What are the 8 limbs of yoga?
Learn about the 8 limbs, or branches, of a yoga practice and how you can apply them to your life
When I talk about practicing yoga, most people think that I mean the active part of the practice. Stretching and holding postures on a mat for a few breaths. And while that is definitely an important part of the practice, you might be surprised to learn that’s only 1 of 8 limbs of a yoga practice.
In yoga’s foundational text, The Yoga Sutras, the 8 limbs (or “areas” or “topics”) are as follows:
- Yamas -- Conduct towards others and society
- Niyamas -- Conduct towards one’s self
- Asana -- Physical posture practice (aka, what you’re most familiar with!)
- Pranayama -- Breathing techniques
- Pratyahara -- Withdrawal of the senses
- Dharana -- Concentration and focus
- Dhyana -- Meditation
- Samadhi -- Bliss
Each of these limbs deserve their own dedicated blog post, but when we look at them in aggregate, you can see that the true practice of yoga is much more than just the postures on the mat. Yoga is an enmeshed spiritual, mental, physical and social engagement system that, when done repeatedly in unison, brings us to that final limb of samadhi in which we find bliss through our highest self.
When clients ask me to prepare private yoga lessons for them, I don’t immediately just start creating a sequence of asana. I’m much more interested in what the person actually wants to gain from their practice, and I’ll use knowledge of the 8 limbs in order to deliver something that’s more customized to their goals.
For example, if someone just wants to become more flexible and mobile, then yes, asana is going to be the most important part of their practice most likely. But if they’re coming to yoga in order to work through emotional dysregulation or trauma, then asana alongside different pranayama and dhyana techniques will be a far more effective combination. For someone that I might also be life or executive coaching, there’s a lot of wisdom within the yamas and niyamas to draw upon. You might be surprised to learn how many modern psychotherapies draw inspiration and techniques from eastern schools of spiritual thought!
Do you HAVE to be interested in the spiritual or philosophical aspects of yoga to practice?
Nope, absolutely not. I don’t mean to knock anybody who just enjoys a good, intense asana session here and there and doesn’t really want to go deeper than that. But I do think it is important to recognize and respect the ancient origins of the practice, as well as its roots in Indian culture. While I’ll never force anybody to study yamas or niyamas when they come to me for lessons, my hope is that they’ll be mindful that this work did not originate as a Hollywood exercise craze back in the ‘80s or ‘90s. It comes from a lineage that is far older than most modern religions and has deep spiritual importance for many people throughout the world.
So long as one is aware and mindful of that, then their practice, in my opinion, can constitute any combination of the 8 limbs that they’d like!
If you’re interested in exploring what your personalized yoga practice might look like, shoot me an email!
