Master Yoga's 8 Limbs

Yamas

We start to master yoga's 8 limbs with the Yamas and Niyamas. The five Yamas and five Niyamas make up the "10 commandments" in the Yoga Sutras.  They are not religion, they are a yoga philosophy that outline a way to live.  The ethical, inner observances keep you on a journey to the self. 

Ahimsa

Instead of harming others, we are serving others. This helps us to feel compassionate and connected. We can harm others with our motives, intentions, actions, or words. Ahimsa means we harm nothing, not even a little mosquito.

"Before you speak, ask yourself: is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve the silence?"
Shirdi Sai Baba

Come into Pigeon pose. Observe any pain that arises. This is a form of harm. Adjust physically do that you don’t cause pain to yourself.

Satya

Being truthful in all areas of life. Without being truthful, we live a dishonest and delusional life. When we practice Satya, we are free because we hide nothing. Small white lies (or bigger ones) lead us away from our true nature and cause guilt and anxiety. If we are following the yogi code of ahimsa, we would be truthful without causing harm.

"Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones."
John Lennon

Come to Utthita Parsvakonasana. Be true to yourself in the pose, true to the alignment, true to how you feel.

Asteya

Asteya means nonstealing. Stealing implies a void, we are seeking for external satisfaction. When we practice the yogi code of asteya, we can be the richest person in the world because we will always feel we have enough. We need to be mindful how we take without giving back. We can steal from nature, animals, and others. When we shift from greed to contentment, we never need to steal again.

"Earth provided enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed."
Mahatma Gandhi

Ardha Matsyendrasana- come into the pose your way. Do not mimic another person, come up with your own expression of the pose. No two bodies are the same. 

Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya- “walking with Brahman.” This is the principle of preserving our creative energy by following the middle path. We do not indulge nor repress desires.

"Celibacy goes deeper than the flesh."
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lizard pose- find the middle point of the pose, not too challenging or too relaxing. Listen to your body and modify. Stay centered and don’t give in to any desire.

Aparigraha

Aparigraha- the yogi code of nonhoarding. We can have possessions but not possessiveness. Being a hoarder gives us more desires and in yoga, we reduce desires to become free. When we no longer have the desire to possess anything or anyone, that thing comes to us willingly.

"If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love."
Thich Nhat Hanh

Paschimottonasana- Aparigraha in yoga poses means the desire to achieve a pose lessens. We accept that with practice and time, we will get there.

Santosh

Santosh- Contentment.  When we are content, we do not desire anything more or less.  We feel satisfaction and peace because we are happy with what we have.  Joy and gratitude are felt even through pain and loss.

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be content with what he would like to have." -Socrates 

Come to forearm plank and push the floor away and engage the whole body. Hold strong for 20 breaths. If you feel shaky, accept it! It is the effort that matters, not the result. 

Tapas

Tapas- Self-discipline.  Tapas requires our intellect to keep us on track. Sometimes, things that are pleasurable in the beginning, are not so at the end.  Like overeating, we feel great at the start, but we are left with a heavy and uncomfortable body. It can be painful to start this self evaluation, but self-discipline is worth it in the end.

"Self-respect is the root of discipline: the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Swadhyaya

Swadhyaya- Self-study or self-reflection.  When we practice Swadhyaya, we become less impulsive and learn to look for answers from within, not from the outside world.  Sometimes we have to unlearn things in order to relearn the truth.  It is a good practice to 1) question everything we have learned, and 2) never take anything for granted.

Swadhyaya practice from The Yoga Mind(paid link):  Take out a pen and paper and think about who you are.  Write down the first things that come to mind like eye color, age, height, emotional personality, etc.  Next, reflect deeper within yourself.  The process is self study and when we can look within ourselves, the truth reveals itself.

Ishwar Pranidhan

Ishwar Pranidhan- Surrender to the Self.  When we practice yoga, we show humility and this surrender can lead us to a higher place of knowledge.  Being humble and surrendering will bring us peace and contentment.  We can see divinity in everything and that leads us to a deep love for everyone.

"The greatness of the man's power is the measure of his surrender."
-William Booth

Lay in svanasana with palms up for 10 min (set a timer).  As you inhale, think "I", as you exhale think "surrender."  You are surrendering your ego, your desires and attachments.

Asanas

Yoga asana is essential for you to master yoga's 8 limbs. Asana is the physical movement of yoga. It is often simply called "pose". Yoga asana are for the physical, healthy body piece of yoga, but they allow our bodies to become alert and can awaken other facets of yoga within us. 

Fun fact! Patanjali, known as the founder of yoga and the creator of the Yoga Sutras, wanted to be able to sit in lotus pose and meditate. He wanted to be comfortable as he sat on the floor. So, asana was developed to open the hips and lengthen the spine and allow the body to be comfortable and sit. 

Yoga Asana is defined as a steady, comfortable posture. This may lead us to think that we should be comfortable every yoga pose but this is just to true. Asana is meant to push our limits physically.

