Eight limbs of ashtanga yoga or Raja yoga or any yoga from my perspective…are as follows:
Yama – code of conduct, self-restraint…discipline.
Niyama – commitments to practice, study and devotion
Āsana – integration of mind and body through physical practice.
Prāṇāyāma – regulation of breath for focus and healing.
Pratyāhāra – abstraction of the senses, withdrawal of the senses.
Dhāraṇā – concentration, one-pointedness of mind
Dhyāna – meditation (quiet activity that leads to samadhi)
Samādhi – the quiet state of blissful awareness, superconscious state.
Why is Yama, first of the eight? It’s self-explanatory -Yama (restraints) consists of five parts:
ahimsa (non-violence) or love…
satya (truthfulness)
asteya (non-stealing)
brahmacharya (abstinence from temptations that does not serve you – or …no comment)
aparigraha (non-covetousness)
The five codes of yama lay down the prerequisites for elimination of fear, fear that prevents us from acts of courage and love,
prerequisites to attain a tranquil mind… easily said than practiced, of course. It’s a repetitive practice; at least an effort.
Maybe a bit Native-American-ish but very traditional Japanese name that contains the character “YAMA” … roots back to Shinto-ideas taking in ancient Vedic ideas possibly.
Yama does not mean code of conduct, restraint or discipline in Japanese but just simply means “mountain”…and now I see a connection…
When you practice Pranayama, as you sit “mountain”-like, you get to that place where you are no longer blowing in the wind, unrooted … rather you are SOLID, SECURE, and GROUNDED. Your head held high and proud … tranquility is felt. There is utter… SERENITY. Your prana is not disturbed or leaking but vibrant and well contained – locked in with your bandhas protecting your prana from escaping. Prana, that light that you have within, that shines in the darkness. Prana, that inner-heat, the glow that you have within that warms the heart. Prana, that flow you have within that cascades into that glistening and shimmering pool… the source that nourishes our spirit.
In Tadasana – Mountain Pose:
