8 limbs of yoga

This August I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This means that we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the worldchanger. I’ll do my best to help you answer the question “just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?”

Over the last few weeks we began an exploration of Asana, the physical practice of yoga; Yama, the abstentions; Niyama, the observances; and Pranayama, breathing. We will now move on to the topic of stillness, which encompasses the last 4 of the limbs of yoga – Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhayah. Even though the last four limbs are considered to be the most important along the yogic path, they go deeper into practice and philosophy than I’m interested in taking you, hence the short and sweet recap. This will be our final chapter in this series!

We’ll look at the sanskrit for each of these four limbs first.

Pratyahara = withdrawal of the senses

In our seeking to still the mind, the senses often cause distraction. The eyes find things to focus on that bring thoughts to the mind, the nose smells things that cause us to feel hunger, the ears hear things that engage the mind… The senses are a gateway of sorts, allowing the outside world to come in. When we turn the senses outward, we take in the world, but if we allow the senses to draw inward, there’s nothing to distract us; this allows us to move on to the next limb.

Dharana = concentration

This can also be thought of as the binding of the mind to a single place, object or idea. Concentration begins to train the mind, getting us ready to meditate. When the mind inevitably wanders from that single focus, we bring it back – over, and over, and over again. In his commentary, Swami Satchidananda compares this process to training a monkey; in our Raja class during teacher training, our mind-monkey was often described as being drunk and stung by a scorpion. So give yourself a break when the mind wanders – it’s a tricky beast to train!

Dhyana = meditation

We reach the state of dhyana when concentration becomes effortless, and turns into meditation. What most beginning meditators are actually doing is just concentrating really hard; there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just the first step along a long path. During true meditation, it often feels as though time is transcended. An hour of meditation can feel like only five minutes has passed.

Samadhayah = a superconscious state / contemplation

Samadhi can also be explained as mental detachment or tranquility of mind. Edwin Bryant describes samadhi as when the mind is so fully absorbed in the object of meditation that it loses all notions of itself as a self-conscious, reflective mind.

These four final limbs are more internal than the first four. We have moved from external (the body and the breath, with Asana and Pranayama) to internal through the course of our exploration. What we find is that if the body is still, it is easier to make the mind still. Through the body, we can control the mind; the mind ultimately needs the body’s cooperation to accomplish anything.

So why is stillness important to us?

In our search for balance and quiet, it means we must first be still. We can’t hope to find relief for the high amounts of stress around us in the world while we’re running around like madmen. It’s when we become still and quiet that we begin to find that capacity within ourselves.

We sometimes get hung up on this idea that in order to “successfully” meditate that we have to sit down for 30 minutes or an hour. Then we think about all the other things we have to do, and we end up doing nothing. It’s like the “all or nothing” trap I wrote about a couple of months ago. But we’re going to start breaking out of that cycle, right?

Here’s my challenge to you:

Find a few minutes every day to just sit still. Find someplace you find beautiful, and just absorb the scene around you. Focus on the beauty, and see if you can’t let your mind be still for just those few minutes. Your to-do list will still be waiting for you after you’re done, but maybe you’ll feel a little more calm as you begin to tackle it.

If you find that even sitting still doesn’t work, take a look at the yoga nidra practice that I shared two weeks ago. 20 minutes, even just a couple of times a week, can help you to find complete stillness, and then maybe you will be able to find a little bit of silence in the mind as well.

It’s not going to be easy. Remember, we’re taming and training a drunk, angry monkey. But, it’s worth it – being able to find a moment of stillness and peace here and there can mean the difference between being over the top stressed out or being able to take that stress in stride. I shared a quote on Facebook last week that I think fits well with this idea:

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

Like I said, it takes time, but the best time to start is now. One step at a time, one day at a time, one breath at a time. Find some stillness this week, and let me know if it changes anything!

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras have been fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries.

This July I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This means that we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. I’ll do my best to help you answer the question “just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?”

Last week we began with an exploration of Yama, the abstentions, and now this week we’ll move on to the second limb of yoga: Niyama, the observances.

In the same way that the Yamas are the things we shouldn’t do, the Niyamas are the things that we should do. If you remember from last week’s post, we can also look at the Yamas as external work and the Niyamas as internal work; the Yamas produce their effects without being aided by any other factors, but the Niyamas are dependent on the successful cultivation of the Yamas to reach their full effect.

Similar to the first post, we’ll break each of the Niyamas into the sanskrit name, its general translation, and then a quick exploration of what each means for us in this particular context. And again, look for the patterns and the places that each of these recommendations overlaps with the others.

Sauca = Purity or cleanliness

This translates to purity of body, thought, word and deed. It can be broken down into external (the body) and internal (the mind, your attitude).

We can take this niyama literally, but also to mean embracing simplicity. When our lives are simpler, there is less to manage, and we tend to be happier. Add simplicity together with keeping the things that come into our bodies and minds pure, and we are better able to maintain a calm and steady mind. This in turn leads to generally being less stressed.

