The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are ancient texts that codify the essential principles of yoga in short aphorisms, called sutras (verses). Thought to have been written sometime in the first four centuries by Patanjali, an ancient sage in India, the sutras remain sources of inspiration and guidance on how to live a balanced and ethical life both on and off the mat for all yoga practitioners.
Patanjali travelled all around India to study the Vedas -‘Divine knowledge’ – the foundation of India’s spiritual and philosophical wisdom, and organised them into sutras (verses). Before he arrived at the scene, the Vedas had been passed down in oral tradition for centuries.
At the heart of the sutras sit the Eight Limbs of Yoga or Ashtanga in Sanskrit (ashta = eight, anga=limbs). They outline the vision, practices, techniques and experiences that arise along one’s yoga journey.
The Vedas, sutras and Eight Limbs were designed to help humanity attain liberation from suffering and being victims of our own impulses through ultimate awareness or union with the Divine known as Samadhi. They outline a complete path of spiritual transformation, beginning with ethical values and followed by techniques to integrate the body and mind through the breath.
The chart and diagram on this page show all the limbs starting from Yama (first limb, “restraints”) and culminating in Samadhi (eighth limb, “union with the Divine”). You will notice that we most commonly practice the third limb, Asanas (postures) in classes, but not much of the other limbs, taking the goal of yoga out of context. Our Immersion Yoga & Yoga Philosophy course is unique in that it covers the Eight Limbs in its entirety.
