Lineage Acknowledgement
I am grateful for the ascetics, siddha’s and yogis who've devoted their lives and established yoga’s roots.
I am grateful for texts such as the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (A text that explains the science of hatha yoga), the Pali Canon (A collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition), and for The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (A collection of verses used as a guide to attain wisdom and self-realization) that have inspired my journey.
I am grateful to the many commentators and translators who have made these texts available for me to understand.
I am also grateful to all the guru’s and teachers who have come before me to share these teachings with me.
Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga
A set of practices that are meant to help people live a balanced and ethical life.
Yamas: Universal moral principles, unrestricted by conditions of birth, place, time, or circumstance, are the great vows of yoga. Self-restraint in actions (yamas) includes abstention from violence (ahimsa), from falsehoods (satya), from stealing (asteya), from sexual engagements (brahmacarya), and from non-possessiveness (aparigraha).
Niyama: Observances are cleanliness (sauca), contentment (santosa), austerity (tapas), study (svadhyaya) and persevering devotion to God (Isvara Pranidhana). When one is plagued by ideas that pervert the moral principles and observances, one can counter them by cultivating the opposite.
Asana: Physical Postures
The word yoga, in the Western part of the world, is mostly associated with the practice of asana or physical postures. According to Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras, asana is least important in attaining self realization, however in our busy, stressed out and distracted modern world I would have to agree with the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, that in order to purify the mind, it is necessary to purify the body. The practice of yoga requires discipline, therefore working with the mind & body are necessary.
Hatha Yoga attains the union of mind-body-spirit through a practice of asanas, pranayama, mudras, and shatkarma. These physical practices are used to purify the body and cultivate prana (life-force energy). Modern Hatha Yoga does not emphasize many of these esoteric practices and instead focuses more on the physical yoga postures.
Pranayama: Yogic Breathing or Breath Control
When the posture of yoga is steady, then breath is controlled by regulation of the course of exhalation and inhalation. The modification of breath in exhalation, inhalation, and retention is perceptible as deep and shallow breathing regulated by where the breath is held, for how long, and for how many cycles.
Pratyahara: Withdrawing the senses
The practice of disengaging the mind from external disturbances by controlling one's reaction to them. It's not about turning off the senses, but rather changing the state of mind so that one is absorbed in what they're focusing on internally.
Dharana: Mindfulness or Concentration (one-pointedness)
Is translated as concentration. For the mind to be able to fix on an object of concentration, it must be sattvic, that is rajas and tamas must be minimized. *Tamas (tendency toward lethargy, dull mind and rigidity), Rajas (tendency toward ambition and activity) and Sattva (tendency toward a clear calm mind, peaceful awareness and clarity). The correct performance of pranayama (yogic breathing) prepares the mind for concentration, the preliminary stage of meditation.
Dhyana: Meditation or Absorption
A state of sustained concentration where the mind focuses on a single object or place. It's a stage where the mind is fully aware of itself and its surroundings.
Samadhi: Enlightenment or Bliss
A state of deep absorption. It's a state of bliss or enlightenment where the mind, self, and object of meditation merge into one.
The three stages Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (realization) are known as Samyama which is yoga (integration/union).