All of Yoga

35. The other 7 limbs of yoga

• Episode 35

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When most people think of yoga, they picture the physical postures; the asana. But there’s so much more to yoga…


In this week’s All of Yoga podcast, we're exploring the Eight Limbs of Yoga - but with a twist! You're probably already familiar asana (limb 3), so this episode is The Other 7 Limbs. 🥰


Expect to hear how the yamas, niyamas, breathwork, and meditation can become practical tools for daily life, helping you reduce stress, and feel more joy… without spiritual bypassing.


(I also share a personal story from 2020, when yoga philosophy helped me navigate one of the most challenging years of my life.)


Whether you’re new to yoga philosophy or have studied it before, this episode is packed with insights you can start using right now.


Enjoy!

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Useful resources:

💻 See the shownotes here

🤩 Watch our free masterclass: Everything you ever wanted to know about yoga teacher training here

💜 Free online workshop - Living in Alignment: A yoga philosophy journey to define your true values, save your seat here

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[00:00:00] Hi heroes, and welcome back to the All of Yoga podcast.

This week I ran an online masterclass, everything you ever wanted to know about yoga [00:01:00] teacher training. And as part of that masterclass, I led a little section on yoga philosophy. And to be honest, I got a bit emotional as I realised for about the hundredth time.

How much of a positive impact yoga philosophy has had on my life, and I genuinely don't know where I'd be without it. For a bit of quick context, 2020 was a very, very challenging time for me as it was for many people. Um, the Yoga Hero studio was closed. The bills were racking up really quickly, and I had my first child in that year as well.

it was to say the least difficult. After a period of, um, self pity and feeling very down in the dumps, I realised that I could actually use, what a great idea, I could use the [00:02:00] tools and the knowledge that I had used previously and that I taught to other people all the time, t o try to make the best out of the situation, not in a spiritual bypassing way, which is pretending that everything is fine just because I practice yoga, but in a, let's face this head on.

Use the tools and knowledge that I have to just do my best because that's all that we can ever do.

So anyway, in the week I taught this masterclass, I'm talking about yoga philosophy and I'm feeling quite emotional and I thought as a result I'd share a really useful and really important aspect of yoga philosophy with you. The eight limbs of yoga, and I've called it the other seven limbs of yoga. Well, you'll see why in a minute.

So this is where we're going. I'll take you through each one of the eight limbs, one by [00:03:00] one and what they mean for our yoga practice and also what they mean for our daily living because yoga is not just headstands. And quick, quick, quick take picture. Yoga is actually about the stilling of the mind.

It's about not being pulled around and dragged around by judgments and preconceptions that you have about yourself and about life and about situations and other people. It's about uncovering joy, which. Joy is an interesting emotion. It can be experienced alongside sadness, alongside anger, alongside jealousy.

Yoga is about decreasing your pain and your discomfort, not by ignoring them, but like I said before, facing them head on and just doing your best. So, yeah, I'll take you through each one of the eight limbs, one by one, [00:04:00] and I would just say, mark this podcast and come back to it as often as you need to.

Today, take what you need for today only. We've got the rest of our lives to work on decreasing pain, decreasing discomfort, and increasing joy. so if you've had a particularly stressful time or you are ready to get rid of an old unhelpful habit, or you are ready to create a new, more helpful habit, just come back to this podcast episode anytime.

Okay, for real. This time, let's get cracking.

One, the Yamas.

The Yamas are the first limb of the eight limbs of yoga, and they mean like ethical considerations or ethical restrictions. essentially ways that you act in the world, ways that you treat [00:05:00] yourself and ways that you treat other people. And there's five of them.

Let's take a look.

Ahimsa, non-harm 

If you are a regular yoga practitioner, you may well have already heard of this from one of your yoga teachers.

Ahimsa means non harm or non hurting, and we can think about this as compassion, as kindness for yourself and for others. And I think honestly, after, uh, 12 years of teaching yoga. we could actually end the philosophy lesson here because if you were to put non harm at the front and centre of all of your thoughts, all of your spoken words, and all of your actions, you would be so mindful of everything that you said and did. You'd be so present. Everything you said and did would be so in line with your [00:06:00] values. You'd be experiencing like nonstop joy with probably very little discomfort and pain.

But.

This isn't very realistic, is it? You'd barely get anything done. I'm not sure your employer will be overly happy that everything was taking you like 20 times longer.

However, what about an hour a day to put non harm for yourself and others at the forefront of everything that you think, say, and do.

