Patanjali's 8 Limbs of the Yogic Life

• strong willpower for restraint
• five restraints, which are about how you behave outwardly towards others

• Yamas
• Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Bramacharya, Aparigraha

• strong willpower for observance and application of truth
• five observances, which are how you conduct yourself personally, inwardly

• Niyamas
• Saucha, Santosha, Tapas, Svadhyaya, Isvara-pranidhana

• physical or mental exercise, including postures
• originally meant “seat” but refers to ALL physical yoga postures
• about gaining control over phsysical bodies
• eventually goes off the mat, so practitioner can have steadiness and ease in all life

transformation of individula energy (physiological and psychological) into cosmic energy

“prana” – life force of vital energy, “yama” – expansion or extension

the mastery of one’s own vital energy and life force

by manipulating the breath, we learn how to manage our energy more skillfully

• displacement and sublimation of psychic energy
• “withdrawal from the senses”, bridges gap from external to internal energy and attention directed inward toward heart and mind,
• prep for final 3 limbs
• looking inward

• fixation of mind on various places, internal and external
• not succumbing to “shiny object” syndrome

train the mind to focus on a single point or object

patience, persistence, and compassion toward oneself

• sublimation of mind into Being
• meditation

• meditation requires concentration: sound, mantra, image, intention, open awareness, etc
• you can’t sit and meditate, only sit on concentration which may lead to meditative state

• evolution of sonsciousness from individuality to universality
• “sama” even or same, “dhi” intellect

enlightenment, non-duality, ie Yoga

• eveness and equilibrium of the mind
• you no longer experience yourself as different from everything else