Santosa = Contentment

In this case, contentment means being just as we are, without relying on outside things for our happiness, to neither like nor dislike.

We can also look at Santosa as coming into right relationship with life, being able to surf the up and down waves that life brings our way. We can cultivate joy and gratitude, and focus on being present to the current moment – not living in the past or the future.

Tapah = Austerity

This one gets a bit more difficult to fit into a modern-society context; one literal translation means to accept pain without causing it. For this Niyama and the ones following, we’re going to take a more modern (read: less literal) exploration.

We can break this Niyama down by looking at a situation where someone says something mean or hurtful to you, and rather than retaliating or responding in kind, we simply choose to walk away from the situation. We could also look at this in a different light: as determination and perseverance through struggle, or simply the hard work that is required to attain a lofty goal.

Svadhyaya = Spiritual study

While the literal interpretation means the study of “scriptures and spiritual texts” or “practices that we have been initiated into”, I rather like the way that Jackie Dumaine looks at Svadhyaya. To do this, we take “study” to mean self-inquiry, exploration or observation.

This can mean that we are our own ultimate guru: we have all the answers within us, but we have to sit still and contemplate long enough to find them. We can also explore why we do the things that we do, and what our behaviors mean; for example, why we set an alarm with the intention to get up at a certain hour and then hit the snooze button for 30 minutes; why we talk about doing things like getting exercise and eating well but then don’t follow up; and other behaviors of a similar nature.

Isvara pranidhana = Surrender

The final Niyama means total surrender, allowing us to attain Samadhi (tranquility of mind).

Isvara pranidhana asks that we allow ourselves to flow; to do our own work, and then to get out of the way and surrender to what is and will be. We can do anything and everything as long as we do it with the idea of serving the world at large. The biggest piece of this is letting go of the things that we can’t control.

So how can the second limb of Yoga be integrated into your life, or your work? My guess is that you’re already practicing quite a bit of this without even knowing it. During the coming week, maybe try to pay attention to when and where you notice both the Yamas and Niyamas coming up in your everyday life, and feel free to get in touch with any comments or questions.

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras are being fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries. I have also referenced the Yoga Code by Jackie Dumaine for this week’s post.

If you recall from last week’s post about Asana, this July I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This month, we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. Just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me?

This week we begin an exploration of Yama, the abstentions, and next week we’ll move on to Niyama, the observances.

Yes, in a literal sense Yama refers to abstaining, otherwise known as “the things we shouldn’t do”. But before we get wrapped up in rules and regulations, just remember that these are guidelines along the path, road markers to guide our footsteps, and not absolutes. We can also look at the Yamas as external work and the Niyamas as internal work; the Yamas produce their effects without being aided by any other factors, but the Niyamas are dependent on the successful cultivation of the Yamas to reach their full effect.

Hang in there. This piece feels huge, and it’s a lot of information, but I’m going to do my best to make it as easily understandable as I can. We’ll break each of the Yamas into the sanskrit name, its general translation, and then a quick exploration of what each means for us in this particular context. You will likely start to see a pattern, that each of the Yamas interacts and overlaps with the others!

Ahimsa = Nonviolence

The first of the Yamas (which is the first limb of yoga) is understood to be the most important of the bunch. The literal translation means that we should not injure (or cause pain to) any living creature anywhere at any time.

What we can take away from the idea of nonviolence should also extend to ourselves; having kindness and compassion toward ourselves and others can be one of the hardest things that we do. At its root, practicing ahimsa means that we should be non-violent in thought, word and deed. This idea extends into diet, as well; in the strictest sense, a vegetarian or vegan diet is a requirement for a yogi, according to the Sutras.

Satya = Truthfulness

This one is fairly simple in its translation – one’s words and thoughts should be in exact correspondence to fact.

This one is also pretty simple on the outside: tell the truth. But it goes a little deeper, teaching us that our speech should not be deceitful or misleading, and should be for the benefit of all others. We can also dig a little deeper to ask if we are being true to ourselves, in our lives, our actions and our thoughts.

There is one exception – truth must never cause harm or result in violence (see above for Ahimsa). If there is a conflict between two tenets of the Yamas, then Ahimsa must always take precedence. “One should not tell the truth unkindly.” According to the Edwin Bryant commentaries, this includes not always speaking bluntly and truthfully to people about their shortcomings (aka: being tactful). Truthfulness should bring benefit to someone, and harm to no one.

Asteya = Non-stealing

This Yama translates to both not stealing (taking things belonging to others) and also to not harboring the desire to do so.

We can look at this in different ways: always being on time and being respectful of other people’s time – if you’re late to a meeting, you are stealing time from someone else; another way to look at this on an individual level is to allow yourself the opportunity to reach your full potential – if you don’t, you may very well be stealing something from yourself. And, really, the world needs you to reach your awesome full potential!