Practicing yoga asana is a very safe exercise because it uses only your body weight as resistance. We hold the poses longer than in aerobic sports so we are less susceptible to hurting ourselves. There are modifications for every asana with their own wonderful benefits! For these reasons, I am a strong believer that all ages can practice physical asana.

"The success of yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures, but in how it positively changes the way we love our life and our relationships."
T.K.V. Desikachar

Pranayama

Yoga breathing, or pranayama, is the fourth limb to master yoga's 8 limbs.  It has been found to lower stress and improve cardio vascular functioning. It improves lung function and respiratory endurance, helpful in the time of a respiratory pandemic! It lowers the heart rate and promotes well-being. 

Ujjayi Breathing

Ujjayi breathing is a powerful warming breath where we keep our mouth closed and breathe through the nose only. Fill up the entire belly with air and allow the exhale to hum in the throat. This breath improves concentration in physical practice, it lessens distractions because we can hear the hum and we have a physical sensation to focus on, and it can release tension in the body. Ujjayi Breathing is the primary beginning method in Ashtanga Yoga. Here are the benefits of Ujjayi breath: 

• Improve your concentration

• Release tension through the body

• Regulate heating and cooling of the body

• Warming the core from the inside- a piece of the powerful yoga breathing exercises for beginners

Alternate Nostril Breathing

Alternate Nostril Breathing will open up the hemispheres of the brain allowing for clearer thinking. This exercise can relieve headaches, improve respiratory and cardio vascular health, reduce stress and anxiety, and prepare us for meditation. Benefits of alternate nostril breathing yoga breathing exercises:

• Bring better balance to your nervous system

• Less stress response and activity over time

• Lowers blood pressure

• Slows heartbeat

• Improves breathing

Counted Breathing

Counted Breathing can slow down our breath and our parasympathetic nervous system.  It is calming and rhythmic. It will send a message to your parasympathetic nervous system to slow down.  It is like taking the fight and flight syndrome down a notch.  It may also benefit the immune system. Benefits of counted breathing: 

• Pulls focus from the panic producing situation

• Helps you control your response to stimuli

• Helps sleep when having insomnia

• Helps refocus when having a stressful day

Breath Retention Practice

Breath retention practice helps us find some control over our breath and can remind us that we do have control over one thing in a world that may be spinning out of control.  It can bring more blood to the brain and heart, allow more air to enter the lungs, and calm the nervous system. These benefits can result in a healthier digestive system as well. Benefits of breath retention practice: 

• Improves oxygen saturation

• Helps the brain to stimulate our breathing

• Gives you a sense of control over your body responses

"For breath is life, and if you breathe well, you will live long on the earth." 

Pratyahara

Pratyahara is turning Inward, sense withdrawal.  To live pratyahara, we control our mind's impulses and desires and the stimuli coming in through our senses.  We learn to master our senses.  When I taste chocolate, my tongue says "more please."  But if my intellect says "not right now," then I have governed my senses with intellect.

Pratyahara Practice from The Yoga Mind (paid link) by Rina Jakubowicz: Enjoy this meditation. Sit on your yoga mat with your spine tall.  Close your eyes and become aware of your taste.  Do not judge, just observe.  Shift to your sense of hearing.  Listen without adding stories.  Move to the sense of smell.  Don't add preferences, just observe.  Then go to the sense of sight.  Even with the eyes close we can sense colors, lights, and darkness.  Finally, move to the sense of touch.  Notice the clothes on your skin, your hair, hot or cold sensations.  Notice without attachments or desire. Take five deep breaths, open the eyes, and return to the present. 

Dharana

Dharana- Concentration, focusing or attention.  We concentrate toward our ideal- self-enlightenment.  Concentration means your intellect is strong enough to keep your mind focused on one thought and avoid all the distractions.

Try this Dharana practice from The Yoga Mind (paid link) .  When we react to something emotionally, ask: 

• Can I stop what I'm doing right now?

• Do I want to get out this emotion?

• If the answers are no, come back later when the answers are yes and answer the following:

• What emotion or thought has taken over me?

• It is useful?

• What is the unfulfilled desire I have right now?

• What is my intellect saying I should do?

Now you can move forward with action!

Dhyana

Dhyana- Meditation.  This is our last step to master yoga's 8 limbs and the journey toward Samadhi.  When we meditate, we should lose the identifications with our body, mind, and intellect.  Now we identify with the Self.  Dhyana is deeper than 10, 15 min a day practice.  Those practices are good for keeping the mind calm, focused, and relaxed, but to reach Samadhi, we need to do more along our 8 limbs of yoga journey.  When we are in true meditation long enough, we enter Samadhi.

"Trying to meditate with a head full of desires is like a plane trying to take off with too much cargo.  Planes must offload the cargo to take flight.  Just as humans must offload their desires to be able to meditate." 
Swami A Parthasarathy

Samadhi

Samadhi- And our journey has finished with enlightenment. We have completed the 8 limbs of yoga journey.  Samadhi happens when we have been fully purified by the wisdom gained.  We transcend the body, mind, and intellect entirely.

"Yoga is the journey of the Self, through the Self, to the Self." 

Master Yoga's 8 limbs with my Ashtanga educational program!