The Eight Limbs Of Yoga, Explained Plainly
The eight limbs of yoga: the short answer
The eight limbs of yoga are the path Patanjali set out around two thousand years ago in the Yoga Sutras. They run from how you behave towards other people, through the poses and the breath, to the quietest states of mind. Poses are the third limb, not the first, and not the point.
- Yama. How you treat others. Five of them, starting with non-violence.
- Niyama. How you treat yourself. Cleanliness, contentment, discipline, self-study, surrender.
- Asana. The poses. Body and mind moving in harmony.
- Pranayama. Breath meditation. Breathing in a way that influences the mind.
- Pratyahara. Withdrawing the senses, so you stop being pulled outward.
- Dharana. Uninterrupted concentration on one point.
- Dhyana. Contemplation that does not waver. This is meditation proper.
- Samadhi. Absorption, where self-awareness loosens and there is a sense of oneness.
You do not climb them like a ladder, one after the other. They grow together, and the ethics tend to creep up on you rather than being adopted on purpose.
This page is drawn from Chris Lalor’s Eight Limbs talk, given at the Flametree Bali retreat.
Who Patanjali was, and what the Yoga Sutras are
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are still the major text, because they lay out what yoga is and how to arrive at a yogic state. They are short, dense and practical rather than devotional.
The Sutras are about the mind: its qualities, and how you can influence it. Patanjali defined yoga as the ability to still the fluctuations of the mind, and to direct it without distraction.
Two teachers are worth quoting on what that is for.
TKV Desikachar: “The goal of yoga is to encourage us to be a little better than we were before. We become better by making an effort and by practising. Our efforts may change in intensity, but over time we will gradually experience progress.”
B.K.S. Iyengar: “Ethics is not a way of just thinking, but a way of doing with thinking. It is the process of re-alignment of the body, senses, mind, intelligence, and consciousness. You cannot separate ethics from physical or mental discipline.”
That last line is the whole argument for why a yoga class is not just exercise.
First, the five states of mind
Before the limbs, Patanjali describes what the mind is actually doing. He lists five activities, or vrttis:
- Comprehension
- Misapprehension
- Imagination
- Deep sleep
- Memory
Notice that only one of those is seeing things as they are. Misapprehension, imagination and memory can all feel exactly like comprehension from the inside, which is the problem the whole system is built to address.
And samskaras, the grooves we run in
Samskaras are the impressions and dispositions that develop and accumulate deep inside a person. They come from perception, inference, choices, preparation, practice, interaction with others, thoughts, intent and wilful actions.
They show up as habits, behaviour, tendencies and psychological predispositions. In plain terms: the groove you have worn, and keep falling into without deciding to.
Yoga does not delete them. It makes them visible, and a habit you can see is a habit you can do something about.
One: Yama, how you treat others
Five moral disciplines, and they are ordinary rather than lofty.
- Ahimsa. Non-violence, including towards yourself.
- Satya. Truthfulness.
- Asteya. Not stealing, which extends to not taking people’s time or credit.
- Brahmacharya. Right use of energy, often translated as moderation.
- Aparigraha. Non-possessiveness, not grasping and not hoarding.
Michael Stone put the point of them well: the yamas remind us that the purpose of yoga is to show how experience can be made a creative action, and that the most difficult parts of our personality are often more useful sources of wisdom than the comfortable parts, because those are the ones we have struggled with and know most intimately.
Two: Niyama, how you treat yourself
- Saucha. Cleanliness and purity, of body and of surroundings.
- Santosha. Contentment.
- Tapas. Self-discipline, and the heat that comes from sustained effort.
- Svadhyaya. Self-study.
- Ishvara pranidhana. Surrender, or letting go of the need to control the outcome.
Santosha is the one most people find hardest, and it is also the one that changes daily life most.
Three: Asana, the poses
In asana, Patanjali saw the body and mind as moving in harmony. Asanas increase physical capability, promote attentiveness, and open you up to new experiences.
It is worth sitting with the fact that this is limb three of eight. Modern yoga has made asana the whole subject. In the original scheme it is a third of the way in, and its job is partly to prepare you for what follows.
Four: Pranayama, breath meditation
Pranayama is the process of breathing in a way that influences the mind.
