SEE: Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga) - Wikipedia a330a15797b44b1abe85ec5e497d39bd
Patanjali set out his definition of yoga in the Yoga Sutras as having eight limbs (अष्टाङ्ग aṣṭ āṅga, “eight limbs”):
- Yamas
- Ahimsa (अहिंसा) Nonviolence, non-harming other living beings
- Satya (सत्य): truthfulness, non-falsehood
- Asteya (अस्तेय): non-stealing
- Brahmacharya (ब्रह्मचर्य): chastity, marital fidelity or sexual restraint
- Aparigraha (अपरिग्रह): non-avarice, non-possessiveness
- Niyama – observances
- Saucha (Cleanliness)
- Santosha (Contentment)
- Tapas (Austerity)
- Svadhyaya (Selfstudy)
- Ishvara Pranidhana (Devotion to the Lord)
- Āsana – A physical posture in which one can be steady and comfortable.
- Prāṇāyāma – control of the prana (breath)
- Pratyahara – withdrawal of the senses
- Dhāraṇā – concentration
- Dhyāna – meditation
- Samādhi – absorption
Samyama – integration
- Fixing the consciousness on one point or region is concentration (dhāraṇā).
- A steady, continuous flow of attention directed towards the same point or region is meditation (dhyāna).
- When the object of meditation engulfs the meditator, appearing as the subject, self-awareness is lost. This is samādhi.
- These three together – dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi – constitute integration or saṃyama.
- From mastery of saṃyama comes the light of awareness and insight.
- Saṃyama may be applied in various spheres to derive its usefulness.