

  • Saucha (cleanliness)
    Saucha means cleanliness both internally and externally. To practice Saucha, you should consider keeping yourself clean for external cleanliness, and for internal, both health, free functioning of our body organs and clarity of our minds. Practicing physical yoga (asana) and breathing techniques (pranayama) are considered essential for inner cleanliness.
     

  • Santosha (contentment)
    To practice Santosha, one needs to be accepting and appreciative of what we already have and moving forwards from there. This is a difficult practice but one should consider what is most important to us in our life, world and wellbeing. In yoga, this could be practiced by being content and grateful with where our body reaches when moving into poses rather than focusing on where other people sit in this pose or how we believe we should look rather than listening to our body’s limitations.
     

  • Tapas (discipline)
    Tapas includes self-discipline, passion and courage to burn* away our physical, mental and emotional ‘impurities’. Tapas can take form when we desire personal growth. Within yoga, Tapas can be practiced by taking the time for yoga practice and working on elements of yoga such as challenging balances that do not come easily. It also includes having the self-discipline to practice consistently.

    * Tapas is derived from the Sanskrit verb ‘tap’ which translates as ‘to burn’.
     

  • Svadhyaya (self-study/ self-reflection)
    In Svadhyaya, you should study yourself to learn your true self and beliefs so you can act in align with your true beliefs and intuition. We can then learn better what brings us harm and what benefits us. In the context of yoga, Svadhyaya comes as we have to pay attention and focus on the moment and ourselves. This can be taken off the mat with practice on focusing on ourselves in the moment and minimising distractions.
     

  • Isvarapranidaha (surrender to a higher power)
    Within the niyama Isvarapranidaha, one is advised to ‘surrender’ to the higher self, which means creating a deep and trusting relationship with the universe and so each action we take is an offering to something bigger than ourselves. In this context, surrender does not mean to give up but realising we are doing our best and creating positive challenges for ourselves or accepting where we are in the present. In yoga, this can take the form of allowing your body to rest when it needs to and leaning into our boundaries when practicing physical yoga, which in the long term will make us feel better.
     

Desikachar, T. K. V. (1995) The Heart of Yoga. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International

 

Newlyn, E. (2022) The 8 Limbs of Yoga explained, Ekhart Yoga [online].

​

Asana

Asana is the Sanskrit word for posture. This limbs covers the physical element of yoga practice. Patanjali does not consider Asana as a need to perform advanced yoga poses per se but that postures should be stable and comfortable, especially when taking a seated pose for meditation. The body is viewed as a temple of spirit and should be taken care of to facilitate spiritual growth, which can be developed through the practice of asanas. Asanas can help you develop habits such as discipline and concentration, which can be applied to meditation practice. For this limb, it is important you consider this when practicing yoga so you do not push yourself too far but keep yourself steady and comfortable within postures. This can be taken into day-to-day life by recognising our limits and do things that keep us feeling good and steady daily.

Pranayama

Pranayama means breath control or breath restraint and is used to describe the breath, the way we breathe and the affect it has on the mind. Pranyama uses the breath to direct and expand the flow of prana in our energy channels (the Nadis) to cleanse the body. In yoga practice, we work with a variety of breathing techniques, which is the pranayama element of yoga. Pranayama can be perceived as a way of controlling the way we feel or freeing ourselves from the habitual way our mind works.

 

Using breathing techniques have several benefits including:

  • Calming and relaxing the mind

  • Bringing balance throughout the body

  • Improves concentration and focus

  • Clears blocked energy channels

  • Stimulates the digestive system

  • Raising energy levels

  • Balances the nervous system

  • Relieves tension in the brain (which in turn aids headaches and reduces anger/irritability)

 

There are a few different pranayama techniques you can expect to see in some yoga classes including:

  • Ujjayi breathing

  • Nadi Shodhana

  • Kapalabhati

  • Agni Sara (fire breath)

  • Bhastrika

  • Nauli Kriya

  • Samavritti

  • Bhramari

  • Sitali and Sitkari

 

Join a class with Daniyoga to find out more about these breathing techniques and practice them for yourself!

Pratyahara

The next limb of yoga is Pratyahara. Pratya means to withdraw and ahara refers to anything we ‘take in’ by ourselves – including our senses. Pratyahara is often seen through meditation when we focus on bringing ourselves into the moment and drawing into ourselves. Pratyahara as a practice means taking a state of mind where we become so focused that anything external no longer bothers us so we cannot be easily distracted. This is similar to the practice of mindfulness with a focus on becoming present in the moment to a level the world around us does not draw our minds away.

Dharana

Dharana means ‘focused concentration’. This follows on well from Pratyahara as Dharana aims to hold onto the concentration and state of mind we achieve through Pratyahara by drawing in to ourselves. Dharana is practiced most within yoga through meditative practices – you may find this at the start of the class, and at the end in savasana, as well as throughout your yoga practice as you focus on the moment and the breath. Other forms of Dharana include Tratak (candle gazing), visualisation, and simply focusing on the breath. These all aim not to empty the mind, but to become so absorbed in what you are focusing on that all else is lost in that moment.

Dhyana

The next limb of yoga is Dhyana, which refers to meditative absorption. Meditation should completely absorb you when practicing and take you away from conscious thought. This is hard to achieve but can be attained by using the skills and techniques learnt within yoga classes. 

Samadhi

The last of the eight limbs of yoga is Samadhi which means bliss/ enlightenment. This is the final stop of Patanjali’s Yoga sutras as once we have organised our relationships with the outside world and our inner world, we reach enlightenment. Samadhi also translates to realisation when broken down – ‘sama’ being the Sanskrit work for equal/same and ‘dhi’ meaning ‘to see’ so reaching enlightenment is realising the life we have through achieving the previous limbs of yoga.

 

Samadhi is not a state of mind that can be held or is permanent once achieved. Unless we are willing to live without ‘impressions’, which includes attachment, aversion, desires, and habits, and with a  completely pure mind, Samadhi will not last. If this state can be achieved and you are willing to live in this state, you will attain ‘moksha’, which means being in a permanent state of being liberated and free.

 

 

If a state of Moksha/Mukti is what you want to achieve, this is the pathway you can take but following I believe it is important to take away lessons from the eight limbs of yoga, even if your goal is not complete liberation. All of the eight limbs of yoga can be achieved in a way through yoga practices but would give the most benefit if used in a holistic way across both yoga practises, day-to-day practice and internal thought processes. The yoga sutras take work but can help improve your quality of life including reducing stress, improving our relationships, and giving clarity in my minds – to name a few.

bottom of page