And here are, there's another really important thing that I absolutely must explain here. Which is that being a yogi and practising yoga, practising yoga philosophy does not make you a doormat. If your boss says, here's yet another project to add to your exploding workload, or your friend says, you really gotta cancel your plans and drive me to that [00:07:00] date tonight, even though you said you couldn't and you really tired, you are not going to give in just because you practice yoga. You are not a doormat.

Ahimsa is non harm to you too. So how do you decide what to do? Well, think about Ahimsa as the least amount of harm to the most amount of people over the longest period of time.

So you're gonna consider each moment on a case by case basis.

With this extra project that your boss wants to give you, if it's a quick one, you're the best person for the job, and it'll mean one late night.

Then you might take it and ask for the time off in lieu. But if it's a huge project. You know that your boss is coming to you because you are the one that's most likely to say yes,

then to give in and say yes. Well, the ramifications are absolutely huge. [00:08:00] Lots of late nights, lots more stress, and we've been talking about how brutal stress is over the last few episodes on the podcast.

And your boss will only keep coming to you when they've got no one else to go to. So here the non harm action might be to say, no, I don't want to do it. I probably won't do the best job, and I'm concerned about my health.

So how do you decide which is the best non harm path? Well, there's a couple of ways. One is to take a beat and have a think about what the consequences will be of each of your possible options. Now, there's no way that you can properly predict what will happen if you do X or Y or z.

But you can try to pause, take a beat, and have a think You [00:09:00] can do your best. Actually, that's something that comes up so much is that you can only do your best with the tools and the knowledge that you have at the time. Anyway, so yes, you are trying to predict what will happen and choose the action that will cause the least amount of harm to the most amount of people for the longest period of time.

Another tool is to assess the different options in line with your values and intentions at that moment. So if your intentions currently are to do everything within your power to get a promotion and a pay rise, then you might take on the project. But if your intentions at the moment are to spend more time with friends and family, then clearly you're gonna say no to the project.

Okay, so Ahimsa. such an incredible place to start some yoga philosophy insight, all about increasing life's joy and [00:10:00] decreasing life's discomfort. Truly. If you are the kind of person that loves an action plan, I'd say for an hour later today, put non harm at the forefront of all of your thoughts, words, and actions.

When you notice your thoughts, interrupt them and make them Ahimsa. Make them non-harmful to yourself and to others. Put Ahimsa at the forefront of your spoken words and your actions. Just do your best. It's not easy, but it is possible. Then do an hour tomorrow and the next day and just see what happens.

Satya truthfulness.

Okay, so this blew my mind. How can the first Yama be ahimsa non harm and then the second truthfulness, are they not completely contradictory? Do you feel the same?

Well, let's take [00:11:00] a look. Is that because, like me, you are thinking that ahimsa is doormatty. That acting with Ahimsa is putting yourself last, but then acting with satya, with truthfulness would be putting yourself first.

Is that why you think that they're contradictory? I think that might be why I thought they were contradictory. So if we go back to that view of ahimsa as being the least amount of harm for the most amount of people for the longest period of time, and that you try to act in the best way by acting in accordance with your values, then it makes sense. It makes a lot of sense because your values are, without sounding too cheesy, your truths and, and so when you are thinking and speaking and acting, if they are ways that are true to yourself, then they are probably ways that are non [00:12:00] harming as well.

There's another thing here too. Let's go back to thinking about yoga not just as Asana, not just as the physical practice, but as the stilling of the mind. And there's two ways that we can do this. One is by dealing with all of the stuff that exists in the mind already. Good luck. And the other is to stop putting a whole load of new stuff in there.

And lying, not being truthful is a very good way to put a whole load of new stuff in your mind. Let's say your friend gets in touch and says, do you want to go for dinner tonight? And you've been teach training all day. You're tired, but you think your friend won't understand, or something like that. And so you say to your friend, I can't.

My car's broken down. So now you have to remember your car broke down and next time you see her she says, well, what was wrong with the car and how did you get home? And where did you get [00:13:00] your car fixed? 'cause actually my car needs an MOT, so I need a recommendation on a garage.

All right, so satya truthfulness is trying to make sure that we don't get into this web of lies because every lie creates a web, doesn't it?

And that's not very in line with a life headed towards a stiller mind.

Asteya, non stealing. I mean, yeah, it's not a surprise, is it? If it's not yours, don't take it.

Brahmacharya, moderation of energy. Okay, so this is a really interesting one because it's often translated as celibacy or chastity. I think about it as moderation of energy. Thinking about where are you putting your valuable finite resources of mental bandwidth, energy, and time. So I'll often talk to people [00:14:00] who say they would love to practice more yoga, or they would love to set up a meditation practice, or they would love to journal more, but they don't have time.