That is a deliberately narrow definition and it is the right one. The point of the breath work is not lung capacity. It is what a slow, controlled breath does to your state of mind. If you want the techniques in detail, see what pranayama is and how to do it.
Five: Pratyahara, withdrawal of the senses
Pratyahara is the process of withdrawing the senses, and in turn it helps you focus.
The senses are built to face outward and to report every change. Pratyahara is the deliberate turning down of that flow, which is why restorative practices cover the eyes and why a quiet room matters more than people think.
Six: Dharana, uninterrupted concentration
Dharana is fixing the mind in one place: concentration on a single point or object.
Patanjali’s description is uninterrupted concentration, with the mind focused steadily on a particular point or object. The word doing the work is uninterrupted.
Seven: Dhyana, unwavering contemplation
Dhyana is the state where the mind flows onto an object without interruption, and you are fully engaged without the mind wandering.
This is meditation. The span of concentration has increased so that the whole mind encompasses the object and contemplates it unwaveringly. Dharana is aiming. Dhyana is having arrived.
Eight: Samadhi, absorption
Samadhi is where the mind is fully absorbed in the object of meditation, to the point where self-awareness loosens. It is usually translated as absorption, or a sense of oneness.
It is not a goal to chase, and chasing it is one of the surer ways to miss it.
Limbs five to eight, and modern brain wave research
This is the part that tends to surprise people. Patanjali’s descriptions of limbs five to eight closely resemble what modern brain wave research has found.
The progression he describes, from withdrawing the senses, to concentration, to unwavering contemplation, to absorption, maps onto the measured shift from beta activity, through alpha, into theta and beyond. The words are 2,000 years old and the EEG is 100 years old, and they describe recognisably the same sequence.
There is more on that in what yoga does to your nervous system and brain waves.
The ethics creep up on you
This is the practical point to finish on, and it is the one Chris makes at the end of the talk.
Nobody arrives at a yoga class intending to work on non-possessiveness. But the yogic ethics explained by the eight limbs tend to just creep up on you as you steadily practise yoga or pranayama, or preferably both.
You notice you are less reactive in traffic. You notice you stopped needing to win an argument. It happens sideways, through the body, rather than by deciding to be a better person.
Studying the eight limbs properly
Reading about the limbs is one thing. Working through them with a teacher over time is another, and it is where the material stops being interesting and starts being useful.
Flametree runs an eight limbs of yoga course, and the Bali retreats give the whole thing a week of undivided attention, which is where this talk was originally given.
Questions people ask
What are the eight limbs of yoga?
Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Ethics towards others, ethics towards yourself, poses, breath, withdrawing the senses, concentration, meditation and absorption.
Who wrote the eight limbs of yoga?
Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutras, around two thousand years ago. The Sutras are a compilation rather than a single invention, and they gather and order what was already being taught.
Do you have to do them in order?
No, and almost nobody does. Most Western students start at limb three, the poses, and work outward from there.
The order describes a logic rather than a timetable. You can practise asana and ahimsa in the same week without having mastered either.
What is the difference between the yamas and the niyamas?
Yamas are outward facing: how you behave towards other people and the world. Niyamas are inward facing: how you treat yourself.
Five of each, and the pair covers most of what people mean by ethics.
What is samadhi?
The eighth limb. Complete absorption in the object of meditation, to the point where the sense of being a separate self loosens.
It is a state, not a qualification, and it is not permanent.
How many yoga sutras are there?
196, arranged in four chapters. They are extremely short, which is why they have attracted so much commentary.
How do I actually practise the eight limbs?
Start where everyone starts: turn up to class, work on the poses, and learn some breath work. The other limbs arrive on their own once those two are steady.
Reading the Sutras alongside a regular practice is worth far more than reading them on their own.
Is the eight limb path religious?
No. It is a set of practices and observations about the mind, and it works whatever you believe. Plenty of Flametree students are Christian, some are atheist, and it makes no difference to the practice.
Where can I learn this in Darwin?
Flametree teaches Iyengar yoga and pranayama at Woolner (near Parap), Coolalinga, Casuarina, Palmerston and the CBD, and online. See the class times and book here.
