Yoga is More than the Asanas—the poses; it’s a system that encompasses 8 steps to an enhanced, healthy and authentic way of living.
What is the first image that pops into your mind when you hear the word yoga? I’m guessing it’s got something to do with the physical practice, or asana as it’s called in Sanskrit. Maybe you see a long and lean-looking woman in a downward-facing dog. Or possibly you see the well-defined physique of a man standing on his hands. These images, what the vast majority of people—including yoga practitioners—would conjure up in response to my question, actually represents just a miniscule part of yoga practice. Yoga integrates mind, body, intellect, and spirit. It offers a path of spiritual and personal growth; a process whereby you learn to connect to your deepest, most authentic self and all the selves that walk this earth with you.
That might sound pretty lofty and esoteric. But the practice of yoga, as broken down and defined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali—one of the quintessential texts of yoga history and philosophy—actually defines an accessible path of living that even the most skeptical can use to great benefit. The Sutras provide an eight-limbed path that amounts to yoga. Asana represents only one of the eight limbs. Thus, if we consider the state of modern yoga, most practitioners only engage with one-eighth of the potential.
The eight-limbed path begins with the yamas, or external restraints. These five guidelines focus on how you relate to the world around you: ahimsa (nonviolence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (nonstealing), brahmacharya (nonexcess), and aparigraha (nonpossessiveness).
The second limb is the niyamas, or internal restraints. These five guidelines focus on how you relate to your own self: saucha (purity), santosha (contentment), tapas (self-discipline), svadhyaya (self-study), and ishvara pranidhana (surrender). By learning and then incorporating the yamas and niyamas into our lives, you live more in alignment with your highest value. And when you do so, life feels a little more peaceful, regardless of the vicissitudes of daily life.
The third limb of yoga is asana, the physical postures. We typically see this part of the practice glorified on Instagram and other social media. When practiced in concert with the other limbs, though, asana provides a particularly amazing way to keep the body supple, strong, and full of vitality.
Fourth is pranayama, or breath control. Most people don’t realize how incredibly powerful a role breath plays in regulating our physical and emotional selves. If you’ve ever paid attention to your breath when feeling anxious or angry, you may have noticed how shallow it becomes. By deepening the breath, you literally send a signal to your brain to slow down, to move from the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). When you learn to shift yourself to the parasympathetic nervous system, you move through the world with more self-awareness and grace.
Next along the yogic path comes pratyhara, sensory withdrawal. In ancient times, this limb was practiced by retreating into the nearest cave for days on end. Modern yogis, however, can find refuge from the incessant stimuli that continually confronts them by finding pockets of stillness and quiet in their lives. It is only when you get still and quiet that you can truly get in touch with your deepest self, apart from the trappings of professional and personal lives.
The final three limbs of yoga pertain to the practice of meditation. For the ancient yogis, meditation was yoga, plain and simple. The asana practice was simply a means to this important end. Make the body flexible and supple enough so that it could sit comfortably for prolonged periods of meditation.
The sixth limb of yoga is dharana, or concentration. Here the practitioner finds the power of a focused mind by repeatedly drawing the attention back to the point of focus (perhaps a mantra, the breath, or even a physical sensation).
The seventh limb of yoga is dhayana, translated as meditation, itself. Here the process of interiorization—going inward to your truest self—deepens. Countless meditation methods can achieve a deepening of spiritual practice. Various meditation practices offer pathways to bring practitioners more fully into both their individual and universal selves. Thus, practitioners start to feel into the truth of the idea of universal connection, simply by virtue of the fact that we walk this earth simultaneously.
Moving from the transcendental to the mundane, meditation has the added practical benefit of helping the practitioner develop space between stimulus and response. When the yogi cultivates the ability to reflect and respond rather than simply reacting unthinkingly to stimuli, that yogi will know more peace and spread more peace.
The final limb of yoga laid out in the Sutras is Samadhi, or enlightenment. Most of the time, people are like waves who have forgotten that they are part of the ocean. In Samadhi, though, you realize that you are the ocean. You feel in your bones that the perceived separation between people constitutes an illusion.
Much of the eight-limbed path may sound aspirational rather than attainable. That’s perfectly ok, so long as you recognize that even the smallest of steps along the path can create tremendous movement in your quest to live your best life and to become your best self. You can dip your toes into yoga practice by simply cultivating compassion for another, gratitude for the gifts in your own life, or simply finding some time to sit in stillness and appreciate the sensation of your breath.