And then I run through their day with them and they realise they're spending tons of extra time at their desk, or they're spending extra time doom scrolling or whatever. Now there's no judgment here whatsoever. But if you or someone else has expressed a desire in doing something that will benefit them, It's a really interesting exercise to run through. Okay, well what are you spending your precious resources of energy, mental bandwidth, and time on? And what do you want to spend those precious resources on and how can we align those two?

And I know I keep talking about your values, your values, your values, and you might think, well, that's great, but I don't really know what my values are. if you [00:15:00] haven't already defined your values, or they need a bit of a refresh, come and join our free online workshop. Living in alignment, a yoga philosophy journey to define your true values.

I'll talk a bit more about this later on, but for now, you can find the link to save your space in the show notes.

Aparigraha, non hoarding. 

So once again, there is absolutely no judgment. There's none. You should see the shoe covered in our house. So yeah, no judgment whatsoever, but this is a pretty cool Yama and we can think about it like this. I have an orange bucket. I know where my orange bucket is.

I know it's clean. I know it doesn't have any holes, and I know the handle works. Okay, now I have an orange bucket and a purple bucket. So where is my orange bucket and where is my purple [00:16:00] bucket? Does my orange bucket have holes in? Does my purple bucket have holes in? Is my orange bucket, clean, is my purple bucket, clean and so on.

So you can see that by having two buckets, it's doubled the amount of bucket related thoughts. And if we go back to yoga as being a practice to help still the mind that. Non Hoarding fits with this because less belongings equals a path towards less thoughts for your future self.

But like I say, there's no judgment.

And so Hero, that's the Yamas Complete, aren't they cool?

Let's go over them again.

Ahimsa non-harm. 

Satya truthfulness

Asteya non stealing 

Brhamcharya, moderation of energy,

and Aparigraha, which is non [00:17:00] hoarding

Niyamas

If you think about the first limb, the Yamas as being how you treat everyone and how you act in the world, then the Niyamas are very much about how you treat yourself. And again, we have five

Saucha Cleanliness, purity.

Think about having a clean house for your soul. This always makes me think of like the romcom, where the couple have been through a breakup and both of them haven't washed their hair in ages. The washings piled up in the sink, the curtains are closed, and then it symbolises that either they've moved on or they've got back together because they're freshly washed, freshly styled hair, no more washing up, and the curtains are open. This has big, big links with self-care and self-esteem. And of course, It is possible for people to clean obsessively. Um, that's not what this Niyama is asking For the avoidance of [00:18:00] doubt,

Santosha, contentment, gratitude and cheerfulness.

I love this Niyama, having taught yoga for so long, and yoga really being about self-improvement, isn't it? Generally what I see is that people are really hard on themselves. They're trying to get a promotion, trying to run a house, trying to care for dependents, looking after their own physical and mental health, trying to do well at work. Sometimes even learning a language or doing a new course, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's exhausting to even think about it, isn't it? So if we introduce this Niyama contentment into even just aspects of our lives, it's the driver behind finding contentment, joy, gratitude for things as they are. [00:19:00] This is really important, so let's do it right now. Think of one part of your life. It might be a person, a pet, a skill, a talent, an achievement that you are grateful for. When you find yourself striving, match it with a pause and find some gratitude. It's a practice that is full of potential.

 Tapas discipline. This tends to be a word that people clearly remember. Um, but it's not delicious Spanish food. So here It's a Sanskrit word, meaning discipline. And I think that this is a really healthy one to balance out Ahimsa, a compassion non harm. So when you are aiming to get on your yoga mat, when you are aiming to start a meditation practice, when you're aiming to create new habit, coming at it with an equal [00:20:00] dollop of ahimsa, the self-compassion, but also tapas, discipline, and this will hopefully mean that you do it or you do your best without beating yourself up about it. Yoga isn't necessarily this kind, super gentle, accepting everything, practice that people think it is. Sometimes it's really hard. You just have to do the thing. You just have to have the hard conversation. You just have to get out of bed and move your body to improve your mental health. You have to have discipline with yourself to say no to whatever it is. I am sure you know aspects in your life where you need to take action, and that's why tapas is here.

Interestingly, tapas also means heat and fire and burning. It's like the fire in your belly to just do the thing that needs to be [00:21:00] done.

Svadyaya. Self-studying. Self-study asks us to reflect on our thoughts, words, and actions. Why did we think that? Why did we say that? In the heat of the moment, why did I react like that? And this isn't just so you can beat yourself up. In fact, it's not so you can beat yourself up at all. But it is so that you can learn from this in the future.

 And Ishvara Pranidhana - Surrender. 

