The Eight Limbs of Yoga
more than just yoga poses
Why do the eight limbs matter?
When I first set out to write this piece, I thought, how can I explain the eight limbs of yoga as they apply to mothers? It’s an important question and it seems that it would be best to begin by why we should care about the eight limbs of yoga at all, given so many people come to yoga mostly for the physical aspects.
For the purpose of this post, I won’t explain the eight limbs in detail because there are so many resources out there that you can turn to for those detailed explanations (plus some of you may have already studied the topic). If you want to do a little research on the topic or need a refresher, I’ve shared just a handful of resources at the end of this post. Once you begin learning about these various facets of yoga, you’ll see that I could potentially write a whole post for each limb, but isn’t it better to first clarify the ‘why’ of it all? For now, let’s explore together here why the eight limbs matter not only to modern yogis, but also to yoga mamas like you.
Not to put more on your plate…I know that it’s so easy to feel that there’s never enough time to practice yoga postures and breathing on our mats. I promise, though, these eight limbs really bring to light that much of yoga is actually not practiced on the mat, but in our lives. Even better, the time we can spend practicing ‘off the mat’ is integrated into our lives; it IS our lives, and so we will always have time for that.
More than just a solitary practice
The first limb of yoga, the yamas, brings our yoga practice into the way we interact with others. Here’s a simple article on the yamas and what they are, if you are new to the eight limbs. Why would you want to practice yoga off your mat? What does that really mean?
There are times that I take refuge in my practice on the mat. That solo time is refreshing and energizing, but it lacks depth if it isn’t linked to the rest of my life. After all, what’s the point of practicing yoga if, later in the day, I am harshly criticizing my husband for not taking the trash out? Or how about another scenario: if I say yes to too many things and then I feel exhausted and bitter after realizing I’ve taken on too much? The first two yamas — ahimsa (non-violence) and satya (truth) — help us to manage tendencies like these, and it can even translate into how we practice yoga postures as well as how we mother our children.
We might not start with the yamas, though, even though they’re known as the first limb of yoga. In her article, Practicing the Eight Limbs of Yoga Will Help You Understand Yoga as It Was Meant to Be, Meesha claims that, “The eight limbs of the Yoga Sutras are meant to be learned in the order they’re listed here. A person must master each step before they continue to the next one.” I’ve heard more often, though, that the limbs are not to be approached linearly; we might learn about the yamas and niyamas early on, only to gain a deeper understanding of them after months or years of practicing asana and pranayama, or they might really click for us after we go through some personal struggle or conflict.
In fact, our lives really are the best testing grounds for our yoga practice. Meesha explains in their article that, “We must start by vowing to learn the history of yoga and adopt a practice that aids in liberation for all people. A good start is to learn the eight limbs of the Yoga Sutras and apply them to our lives in real time.” The point being made is that yoga isn’t just a self-help, self-care style of physical exercise; it’s a philosophy for living. Even the most solitary practice, like meditation, is meant to inform our interactions with all others around us.
This is exactly why the eight limbs are so important. They are a reminder that we not only practice yoga for ourselves; whether it is our intention or not, our practice affects others around us, too.
Eight Limbs as a Guide
How exactly does our yoga practice affect others around us? I’ve been reflecting on this because I have historically used yoga as a sort of escape from life challenges. Asana practice felt so good and gave me such a high, it became a retreat from the difficulties in my life.
Over time, though, I noticed that now and then, my practice would bring to light how I didn’t feel great. For instance, if I was going through a rough patch, asana practice might make me suddenly realize just how anxious or frustrated I felt. As unpleasant as it was, I realized that yoga was helping me to be more real about how I felt.
The sticking point was that I wasn’t always sure what to do about it. That was back in my twenties and now at the age of 43, I’ve gathered some different yogic tools for dealing with emotional difficulty. The eight limbs is one of those tools and there are others and it’s all a work in progress in my life. I definitely don’t have it all figured out but I have tried many things and done much research. At the moment, I’m doing a training called Foundations of Yoga for Mental Health with Ashley Turner and I’m sure it’s been part of the reason I’ve been compelled to touch upon some of these systemic ways that yoga philosophy has mapped out the intersection between body, mind, and spirit.
