What is Yoga Philosophy?
The philosophy of yoga explicitly states that the mind, body, and energy are inextricably connected. It is similar to Buddhist philosophy in that it holds that spiritual ignorance is the root cause of all suffering. This ignorance is what binds us to the cycle of rebirth or the wheel of Samsara.
Yoga’s philosophical teachings revolve around achieving realization of oneself, mental detachment, and awareness of oneself by eliminating ignorance.
8 Limbs of Yoga
1. YAMA – Restraints, moral disciplines, or moral vows
This is one of the first limbs among the eight limbs of Yoga, Yama, means vows, disciplines, or actions mainly associated with our surroundings and how we interact with them. While yoga can help increase bodily strength and flexibility while calming the mind, what’s the point if we’re still rigid, weak, and stressed out daily?
There are five Yamas. The five pillars of Buddhism are ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Astya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (right use of energy), and Aparigraha (non-greed or hoarding).
2. NIYAMA – Positive duties or observances
The second of the eight limbs of yoga, Niyama, typically refers to within duties. The prefix ‘ni’ is a Sanskrit verb meaning ‘inward’ or ‘within’.
There are 5 Niyamas that are taught in yoga teacher training:
The five pillars of Buddhism are saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (discipline or burning desire), svadhyaya (self-reflection and study of spiritual texts), and isvarapranidaha (surrender to a higher power).
Niyamas are traditionally practiced by those who want to progress along the Yogic path and are intended to strengthen character.
3. ASANA – Posture
The physical side of yoga is the third step on the road towards liberation. To be truthful, the word asana here does not indicate the capacity to execute a handstand or an aesthetically pleasing backbend; rather, it means ‘seat’—specifically, the position that you would take for your meditation practice. Patanjali’s only proper alignment instruction for this asana is “sthira sukham asanam”; the position should be constant and comfortable.
4. PRANAYAMA – Breathing Techniques
The term Prana means ‘energy’ or ‘life source’. It is frequently used to describe both the essence that keeps us alive and the energy in the cosmos around us. Prana is also frequently used to describe the breath, and working with our breathing can have a significant impact on our minds.
We can interpret Pranayama in several ways. Prana-yama can mean ‘breath control’ or ‘breath restraint’, or ‘prana-ayama’, which translates as ‘freedom of breath’, ‘breath expansion’, or ‘breath liberation’.
5. PRATYAHARA – Sense withdrawal
Pragya means ‘take out’, ‘draw in’, or ‘draw back’, and the second component, ahara, encompasses something we ‘take in’ on our own, such as all the different sights, sounds, and smells our senses constantly take in. If we sit for an official practice of meditation, this is usually the first thing we do when we believe we are meditating: we focus on ‘drawing in’. Drawing inward may involve focussing on how we breathe, so this limb is also directly associated with pranayama practice.
6. DHARANA: Focused Concentration.
Dharana suggests ‘focused concentration’. Dha signifies ‘holding or maintaining’, whereas Ana means ‘other’ or ‘something else’. Dharana and pratyahara have an unbreakable connection with the prior two limbs. To concentrate on a thing, we need to silence all of our senses so that our full attention is directed toward that point of focused attention. To bring our senses in, we have to pay attention intensely. Dharana practices include Tratak (candle gazing), visualization, and focusing on the breath, and it is at this stage that many of us believe we are meditating.
7. DHYANA – Meditative Absorption
The seventh and final limb among the eight limbs of yoga is ‘meditative absorption’, which occurs when we completely lose ourselves in the subject matter of our meditation, indicating that we are truly meditative. Everything we learn in class is simply techniques for settling, focusing, and concentrating. Meditation is not something we can actively ‘do’; rather, it outlines the unplanned action of something that occurs as a result of all other factors.
8. SAMADHI – Bliss or Enlightenment
Many of us associate the term samadhi with ‘bliss’ or ‘enlightenment’, and it is the final stage of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras journey. After reorganizing our relationships with the external world and our world, we reach the pinnacle of bliss.
Cutting the word in half reveals that the last phase is made up of two words:’sama’, which means same or ‘equal’, and ‘dhi’, which means ‘to see’. There’s a reason it’s called “realization.” It’s because achieving Samadhi isn’t about escaping, floating away, or being frequently joyful; it’s about realizing the life that’s right in front of us.