The Eight Limbs Of Yoga

The Eight Limbs of Yoga
 
There are five obstacles identified as preventing one from gaining enlightenment
*ignorance
*attachment
*aversion
*ego
*fear of death
 Yoga is a way to rid one of these 5 obstacles or kleshas

  1. YAMA – Ethical and Moral
  1. Ahimsa – non-violence, compassion
  2. Satya – truth
  3. Asteya – non-stealing
  4. Bramacharya – abstinence, moderation
  5. Aparigraha – non-greed, non-hording, generosity
 
  1. NYAMAS – Integrity
  1. Saucha – purity & cleanliness
  2. Santosha – inner contentment
  3. Tapas – keeping healthy, exercise & food, having a goal, discipline
  4. Svadhya – study of our inner nature
  5. Isvara – devotion, realization of the oneness of all things
 
3. ASANA – means seat. Body postures to enhance the pranic flow – life energy, to focus the mind and make the body strong and healthy 
The first three limbs help control passion and emotion and bring harmony with humanity and nature
 
4.  PRANAYAMA – BreathPrana – vital energy
Ayama – stretch, expansion
Pranayama is the method to direct energy inward to detach from the senses
 
5.  PRATYAHARA – Sensory withdrawal. Withdrawal of the senses to release us from desire enabling the inner self to feel contentment
 
6.  DHARANA – Concentration. To clear the mind for meditation
 
7.  DHYANA – Meditation. Allows the mind to expand and connect with the true nature and the emptiness that is full of potential.
 
8.  SAMADHI - Bliss. Samadhi is the ultimate goal of yoga, the full circle from ignorance back to oneness with the universe is the culmination of all eight limbs
 
The last three limbs are called Antaratma Sadhana, the quest for the soul

The first limb of Yoga is the Yamas – Moral codes to live by
Ahimsa: A- not;  himsa – harm Non-harming
        
  • Have compassion for all living beings
  • Have compassion for your-self, be kind to yourself
  • Self talk in a positive, not a negative way
  • Look for the positives in what you do, encourage and love yourself
  • Act with love and compassion towards others
  • If we feel empathy we are unable to harm things
  • Includes our thoughts – don’t imagine harming others if you are angry, don’t direct  unkind thoughts at other people 
  •  Words- don’t say hurtful things
  •  Deeds – don’t hurt the environment
  • Don’t even have a dream of violence
  • If something physically hurts, let it heal
 
Satya – to be truthful, the search for Truth
  • What is truth or real can be found through observation and common sense
  • The ultimate truth transcends conceptualization, realized through pure awareness
  • An understanding of the very nature of things beyond self or projection of reality
  • Unchangeable, has no distortion, beyond distinction of time, space and person
  • In Buddhism the noble truths are
  1. Life means suffering
  2. The origin of suffering is attachment
  3. The cessation of suffering is attainable
  4. The path to the cessation of suffering
  • Satya means right
  • Satya Vishwas is right belief
  • Satya Karma is right action
  • The truth of the universe
 
Asteya – non-stealing
  • You do not steal because you have been taught it is wrong or you cannot steal because you feel the disturbance in the universe, the disharmony that is created by stealing
  • When practicing asanas is important not to steal from the pose by forcing your body beyond its capabilities by stretching too far or holding too long. You will steal from your body the positive effects of the asana or receive an injury which is a violation of ahimsa
  • Junk food is stealing health from your body
  • Not exercising is stealing health from yourself
  • It is stealing someone’s self-harmony and contentment and peace of mind by yelling at them and getting angry
  • Rich countries steal from poor countries by not sharing.
 
Agarigraha – non-hording
  • Non –possessiveness, non-attachment
  • Only having what you need
  • If your life revolves around objects you are upset when they are lost or wary lest they may be lost
  • Non attachment of thought
  • non-possessiveness of people
 
 
Brachmacharya  “Godly conduct”
  • Transmutation of a grosser form into a finer one. When channeled correctly the subtler form of creative life force are essence of artistic, intellectual and spiritual expression
  • Re-channeling sexual desire according to the personal will
  • Not having sex gives you more energy for practice, will power and thought-power
 
The second limb of Yoga are the Nyamas - Ethical Codes
   1. Saucha – Purity and cleanliness of mind, body, heart and environment
  • Internal and external
  • Purity of behaviour and habits, cleanliness of person and surroundings
  • Internal is rooting out of the six evils
  1.  Anger
  2.  Greed
  3.  Infatuation
  4.  Pride
  5.  Malice &envy
  6.  Passion
  • Cleaning helps calm the mind
  • Pure food
 
2. Santosha – Contentment
Relates to Aparigraha
  • Not worrying about material objects makes room to focus on the spiritual self and positive energy that leads to contentment
  • Being happy with what you have got
  • Don’t look at bad things that happen to you as punishments, see them as lessons, find the positive aspects
  • Overcoming suffering can lead to contentment
  • No matter how bad things are if you are a good person and do good things in the world you are bing positive
  • Enjoy what each day brings even if everything is crap you might see a beautiful leaf or and insect and if you are open to it, it can make you happy in the moment
 