Brahmacarya = Moderation

Confession – the literal translation of this one is usually celibacy or abstinence from sexual indulgence, but we’re going to look at this a different way.

I think the more applicable way to look at Brahmacarya is to explain it as moderation in all things. We don’t want to eat too much, sleep too much, spend too much… Here we find the idea that we are able to figure out what “enough” means in our individual context, and then only do that much of whatever it is we’re talking about. It’s finding the balance: not eating too little, or too much, but just enough to keep us healthy and happy. It’s like Michael Pollan’s recent explanation of the diet that’s healthiest for both us and the planet: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Aparigraha = Non-attachment

This can be viewed as the renunciation of unnecessary possessions, not accumulating beyond our capacity to use things in the proper ways.

We can also look at this one as not becoming attached to thoughts, ideas or routines, as well as possessions. The past few years have seen a rise in the minimalist movement – people who want to live a simpler lifestyle, finding freedom from “stuff” by not assigning too much meaning to our possessions, and making decisions about what does come into their lives in a very conscious manner (see this post by Joshua and Ryan of the Minimalists for a great explanation).

Whew. That feels like quite a bit to chew on, so we’ll leave the discussion here. As I mentioned above, next week’s post will begin to delve into the Niyamas, which build upon what we’ve covered today. There’s no test, I promise!

So how can the first limb of Yoga be integrated into your life, or your work? My guess is that you’re already practicing quite a bit of this without even knowing it. During the coming week, maybe try to pay attention to when and where you notice the Yamas coming up in your everyday life, and feel free to get in touch with any comments or questions.

These explorations of the Yoga Sutras are being fueled by both the Edwin Bryant and Swami Satchidananda commentaries. I have also referenced the Yoga Code by Jackie Dumaine for this week’s post.

For most people in the western world, when they talk about “yoga” they’re usually thinking of some pretzel-twisted pose, or a power vinyasa class, or whatever version of physical practice they participate in or are familiar with. But if you happened to be following along during my teacher training, you might have noticed that in the first three of the Reflections Along the Path posts (one, two & three) I mentioned that yoga really wasn’t about the asanas at all.

I know what you might be thinking. Wait. What? How can yoga not be about the physical postures? Isn’t that pretty much all there is?

Well, dear reader, this July I want to take you deeper into the full practice of yoga. This month, we’re going to explore the 8 limbs of yoga from the perspective of the world-changer. Just what are these 8 limbs, and what the heck do they have to do with me? Why should I do yoga, anyway?

We’re going to start with Asana (the physical practice, the postures) because that’s where most people become acquainted with and learn about yoga. Then we’ll move along to the Yamas and Niyamas, then Pranayama, and finally into an exploration of stillness and meditation. If you have no idea what any of those words mean, don’t worry; by the end of the month, I hope that we will have remedied that.

By the practice of the limbs of Yoga, the impurities dwindle away and there dawns the light of wisdom, leading to discriminative discernment.” – the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book 2, verse 28

To give you a really simplified version of what this means – removing ignorance (gaining discriminative discernment through our practice), that we might overcome toxins and tensions.

The sanskrit words in the Yoga Sutras that reference asana are as follows:

Sthira-sukham asanam

Sthira = steady
Sukham = comfortable
Asanam = posture

This means that our physical yoga practice (the asanas) should be steady and comfortable. This isn’t to say that your personal yoga practice always has to be gentle, but in every posture, you should always strive to find a balance between effort and ease. By bending and twisting the body, we squeeze out the toxins that are accumulated in everyday life, and we strengthen our bodies as we also gain flexibility; keeping the postures steady and comfortable allows us to find the proper balance between strength and flexibility. And, as you’ll hear over and over, modern scientific research shows that practicing yoga can have a huge impact on levels of stress and anxiety.

So, yes. While it’s not about the asanas, that’s where we start. The physical practice is both very important and very beneficial; it’s the best place to start to build our foundation.

Swami Satchidananda talks a lot about the best yogis being good surfers, able to ride along the top of the crashing waves. What he means is being able to ride out the ups and downs of life in a more relaxed manner, not being tossed about by each change in the tides, not being flung from extreme highs to crushing lows, but instead finding a more gentle ebb and flow between the extremes.

Our asana practice is actually only the 3rd limb of yoga, not an end or goal unto itself. But, it all starts on the mat, with your own personal yoga origin story. What story will you tell, and where will your practice take you?

 

I have two different translations of the Yoga Sutras open on my desk as I’m writing this, a whopping 850 pages between them; I bring this up because what I’m doing this month is taking an incredibly complex topic and trying to break it down into bite sized bits. If anyone wants to have a deeper discussion about any of this, please ask questions and bring this discussion to life. The posts this month are intended to whet your appetite, lay a bit of groundwork for why we practice, and to open the discussion!