So, in the last few weeks, I’ve diverted from my usual weekly offerings to address some general concepts in yoga philosophy. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on the koshas, which are the various layers or aspects of our being, from gross to subtle. Then, the following week I wrote about a quote from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali on what it means to practice yoga for a long time. The koshas are one of those yogic guides on how the body, mind, and soul intertwine, while the eight limbs of yoga are a sort of map of the yogic path. The catch is that these maps are not linear (perhaps I should choose a more apt term than map: what about diagram? blueprint? model?). There are other models or blueprints in yoga philosophy that lay out our subtle anatomy, such as the chakras and the vayus (ah! More topics for future posts, or at least for your future research if you haven’t already explored these concepts). Fellow Substacker Ashley Zuberi offers a very user-friendly post on working with the chakras if you’d like to start dabbling here.
For now, though, the eight limbs serve as a reminder and guide to the aim of yoga, which is to discover our True Selves or who we really are on a spiritual level.
Who am I? Who are you?
The question, “Who am I?” is provocative to anyone, but I find that as mothers, we embody different roles and so the answer becomes complex. We might always be asking who we are as we become moms, our bodies and lives change, our kids grow, maybe we have more than one kid, we stay home with them, or we go back to work. I am so-and-so’s mom, wife, sister, friend….fill in the blanks. And those are just the mundane roles we play but as we get more subtle we begin to ask these things on the soul level until we get to that age-old question: why am I here? What’s the purpose of life?
I won’t answer that for you; I don’t really put myself out there as a spiritual teacher, but more just a fellow mom who loves to share knowledge and experience. You might not have come to yoga for the spiritual aspects, but I bet that if you stick with the practice, you will begin to ask yourself questions about your identity and purpose. It doesn’t have to be prescriptive or religious; in fact, yoga has been called a science by many and some even refer to it as an ancient psychology.
Imagine: when you’re in Virabhadrasana I, and instead of fixating on how your thighs are shaking or your arms are getting tired, you get to a point instead of asking, “Who am I?’ And then you begin to feel and embody the grounded expansiveness that is Virabhadrasana, and that soft strength that comes with standing poses. Imagine that feeling infusing who you are in your day to day. That’s really what the 8 limbs have to offer us: an expanded view of the most material, mundane things.
Matrescence and transformation on a deep level
“Every time a baby is born, so is a mother.”
I recently encountered the work of Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, a woman at the forefront of reclaiming yoga in light of women’s lives and experiences. In her book, Yoni Shakti: A Woman’s Guide to Power and Freedom through Yoga and Tantra, she talks about the various rites of passage in a woman’s life. These include things such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and becoming a mother. It’s truly an encyclopedic treasure for women who practice yoga.
These rites of passage Dinsmore-Tuli describes in book might feel like overwhelming challenges; after all, doesn’t the mainstream mentality see menstruation as a curse and childbirth as something to fear?
As long as we lack the language and support for these important parts of female experience, then these things will seem almost pathogenic. Even becoming a new mom can make a person feel worried about every little thing: why am I so tired, bored, unsure of myself? Of course there are probably many bright moments in our personal lives as mothers, too, and as women, we’ve gained so many freedoms in recent history but one glaring truth remains: the education and mainstream support for that transition to motherhood has been lacking.
In the 1970’s, medical anthropologist Dana Raphael coined the term matrescence. Think of how we go through adolescence to become teenagers. Matrescence is that huge shift — and some of it is hormonal, like in adolescence — that has only recently begun to be named and honored for the rite of passage that it is. Sure, other cultures throughout history have had ways of honoring this change, but in modern times, it has been lost.
As I wrote this post, I slowly realized that if we want to see the eight limbs in a meaningful light, it’s vital to consider the effects of matrescence. After all, when we become mothers, aren’t we called over and over again to act without harm, be truthful, stay disciplined, find contentment, and get to know ourselves on a deeper level? These are some of the yamas and niyamas. Then, we also find our bodies have changed, so the way we move, position ourselves, and breathe can have a profound effect on our recovery from giving birth and our everyday wellbeing: these are all aspects of asana and pranayama. Then on a more subtle level, we find ways to zoom our attention inward as our lives seem to emphasize very mundane, small things; we also might feel like we’re being forced to slow down even for the most basic acts as brushing teeth, putting on shoes, and getting ready to go out the door, because doesn’t everything just take longer with kids? That slowing down can be an invitation to invite aspects of pratyahara, dharana, and even some amount of dhyana into our everyday actions.
