EIGHT LIMBS OF YOGA

You may have heard of the eight limbs of yoga or 'ashtanga-yoga' - pronounced ahsh-tahng-gah - meaning 'eight-limbed yoga', from the Sanskrit ashta ("eight") and anga ("limb").  In short, these are:

· External moral discipline or Yama (pronounced jah-mah).  There are 5 aspects: not intentionally causing harm by thought, word or action; proper action of mind and right use of words;  nonstealing; to see the Cosmic essence in all things; non-indulgence in superfluous things or greedlessness. 

· Internal moral strength or Niyama (pronounced nee-yah-mah).  There are also 5 aspects: cleanliness both external and internal; mental ease or contentment; going out of one's way to help others or selflessness; proper understanding of spiritual subjects; devotion to a higher principle of life.

· Asana (pronounced ah-sah-nah).  These are yogic postures which serve two basic purposes: an aid to meditation by calming the nervous system; and good health by balancing the glandular and hormonal system of the body.

· Pranayama (pronounced prah-nah-yah-mah).  This is proper breathing and breath control which enables concentration and raises mental awareness and psychosomatic energy, thus boosting your health and mental stamina.

· Pratyahara (pronounced prah-tyah-hah-rah).  This is withdrawal of the senses from the external world, which internalises your consciousness to prepare the mind for the various stages of meditation and to still the mind.

· Dharana (pronounced dhah-rah-nah).  This is concentration, or extended mental focusing, which is fundamental to yogic meditation.

· Dhyana (pronounced dhee-yah-nah).  This is the actual process of meditation, the principal practice of bringing your conscious entity to merge with the Cognitive Faculty.

· Samadhi (pronounced sah-mah-dhee).  This is the experience of unitive consciousness in which you become inwardly one with the feeling of Infinite Peace (absorption of mind in Oneness or the Cognitive Faculty).

This model is important to yoga and meditation in that it gives the balance of life and mind that is vital for one's spiritual, mental and physical progress.

This model reflects the real meaning of success at all three levels:
 - physical / material level
 - psychic / intellectual level
 - spiritual / cognitive level

Yoga is a spiritual approach.  However, it also assists in::
- physical fitness;
- health maintenance; and 
- therapeutic revitalisation.
It is here that the yogic postures (asanas) come into play, as well as other yogic health practices.