8 Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga
Yoga is a union of mind, body, and soul, and there are countless forms for how that takes shape.
I practice a flavor called ashtanga yoga.
Ashta = 8, tanga = limbs
These are the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga:
1. Yamas - personal codes of conduct; ethics; integrity
a. Ahimsa - non-violence
b. Satya - non-lying, truth
c. Asteya - non-stealing
d. Brahmacharya - focus of life force energy, continence
e. Aparigraha - non-hoarding
2. Niyamas - observances; personal practices
a. Saucha - cleanliness
b. Santosha - contentment
c. Tapas - heat, passion
d. Swadhyaya - self-study
e. Ishvara pranidhana - surrender
3. Asanas - physical postures
4. Pranayama - breathing exercises; control of prana (also called ki, chi, or manna)
5. Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses
6. Dharana - concentration
7. Dhyana - meditation
8. Samadhi - enlightenment, ecstasy
This is the framework for an encompassing ashtanga practice to optimize all layers of being. It is not a hierarchy; no limb is more important than another! You are welcome to take what you need, and leave the rest.
Westerners have a tendency to focus on asanas = yoga postures at the exclusion of all else. Although there are glorious benefits to maintaining a daily habit of movement, I want to expand the discussion and develop a richer practice for the health and wellbeing of ALL! I invite you to join me as I incorporate a fuller spectrum into my little bloggity blog here in the Steemitsphere.
Do you practice yoga?
How do you personalize your practice?
How do you personalize your practice?
💛 Sara!
Yoga is life~*~
Yes! All this defining and compartmentalizing loses sight of the big picture - yoga is EVERYTHING!!!!!
But a framework can also be helpful for getting a grasp on it, and I can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed when first trying it out.
Yoga was a BIG paradigm shift for me, and at one point I thought the "rules" & structure were important 😂 They made me feel more comfortable, anyway...
Yes a frameworks/blueprint/formula is very helpful for beginners and thus why everyone wants a class.
Its ok to have a class or a formula or a teaching just be sure it is a bridge to the truth∞§∞
Love that you share this knowledge to expand and deepen peoples views on yoga and all that it encompasses. As you say, our western society have a quite limited repertoire of practices that are commonly exercised, but yoga is so much more than just a few poses done in consecutive manner.
I personally practice quite varied forms of yoga, but would say my main focuses adhere to Dhyana, Dharana, Phranayama in conjuction with Asanas. Also limbs 1 and 2 are integrated in to my everyday life.
Otherwise, if you're into travelling, fitness, self-development etc feel free to check out my channel, in any case keep up the good work and I'll see you around! 😄
This is an EXTREMELY CLASSY way to do self-promotion!!! I really appreciate that given the current environment on Steemit, and I hope others will learn from your approach. You add something of value to the topic at hand, then you find a very natural way to work in what you bring to this platform to the conversation! It's so refreshing to see a well done comment :)
I'm going to follow you just because I appreciate that so much!! May you continue to find success on here @williamwest!
And yes, I couldn't agree more that there is more to yoga!
Thank you for those words Sara 😄
Really like your way of doing things here on Steemit as well, users here should definitely draw inspiration from you.
Also, just saw you've done Ayahuasca? Can't wait for that part 2 of yours, done a lot of psychedelics myself but haven't got the chance to try Aya yet 🙏🏼
You're welcome! I appreciate your feedback too :)
Yes, aya is amazing and I recommend it to anyone who feels drawn to her. I was quite scared because I knew she goes deep, and I was afraid I would have to "relive" some of my most painful experiences. Thankfully for me, it wasn't like that! It's no cake walk, but it is definitely worth it!
Is Yoga and meditation same thing? @saramiller
Meditation can be an aspect of yoga. To me, yoga is an entire lifestyle and meditation is one way to express it.
Thank you
no brother yoga and meditation are totally different....keep in mind
Totally different is not accurate. As you can see, meditation is the seventh limb of ashtanga yoga. It's part of certain yoga styles.
But on a bigger scale, yoga is everything; yoga is union.
Cooking can be yoga.
Making a Steemit post can be yoga.
Walking the dog can be yoga.
To me, yoga is actually how you engage every single aspect of your life.
Everything is also the opportunity for meditation - it's up to you how you choose to approach it!
sir may be you are right but my point of view is different.what is suggestion about yoga or meditation.
Of course it's all opinion - mine is opinion too. But in my experience "totally different" is inaccurate.
sir i respect your experience.
It’s a process, my practice evolves with me, but sometimes I focus more on the antarangas, and other times I go more with the bahirangas, often though the physical aspect prevails and i go all bhoga😄
Cool, you speak "the code" LOL 👊🏼
Sounds like our practices/processes are quite similar @street.yoga! :)
For anyone else reading this comment, bahirangas = the first 5 limbs, antarangas = the last 3 limbs, and a simplified definition of bhoga = pleasure
The code would be sandhya bhasa, or the twilight language. That is just simple sanskrit anybody can learn and interpret to his liking😅
Have u been practising yoga for a long time? Ive always been intrigued by yoga poses and all and heard of a lot of benefits of yoga. However, to me, I feel that many of the yoga poses are really challenging for me as Im not really exercising in daily life. Does it take long to learn like flying yoga?
Yes I have been practicing for many years. Poses are just part of a practice, but yes some of them can be a physical challenge. However, if you take a mental posture that you LOVE challenges, you might master them very easily and quickly. If you take the mental postures that you HATE challenges, you will likely struggle and not enjoy it and maybe even give it up soon!
And it's also interesting to start a practice and find that some poses are very natural for you, while others might require more effort. Then if it interests you, you may find that the poses that challenge you are also good for certain parts of the soul...like, let's just say maybe you are challenged by a class of poses called heart openers, you might start looking at your life and find that you actually hold a lot of grudges! Maybe you start meditating on that and looking at that, and as you learn how to forgive, the poses actually become a lot easier.
That's just one example - yoga can go very deep!
I have always wanted to get into yoga. When I google searched I could only find snippets. I would have never known that yoga encompasses that much. Thank you for this post @saramiller! As a future scientist I have heard a lot about the benefits of yoga. And I am all about trying new things. I will go and look into this more. Do you have any suggestions about where to start? Cheers @lesshorrible!
Yoga encompasses even MORE than this!!! This is just a super simplified outline, and only one style for looking at it. There are many, many more "types" of yoga than just ashtanga.
If you want a physical practice, I suggest you get a DVD or watch a youtube video and practice at home!
If you want relaxation, I suggest you try meditation - just sit down for 5-10 minutes and focus on your breath. When your thoughts start to wander, bring your mind back to the breath - no judgment!
That's a quick way to get into it, but wait - there's more! Awhile back I wrote a little guide for getting started:
https://steemit.com/yoga/@saramiller/yoga-2-0-where-to-start
Cool! Thank you very much!
You're welcome! I'm happy to help in any way I can if you ever have questions or just want to share your practice :)
Yoga is such a thing that keeps people's mind and body healthy, I did a few months ago, but is no longer regular..Great post @saramiller
Thanks @rahulsen! How did you feel when you had a regular practice?
It sounds like a lot, it's like a boom in the body. . :) @saramiller
Nice!! Why don't you practice regularly anymore?
In the last few days, I was busy with other activities, due to breaks, the body is now getting lazy, so now it is not regular anymore. . @sara
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Thank you!
💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
OMG That post is so beautiful!
Well I'm new in here and I post amazing pictures about yoga because that's my passion! I follow you! kisses <3
Cool, welcome to Steemit! Yoga is one of my passions too :) 💛
I really love this post @saramiller! I did Ashtanga Yoga when I went to a metaphysics retreat in Guatemala. You just gave me a beautiful flash back to the knowledge I learned there, and a happy reminder to continue my practice. I actually just started Kundalini a few months ago, and have been enjoying it soo much!
Looking forward to connecting with you, and learning more alongside you sista! BE Well!
Hi there @mzbick! Nice to meet you!
I'm glad to hear you're experimenting with different styles. There are endless ways to approach yoga! To me, it's a lifestyle rather than a defined set of rules or procedures.
I have tried kundalini as well - it's very powerful. Very, very powerful...
Blessings to you~*~