I’ve been thinking about this for years: how do we translate this ancient practice from India to be relevant to mothers, especially immediately postpartum and in those years when the kids are still so young and in need of constant care? I know I’m not the only one who has pondered this and I’ve gathered some ideas from my own life experience and other great yoga mamas that write and teach. Through that research and living, I’ve crafted some simple practices that are interesting, inspiring, and accessible to mamas at this special stage of life.
One way of looking at it
Here’s a little excerpt from a Yoga Mama Manual that I started writing years ago (I’ll finish it one day! I’d like to think that maybe I just needed a little more experience ‘in the field’ before putting it out there:). The idea was to make the eight limbs relevant to the lives of busy mamas. If you’ve done some reading about the eight limbs, they can sound a little esoteric, or even daunting. Here’s my attempt to cast them in a more down-to-earth light.
Yama, or mindful treatment of others: This limb includes things like non-violence and truthfulness. It’s all fine and good to know intellectually how best to treat people. But when I think of the times I react or raise my voice at my daughter, I remind myself that I’m human (and will act less than optimally at times as a mother). First, when things simmer down, I apologize. I think of saying sorry as a form of ahimsa and satya and modeling that is the best way to teach our kids to do the same! Then I resolve to slow down, breathe before I speak, and think of the most compassionate thing I can say in the moment. Oh so much easier said than done!
Niyama, or mindful relationship with yourself: In a Yoga Journal article, Judith Lasater says, “I realize that life involves interactions with other people, and that often those interactions include an element of conflict. In fact, I don’t even need another person to be in conflict. I can be, and occasionally am, in conflict within myself.” So mamas, what’s your self-talk like? When you sit down to meditate or do yoga on your mat, or even when you’re just standing around watching your kids play, how do you feel in your own skin? How do you feel about your life when you’re loading the dishwasher or waking up to the baby crying? Bring your attention to this inner dialogue and that’s the beginning of practicing the niyamas.
Asana, Sanskrit for yoga postures: this is the part of yoga that most people think of when they hear the word yoga. In this manual I’m going out on a limb to extend this part of the practice to your posture in general when you’re engaged in your daily activities, like when you’re nursing or feeding the baby, playing with your toddler, folding the laundry, or sitting at the computer. The word asana actually means ‘seat,’ but of course, you aren’t always sitting when you’re in an asana. I think of it this way: how is your attention ‘seated’ in your body as you practice? It’s all about attention when it comes to transforming an everyday body position into an asana.
Pranayama, or breathing practices: I’m constantly impressed with the power of just pausing to notice my breath. It might sound boring at first, but when you really do this consistently and with attention, you’ll probably find that there is so much to notice about the breath. And it’s not just the breath, but what the breath has to show about your state of mind, your emotions, and how you hold your body. So, pause now and then everyday, even if it’s just once but better if it’s at least a few times a day. When you pause, notice: is your breath slow or fast? Deep or shallow? Quiet or loud? Where do you feel it in your body? What is your mood like? What are you thinking about?
Pratyahara, or focusing and directing the senses: in practicing yoga asana, we get so many chances to practice pratyahara by focusing on the body and breath as a way of bringing our attention to the present moment. Make it simple: bring your attention to the way your feet rest on the ground or the textures your hands feel as they move about your day. Pick an area of your body to focus on that brings you a sense of being grounded (not everyone will choose the same area or body part!).
The last three limbs, dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), samadhi (enlightenment), are sometimes referred to as the internal limbs since they bring us into progressively deeper concentration or inward focus. The first four above are often referred to as the external limbs while the fifth (pratyahara) can be seen as a bridge between the external and internal.
There are so many ways we can cast our everyday lives into the light of these limbs of yoga! Yes, I did get creative and put my own spin on them, but if we try to stick too much with what we might call ‘traditional’ practices, we forget the most important thing: ourselves! The way we approach yoga practice has everything to do with who we are, the context we live in, and our current lifestyles.
