Struggling with Stress? The Eight Limbs of Yoga Can Fix That!

Tight deadlines, daily pressures, and persistent anxieties make stress seem endless. It makes you tired, slows you down, and causes you to overthink. It worsens if you ignore it, harming your health and happiness.

However, what if there was a tried-and-true way to unwind? The Eight Limbs of Yoga offer a complete method for calming your mind, strengthening your body, and bringing balance to your life. 

This old practice is more than poses; it teaches you to be aware, control your breath, and find inner peace.

Are you ready to handle your stress? Let’s explore the Eight Limbs of Yoga and learn how they can transform your well-being one step at a time.

What Do We Mean by the eight limbs of Yoga?

The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali describes an eight-fold path to freedom. This path is called the “Ashtanga Yoga System” or “8 Limbs of Yoga” (where “ashta” means “eight” and “anga” means “limb”). 

But how does one get this freedom through yoga? Does it cost a lot of money? Can you get it by doing a detox retreat or touching your toes? Probably not.

What Does Yoga Mean?

Yoga denotes to connect, unite, or “yoke.” The actual Self also called the “divine essence,” “ultimate self,” or atman is the one we seek to relate to. Another way you could consider this is as the soul.

That approach may not appeal to you, but yoga can also mean separation or disentanglement. The purpose of yoga is moksha or emancipation, so we’re disentangling from whatever holds us back. 

What are the Eight limbs of yoga?

The eight Yoga Sutra limbs must be learned in order and mastered before moving on.

1. Yamas

The Yamas teach us how to treat others and the world around us. Some of them are:

• Ahimsa (non-harming)

This principle means acting in a way that promotes growth and life. Yoga and activism link mindsets. Social justice is collective ahimsa, lifting and liberating all people from harm. 

This principle tells us to care for and treat others as if they were an extension of ourselves.

Additionally, Western yogis occasionally preach that one must be vegan to be a yogi. In India, dairy products are almost always eaten for their health benefits. Veganism is fine, but yoga isn’t required.

• Satya (truthfulness)

When engaging with others, we all wear masks or distinct personalities. Yoga encourages us to reveal our true selves and act from them.

When we can show our true selves, we live more in the real world and less in Maya (fantasy). Being honest isn’t always easy, but it’s always the right thing to do. We practice Satya by speaking out against injustice in a system that seeks to silence it.

• Asteya (non-stealing)

This principle goes beyond “do not take material items from others.” Respecting others’ time, energy, and resources.

To practice Asteya in personal interactions, we must define and honor limits. This can also be applied to our Earth. Instead of walking the middle path of yoga, we create an imbalance by taking from the land without giving back.

To appropriate yoga to remove it from its original place in the world and use it to serve the individual rather than honor its roots is to offend yoga itself.

• Brahmacharya (abstinence)

This can be done by extreme celibacy or acknowledging our fundamental life energy. Yoga advises us to use our sexual energy mindfully and by its philosophy.

(I like to note that the word “Brahma” may trigger certain folks. This word is used in Vedic literature to establish caste. Some yoga teachings encourage mindfulness and kindness, but this method goes against them. We must eliminate caste to apply yoga to society).

• Aparigraha (non-hoarding)

It has been said that greed is the basis of all evil. Scarcity drives greed, which causes people to cling to wealth, material goods, and people, causing harm.

For spiritual alignment, we must trust that we always have enough and let money, items, and other blessings flow in and out of our lives. We must insist that our social systems run from Aparigraha.

Resource imbalance and poverty are direct results of greed and hoarding. Developing systems built on a foundation of mutual aid and sustainability can help.

2. Niyamas

Niyamas are the rules that we should follow when we are self-disciplined.

• Saucha (cleanliness)

Gurus and yoga texts promote washing, eating clean, and keeping one’s area clean, but they also recommend having positive attitudes about oneself and others. 

When our minds are clean, there are straightforward ways for the divine to enter us.

• Santosha (contentment)

We must practice being content with the present. Capitalism teaches us always to want more, so we’re never satisfied with what we have. We practice yoga when we can sit and feel complete with the present.

• Tapas (heat)

Practice makes perfect because repeated effort leads to mastery of our learning. Tapasya tells us that mastery can be unpleasant, yet such pain (or heat) can feed our practice and help us evolve.

• Svadhyaya (self-knowledge)

The Bhagavad Gita states, “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” Yoga is about self-exploration. The more we look within, the more we may understand our boundless consciousness.

• Ishvarapranidhana (complete surrender to the divine)

Many people with an addiction benefit from 12-step programs. The first step to recovery is to surrender to a higher power. It helps us let go of controlling everything. When we know higher forces are at play, we walk humbly and wonder.

Whatever that means to you, yoga tells us to look for a supreme holy being and let our practice connect us with them. The first two parts of yoga, which you should learn first, are more about how you live than how you work out. 

3. Asana

Asana is the practice of Yoga postures. Patanjali described the physical practice of yoga as movements that should be done with ease and joy. 

He stressed that it’s crucial to take your time with each pose and proceed from one to the next while remaining present and focusing on the breath.

Yoga as an exercise can be hazardous since it pushes pupils beyond their limits, which frequently leads to injury. According to the sutras, yoga should be practiced relaxed to reconnect with one’s body and combat mental dualism.

Daily asana leads to enhanced wellness in both the body and the mind.

4. Pranayama

Pranayama means “breath control.” According to yoga theory, breathing is how we absorb and interact with the subtle life force energy surrounding us. 

When we can make breathing a mindful practice, we may invigorate our bodies with life force and alter how our central nervous system responds to stress.

The initial formula for breath control was 1:4:2. Inhale for one second (Purak in Sanskrit), hold the breath in for four seconds (Kumbhak in Sanskrit), then exhale for two seconds (Rechak in Sanskrit).

Advanced breath work also incorporates several bandhas (binds) in the body. If you want to understand more about these binds, please consult a certified yoga teacher who is well-versed.

5. Pratyahara

Pratyahara is the experience of retreat. This technique teaches us how to journey deep and achieve ultimate calm. 

The Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Hindu scripture, compares our senses to a boat on the river. 

When the five senses become enamored with external objects, the boat is shaken by the stormy waves of sense perception. When we disconnect our senses from the outside world, we can dive into ourselves to discover the infinite universe that exists within.

6. Dharana

Concentration is Dharana. A single, pointed focus of the mind aids in deep meditation. To train your mind this way, you can look at a candle, a statue of a god, or something else that doesn’t move while you meditate. Meditation teaches the mind to focus, which we can use daily.

Focusing on a task allows us to work well and carefully. Today’s media teaches short-term focus and multitasking. To live mindfully, it’s necessary to practice Dharana.

7. Dhyana

Dhyana means meditation. Many people are scared to start meditating because they believe that an individual can be good or awful at something. Meditation, on the other hand, is more of an experience than something we perform.

You’ve probably experienced serenity, clarity, and stillness when riding a bicycle or reading a book. The truth is that you were meditating. You were completely involved in the present moment. Dhyana requires that we set aside time daily to welcome meditation into our minds and hearts.

Sitting in a calm place and performing pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana simultaneously can increase our chances of experiencing meditation.

8. Samadhi 

Finally, samadhi means enlightenment. The eight limbs of yoga are intended to guide us from doing-ness to being-ness.

Once we have mastered all of the previous phases in the sutras, we can achieve the most important aspect of life that propels our spiritual journey forward: the ability to remain indefinitely in the present.

This does not imply that yogis are expected to remain still. However, yogis who have attained samadhi are disconnected from the past and future. When they act, they do not focus on the outcome. Everything is done with love and in the entire presence.

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