The Eight Limbs of Yoga

Without a doubt Yoga is now recognized as a fantastic and effective way to gain strength and to improve overall health and well-being. Yoga has become an industry that continues to grow every year, with studios, health clubs and YMCA’s making yoga classes available locally and the internet delivering Yoga classes through websites. The abundance of classes and the high level of availability combined with greater numbers of health care advocates recommending yoga as a means of supportig health has pushed Yoga to the top of many people’s lists of ways to get fit and stay in shape. This is a very good thing!

The physical aspect of practicing Yoga is unquestionably effective and valuable, yet in order to allow Yoga to be a benefit to all areas of your life, perhaps consider taking on the other aspects of practicing Yoga that may not be as immediately recognizable as the physical is. Yoga is a whole system designed to fully support you in your life; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Yoga as a philosophy is based in an understanding of how the body works as a whole.. Originally Yoga was passed down as an oral tradition. As many as 4,000 years ago Yoga was written down and codified into the Yoga Sutras and the sage Patanjali was credited for doing this.. Patanjali is also credited with having created The Eight-Limb Path of Yoga. It is with the Eight-Limb Path of Yoga that you can incorporate the other aspects of Yoga into your physical practice.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga are:

The Yamas - This first limb addressess one’s personal guiding compass and is divided into five parts. They are:

Ahimsa: non harming
Satya: truth
Asteya: non stealing
Brahmachariya: self restraint
Aparigraha: non-hoarding

The Niyamas - The second limb addresses self-discipline and spiritual practices. There are also five Niyamas and they are:

Saucha: cleanliness
Samtosa: contentment
Tapas: heat or discomfort
Svadhyaya: study of and of one's self
Isvara pranidhana: surrender to a higher power


Asana - This limb is perhaps what is most familiar about Yoga. This limb is the postural practice that involves moving into and out of postures.

Pranayama - This limb is about control of and and coming into awareness of the connection to the breath and the resperatory function of the body.

Pratyahara - This limb focuses on withdrawal from outward stimulus and coming into an intimate understanding of how we operate internally and externally.

Dharana - After Pratyahara, this limb now takes us into the realm of concentration and focus.

Dhyana - This is the meditative aspect of yoga, where you achieve awareness without having to be focused on any one thing.

Samadhi - This is the limb where you experience becoming one with what you are focusing on.

This brief overview is designed to introduce you to the concept of the Eight-Limb Path of Yoga and to briefly describe what each of the eight limbs are. It might be interesting to note that you are already using one or two and perhaps three of the limbs every time you come to your mat to practice. If your purpose for practicing yoga is to provide physical, mental and/or emotional support for your self, consider going a little deeper into your practice by learning about and perhaps applying the concepts of the other limbs.

Om Shanti!