That said, it’s also important to acknowledge the origins of yoga. Yes, we need to translate these ancient practices to fit the lives of modern mothers AND it’s vital that we remember where these practices came from and how we can keep the practice whole and integrated so that we always remember the true aim of yoga: to cultivate peace, love, and compassion and to discover our true identity beyond our everyday roles in life. It’s a lofty aim, but a worthy one.
Paying homage
Learning about and practicing the eight limbs of yoga is also a way to honor the source of yoga. I don’t think it’s inherently bad to only practice postures, but then again, maybe we shouldn’t call it yoga if the other limbs aren’t included. Yoga, as a whole, is more than just a physical practice and is therefore more than just postures. We need the yamas, niyamas, and pranayama to take steps on the journey to our True Selves. We need pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana to reach samadhi (enlightenment or bliss).
Paying homage to things from other cultures is a great way to keep the integrity of those things, prevent them from getting watered down or misinterpreted, and just cultivating a deeper appreciation for this practice which our grandmothers and beyond probably didn’t have access to.
Stepping into another cultural mindset and paying homage also becomes easier when we expand our practices with the eight limbs. The wonderful thing about the eight limbs is that they are not necessarily bound to any particular culture. They are universal in nature and meaningful across time.
As Kate O’Leary put it in her article, The Eight Limbs of Motherhood, “Motherhood has given me a much more reflective side. Svadhyaya is the study of scriptures or study of self. In many ways motherhood is purely svadhyaya! You study every decision and choice, processing the outcomes and working out what you would have done differently.”
The eight limbs of yoga really do assume a new dimension in the lives of mothers!
The possibilities
In The Secret Power of Yoga, Nischala Joy Devi provides a creative visual for the eight limbs:
“Rather than the image of a single tree or limb, the many facets of Ashtaanga Yoga are similar to a grove of trees. From the trunk upward, the trees appear to be independent, not connected to one another. However, if we venture several inches below the surface, we will find that these seemingly separate trees have their root systems intertwined. Their interdependency for enduring strength and drawing in of moisture unites them. Each is able to manifest a unique appearance while embracing the same consciousness. Similar to entwined tree roots, we are reminded that Ashtaanga is not a series of practices to ‘accomplish’; rather, it is an offering of infinite possibilities and combinations to enhance our way of being.”
This is a very rich image of the eight limbs and it suggests something that I find very inspiring: that there is no one way to practice yoga. There isn’t even just one way to practice each of the eight limbs. I hope you saw that in my creative rendition of the first five limbs above. More importantly, incorporating the eight limbs shouldn’t put more demands on your schedule by adding more practices — if anything it should provide a way to integrate yoga into all aspects of life.
here’s my latest creative visualization of the eight limbs of yoga as spokes on the helm of a ship: we can use them all to steer the boat (ourselves) over the sometimes-rough, sometimes-calm seas of life. They all connect to our center, but we might only grab one or two at a time to move the whole…
Resources
Books:
Yoga: Discipline of Freedom, by Barbara Stoler Miller
Yoni Shakti: A Woman’s Guide to Power and Freedom Through Yoga and Tantra, by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, PhD
The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman’s Guide to the Hearth and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras, by Nischala Joy Devi
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by Sri Swami Sathidananda
Online articles:
Here’s a fun rendition of the yoga sutras for mamas, the text that outlines the eight limbs of yoga.
Here’s a fun musical tribute to the 8 limbs by M.C. Yogi https://www.last.fm/music/MC+Yogi/_/Eight+Limbs/+lyrics
A creative version of the eight limbs of yoga as they apply to early motherhood: https://www.yogitimes.com/article/eight-limbs-of-motherhood-yoga
Some insightful explorations of the eight limbs of yoga during pregnancy:
https://www.susiefishleder.com/blog/prenatal-yoga-as-a-spiritual-practice-yamas-and-niyamas
https://www.susiefishleder.com/blog/the-eightfold-path-of-prenatal-yoga-asana-and-pranayama
This was a longer than usual post for me! There was just so much to say and at the same time, I wanted to keep it as brief and useful as possible for such a huge topic.
If you found some inspiration and insight here, please feel free to share the love! Thanks for being here with me:)
Love the image of the eight limbs as a way to steer the ship!