Eight-fold Path of Yoga

Patanjali has given a detailed account of the eight-fold path of Yoga. There are eight steps that you have to follow if you want to lead life with health and well being. These steps are called eight fold path of Yoga. These are referred to as the limbs of Yoga.

1. Yama

In general, Yama is exercising restraint on our lower animal like instincts. For instance, overcoming greed, lust, anger and envy and never acting based on these impulses. Yamas are five rules of behavior which purify one’s mind and behavior. They also have social relevance.

  1. Ahimsa: It involves not hurting anyone including animals, plants and the so called non-living being like things that you use. It means non-violence in thought, word and deed. You must learn to respect everyone and everything around you.

  2. Satya (Truth): To speak truth, we should mean what we say. Our words should be gentle and free from deception. They should be uttered with the desire to do good to others. We see many types of deception in society like corruption and adulteration and malpractices in medicine causing deaths of innocent people, selling the secrets of our country to enemy countries - all these are forms of untrue behavior. It is socially harmful and dangerous to one’s integrity

  3. Asteya (Not stealing): Some times there is temptation to grab money which does not belong to us. There is tendency in some people to take bribe. They take money for what they are already being paid. Some people steal credit and happiness of others. All this is theft. To keep away from all these temptations is non stealing.

  4. Brahmacharya (Restraint on sex related activities): As there are temptations of money, there are temptations of indulging in unethical sex. In fact this

    energy can be fruitfully used for one’s personality development i.e. development of one’s physical prowess and mental faculties. This is Brahmacharya. In this way you channelize your energy for individually satisfying and socially useful purposes. Marriage and householder’s life can be equally pure if its sanctity is taken care of. Husband and wife should be loyal to each other. Thoughtless sex can invite incurable diseases like AIDS.

  5. Aparigraha: Aparigraha also means not to store more than what you need, because by doing that you may be depriving those who are in genuine need of the object.

2. Niyama

Niyamas are mainly for purifying the body and mind. They are practiced on individual basis.

  1. Shauch: keeping your body and mind clean. Taking a bath everyday, cleaning teeth and drinking pure water. It covers activities like healthy food including grains, fresh green vegetables provide all the necessary ingredients like starch, fats, vitamins, salts and minerals give stamina and strength to your body. So Yoga advises us to eat healthy food. It also expects you to be regular in your toilet habits so that your body is free of toxins (harmful substances). Shauch also means purity of mind. Our sages have recognized six enemies that make our minds impure. These include Kama - excessive desire, Krodha - anger, Lobha - greed, Moha - temptation, Mada - ego and Matsar - jealousy. Shauch means keeping away from these six enemies and filling one’s mind with noble thoughts.

  2. Santosh: It means contentment. You should do your best in every undertaking and be happy with that. There are certain factors which are beyond your control so if you achieve the expected success, that is fine and if you do not achieve the expected success that also fine. Joy is lies doing the work itself.

  3. Tapa: The literal meaning of Tapa is penance. When our exams approach we generally give up seeing movies and T.V. We do not waste time in chatting with friends. To achieve a goal we have to make sincere effort, and give up certain pleasures. This is Tapa. While treading the path of Yoga, we have to control our desires and concentrate our mind.

  4. Swadhyaya: It literally means self-study. Here, it means studying the principles related to Yoga. If we do not understand it all by our selves, we may seek the guidance of experts. Swadhyaya not only means reading literature related to Yoga but also contemplating on the principles of Yoga.

  5. Ishwar Pranidhan: It means being in constant contact with God by chanting or by keeping in mind all the time that our actions are in the worship of the Lord. Lord is the witness of everything we see, do and experience.

3. Asana

Patatanjali defines Asana as that posture in which we can sit comfortable for the Yogic practices, with our head, neck and back in a straight line. Since Yoga is vitally related to our nervous system, our spinal cord should be in the right position. Squatting on a mat or sitting on your knees is usually prescribed for yogic practice (Sukhasan, Sahajasan or Vajrasan).

The yogic tradition gives us 84 Asanas to keep our body and nerves supple. As we take care of our vehicles and instruments, so we must take care of the body. We must give it proper exercise. Hence, there is a need to do Asanas. They build our resistance to diseases and keep us fit.

4. Pranayama

Pranayama is getting control on our Pranic energy through the regulation of breathing. Inhaling air is called Poorak in Yoga. Exhaling air out is called Rechak. Stopping for a few seconds before exhalation is called internal Kumbhak.

Kumbhak should not be done for more than five seconds. Pranayama should be done under expert guidance. Otherwise, instead of being useful, it can become harmful.

Along with air we also take in the vital energy from the atmosphere which is called Prana or the life-force, breathing rhythmically improves your blood circulation and circulation of Pranic or vital energy in the body. It is a systematic, scientific process of managing our vital force and an art of utilizing it fully for an all-round development of our personality.

5. Pratyahara

It literally means withdrawing. In Pratyahara we withdraw the senses from their external objects and turn them inward. We have five main senses which are sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. In Yoga we train our sense organs to remain quiet.

Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayam and Pratyahara are called external aids to Yoga.

6. Dharana

Dharana is focusing of mind on a particular object. The object may be a part of our body like the midpoint of our eye-brows or it may be outside our body like a flame of a candle or moon or an image of the Lord or a saint. Our attention should be focused on either an internal or external object. This practice improves concentration which helps in studies and professional life.

7. Dhyana

When one learns to maintain Dharana or attention on a single object for a relatively longer period, that steady contemplation is called Dhyana or meditation. In Dhyana, we are aware of being a witness to what is happening in our minds. But we are not emotionally or intellectually involved in those happenings. This is also called Meditation. It is the best medication for all mental agitations.

8. Samadhi

In Samadhi, the mind is so deeply absorbed in the object of contemplation that it loses itself in the object and has no awareness of itself. Only when one comes out of Smadhi he or she realizes that it was a state of Samadhi where sense of time and space was totally absent. In Samadhi the individual consciousness is absorbed with pure consciousness.

A person who progresses along this eight-fold path of Yoga successfully and becomes an evolved person. He or she is free from anger, lust and other vices. He or she becomes a lover of the entire humanity. He or she does own duty with great excellence but is not at all proud of his or her achievements. He or she becomes an instrument in the hands of the Lord. This eight fold path is not for a chosen few. Everybody can tread on it.