Surrendering to a higher power, which might be a deity, it might be fate, it might be Karma, but understanding that there is plenty at play here and that unfortunately the world doesn't revolve around you, although I'm sure you don't think that it does.

and they are our Niyamas, cleanliness, contentment, discipline, [00:22:00] self-study, and surrender.

 Three Asana, physical practice. Okay, so our third limb is Asana. And this is why this episode is called the Other Seven Limbs of Yoga, because I'm betting that most of us are already familiar with this one. Asana is a Sanskrit word. It actually means seat, not pose. And this is really the main focus of yoga classes in the West, right?

If you want to know how to practice Asana, perfectly, you'll find the guide to perfect alignment in our show notes.

 Four Pranayama breathwork 

Prana is yoga's mythical energy that courses through us. Next week on the podcast, I'll be introducing you to your five layers of being, one of which is this [00:23:00] energetic layer.

but for now, back to Pranayama so prana is the energy and yama. Well, that was our first limb, wasn't it? Meaning restrictions. And so you might think that pranayama breathing techniques or breath work is restraining yoga's vital energy, but actually there's a hidden A in the middle of the word and the A in Sanskrit is negative. So it's non restriction of the vital energy.

Isn't that cool? And I think if you've ever practiced pranayama, if you've ever practiced yoga's breathing techniques, you will agree with that.

 Pratyahara withdrawing attention away from the senses. Yoga talks so much about the power of the senses and how they can drag us around. Let's say you're walking down the street, you're feeling really [00:24:00] content, and then a song comes on that reminds you of your ex that you're still not over and quick as a flash, you're down in the dumps, but then you hear your best friend's infectious laugh, and now you're happy again.

Imagine if. Not in a spiritual bypassing way, but just in a steady way that you could experience these highs and lows of sense information, these highs and lows of emotions, always knowing that you have a steady center to come back to, and this is what practicing Pratyahara withdrawing the attention away from the senses can give us.

Not being dragged around by sights, smells, and sounds.

Dharana concentration. So just a quick review of what we've talked about so far to put Dharana concentration into context. We started [00:25:00] with the Yamas, which is the ways that you act out in the world, the ways that you treat other people in yourself. Then we come in with the Niyamas and they are ways that you treat yourself.

Then we are looking at asana, the way that you move your physical body around. Then pranayama the energy inside of your body, then Pratyahara withdrawing the attention away from the senses, taking the attention away from the outside world and into your internal world leads us to Dharana concentration on one thing.

And that's it. In practice, Dharana simply asks us to concentrate on one thing. You know, I think people, when they think of meditation, they've got really tied up in, it has to be early in the morning. It has to be for a certain period of time. It has to be sat on the floor, and it has to be when you've got a clear mind, [00:26:00] and that's not true.

Let's think about it like this. Just simply concentrating on one thing, which could be your breath. It could be one sensation in the body, one piece of information coming in through one of your five senses. It might be a mantra that you've created. And because you are human, your mind will wander off. And when it does, don't worry at all.

You'll just bring it back to this one thing that you are concentrating on again and again and again, and the practice of Darina. The practice of concentration leads to

 Seven Dhyana meditation.

Here. Meditation is one pointed focus. It's the state that arises when we've been practicing concentration for long enough where everything else kind of falls away, and [00:27:00] you just feel all these things sound really cheesy, but this is what happens when you practice yoga, is that you start saying all of these things that happen to you which can sound really cheesy, but actually they're amazing where everything kind of falls away. You feel really at one with the world. You feel really at peace, and it's a kind of transient state. And when this state is accessed repeatedly, it leads to

 Eight. Samadhi. Ultimate content contentment. So there's different layers of Samadhi, but you can think of it as a state that comes and goes.

And when it comes, we've got this blissful, uh, joyful contented feeling where everything is genuinely really, really okay. It's that steady centre I was talking about before that's always there that you can come back to. Doesn't that sound [00:28:00] awesome? Yeah, I think so too.

So there you have it, hero. Yoga is so much more than the asana, than the physical practice, although the physical practice is so, so, so important for our physical and mental health.

But I do think it's really important to acknowledge and to understand the fullness of yoga and the potential that yoga has for healing. And I promise I'd let you know about the online workshop that I'm running, Living in alignment, a yoga philosophy journey to define your true values. This will be a yoga philosophy lesson from me. Why defining your true values can really help you live a less stressful, more peaceful life, and then a meditation to help you define your value set. It's totally free and I would love to see you there.

So hero, That is our eight [00:29:00] limbs. Complete. Well done. As ever. If you've enjoyed this episode, please rate and review it and send it on to a friend as well. And as always, happy practicing.