The Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga
The eight-limbed path of Ashtanga Yoga comes to us from Patanjali’sYoga
Sutras, one of yoga’s seminal text. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras were written between
500-200 BC, over 2000 years ago; and are considered the most widely accepted
written system of guidelines on yoga as a development of Human Consciousness, Truth and Happiness.
Patanjali’sYoga Sutras consists
of 196 aphorisms or "sutras."
The Eight Limbs of Ashtanga
Yoga
1. Yama: Five Restraints/Social Ethics
2. Niyama: Five Observances/Personal Ethics
3. Asana: Postures/Poses
4. Pranayama: Control and Expansion
of Energy/Breath
5. Pratyahara: Sense Withdrawal/Not Feeding the Senses
6. Dharana:
Concentration/Single-Pointed Focus
7. Dhyana: Meditation/Absoption
8. Samadhi: Self-Realization/Oneness/Union