3. Tapas – Austerity
  • Tap- to burn fiery discipline
  • The fiercely focused, constant intense commitment necessary to burn off the impediments that keep us from being in the true state of yoga (union with the universe)
  • It is not perfection in yoga poses
  • Consistency in striving towards you goals
  • Constant practice
  • Concerned with the quality of life
  • Perseverance
  • Notice thoughts, changing them to positive and compassionate, beginning with compassion for yourself
  • Discipline
 
4. Svadhyaya – study Sva – self;  adhyaya- investigation, education
  • Self-inquiry, study that helps you understand yourself, the study of the sacred texts
  • The more honestly we know ourselves the more we are able to be in control of our moods and emotions
  • Releasing attachment and aversion. Don’t hold onto things that feel good. Don’t push away things that feel bad – observe them
  • Reading spiritual texts and other books – novels, poetry, inspirational biographies, encounter new concepts and reflect
  • Looking in a mirror, reflecting our true nature back to us
  • The search for deeper self-understanding
  • An inspirational activity – chanting meditation, receiving teaching from a guru, listening to a sermon
 
The third limb of yoga is Asana – seat
The Asanas (postures) train and discipline the mind
  • Make the mind concentrate deeply to hold a difficult pose gazing at a pint
  • Balance of body and mind
  • Confidence when you achieve a difficult pose and happiness and a sense of accomplishment
  • Concentrating on the breathing and postural alignments stops other thoughts crowding the mind, a relief that extends beyond practice
  • Restores mental and physical strength, well-being and vitality
  • The body focuses, we see how the breath and emotions have responded
 
The fouth limb of Yoga is Pranayama – control of the breath
  • A system of breathing techniques for cleansing the body, which there by calms and concentrates the mind
  • Develops tranquillity, a steady mind, strong will-power an sound judgment
  • The conscious prolongation of inhalation, retention and exhalation
1.  Breathing in – primeval energy
2.  Retention – savour the energy
3.  Exhale – empties the emotions and thoughts
4.  Empty lungs – surrenders the “I” to the “Atma” or ego to true nature
  • Tonglen – breath in the pain and suffering of others, breath out happiness and peace
  • Meditation is the gap after we have breathed out and before the next breath is taken- the space between our thoughts

The fifth limb of Yoga is Pratyahara – Sensory withdrawal
Prati – against or away; ahara – food or anything we take into ourselves from the outside
  • Loosening the grip of the ties that bind us ie habits and addictions
  • The journey from the outer world of the ego to the inner world of the soul begins
  • Develops tranquillity
  • Brings the mind and senses under control
  • Gaining mastery over external influences
  • Withdrawal from wrong food, wrong impressions and wrong associations while opening up to the opposite
  • Control of the senses
  • In the modern world our senses are overloaded by computers, T.V., news, music etc
  • The senses tell the mid what to do they need to be disciplined from running after what is most appealing, forgetting the higher goals in life. Such control is not suppression (which eventually causes revolt.)
  • Taking in wrong impressions from TV and movies is like junk food making the toxic
  • Most of the time we overly express our emotions, which loses tremendous energy. Pratyahara teaches us to hold our energy within and not disperse it unnecessarily. This conserved energy can be drawn on for creative, spiritual or healing purposes as needed and can provide the extra power to do the things that are really important to us
 
The sixth limb of Yoga is Dharana – Concentration
The ability to direct the mind, to hold it in a single line of focus, uninterrupted
  • Direction in life
  • Dharana is concentration on a single pint or total attention on what one is doing, the mind remaining unmoved and unruffled. It stimulates the inner awareness to integrate the ever flowing intelligence (wisdom) and releases all tensions When it continues for a long time it becomes meditation
  • Stillness
 
The seventh limb of yoga is Dhyana – Meditation, lighten up
The process by which one connects with that which one seeks to understand by concentrating the mind on the abject of focus
  • Mindfulness
  • The middle way; perfect intelligence and perfect realization. Perfect wisdom and perfect love
  • With our minds in tranquillity and peacefulness our minds will no longer run in two channels but will cease their flow in prajna’s ocean of truth
  • Insight – see that the mind is neither true nor false, from that viewpoint we restrain our dependent thoughts
  • Purity
  • To achieve it you must get rid of the 3 poisons, lust, anger, and foolishness and the 5 hindrances – covertness, fear, ignorance, conceit and doubt
  • Keep your mind fresh and clean, pure transparent and undefiled

The Eight limb of Yoga is SAMADHI - Bliss. It is what the yogi aims for. The more often and longer a yogi attains and remains in the state of the bliss, the more wisdom flows through their life.