Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Hello friends. Welcome back to another episode of deep in your practice. I am Lauren Leduc and I am the owner and founder of True Love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri. I also lead our yoga teacher training program, and I noticed that oftentimes for students, yoga teacher training is their first intro, really into deepening a yoga practice. So not only do I want to be able to fold deeper lessons within like a 60 minutes yoga class for any student who comes in, I want to be able to use this podcast as an introduction to some of the philosophy, anatomy, etcetera, that helps take your practice to a new level level and fortifies your understanding of what yoga is. So today I'll be talking about the eight limbs of yoga, not in a lot of detail going into each one, but more so laying out what this path is for you so that you can explore more deeply on your own, or you can listen to future episodes where we'll be going into each of these limbs with more depth. So I would definitely also recommend going back and listening to episode one. You certainly don't have to do that to listen to this episode today, but I do introduce the concept of Patanjali's yoga sutras, which is where the eight limbed path comes from as well as what yoga is. So those are really important things to know, I think. But just briefly, yoga sutras, Patanjalis are one of the yogic texts, one that we use quite a bit in modern day especially that was written 2000 to 2500 years ago, and outlines what yoga is and the path to it. And within this text, Patanjali focuses quite a bit, especially in the second part of it, second pada on this eight limbed paths. So he not only explains how yoga is a path to liberation, but outlines what the actual path is and how to get there. So we can think of yoga as mastery of the mind, knowing our own soul. That's a really brief definition of it, but how do we get there, right? So the eight limbs of yoga are a path to mental, spiritual and emotional liberation. So the first limb on the path is called yama. And these are different ethical disciplines. So this is really how to live. I'll rewind a little bit and say, in modern yoga we know asanas, obviously, which are the postures, maybe breath, maybe a little meditation. But did you know that yoga is also a way of life? So I won't go again really deeply into these today, but I will say there are five yamas. The first is ahimsa, or nonviolence. The second is satya, or truthfulness the third is astaya, or non stealing. The fourth is brahmacharya, which is moderation. And the fifth is paregraha, or non possessiveness, non hoarding. So these are all different ways to live that basically create a more harmonious society and a more harmonious inner landscape. We can explore these in our everyday lives, for sure, but we can also explore these different yamas on our yoga mats. We can make sure that we're not harming ourselves as we practice. We can be truthful to our own needs each day. We can stop comparing ourselves to other yogis on the mat. We can figure out how much energy we need for our practice that day and not use too much or too little. And we can also not attach to our own practice so that we can be present in the moment. The second is real similar to the first, with slight differences, though, and it's called niyama. So the first is yama and the second is niyama, which are personal observances. And you can think of these as specifically for anyone on the yogic path or a spiritual path. So the first is really about a harmonious society. The second can also provide a harmonious society, but gets a little more personal. So their personal practices to cultivate self discipline and inner strength. So the five niyamas are soca, which is purity or cleanliness. The second is santosha, which means contentment. The third is tapas, which is discipline. Then we have svadiya, which is self study, and then ishvara pranidhana, which is surrender to a higher power. So just like the yamas, these are different observances that we can use in our everyday lives through our decisions and habits and interactions. But they are also things that we can practice on our yoga mat. So how do we find purity of the mind while we practice yoga? How do we find a sense of gratitude and acceptance that comes with contentment while we're on the mat? How do we tap into our inner discipline or devotion when things get tough during a practice? How do we observe our own bodies, our own reactions, our own emotions during a practice? And how do we find a sense of surrender as well? All things we can do on the mat. And again, all of this I will go into with more depth later on in a different episode. But this is a general overview. The first two really are about how you live your life and that helps prepare you to, I guess, go to the next level, which is this preparation for liberation.
[00:05:55] The third limb is asana, or physical postures. And it's really important to note that in the yoga sutras, this is really only referring to a seated position, so seated meditation. So asana is really just preparing to meditate. But of course, over the last couple of thousand years, that has also grown to mean the many different postures that we explore during a yoga practice. And I think that, you know, within all contexts, they're important. But within a modern context, asana is really important because we don't necessarily live modern lifestyles that are healthful for our bodies. Oftentimes, the activities we're partaking in, whether it's sitting at a computer or a phone, are not providing optimal alignment for our best health. So asanas help strengthen our bodies, create mobility, create more ease. I'm sure that you felt these different benefits in your own practice, maybe less physical pain. And when we do that, we're able to sit with ourselves a little bit longer through meditation. So asanas, I think, have become an increasingly important limb, but still, it's on equal level with the other seven limbs, of course. So it's not more important than being a good person, you know? So the next one, number four, is pranayama, or breath control. So you might know this as like yogic breathing. The most basic would be diaphragmatic breathing that we use during a yoga practice. So that is using all of our awesome breathing muscles to take in full breaths and to release the breath fully. And pranayama is a form of breath control. So for that example, diaphragmatic breathing, we're consciously controlling the breath to create more space, more ease, more tolerance through the nervous system. And then there are many types of pranayama practices that help create a or facilitate different energies within the body, so that can bring your energy up, that can balance the energy, that can down regulate your energy. There are so many different ways to use breathing. And in the yoga sutras, just like everything else prior to this and after this, breathing practice is meant to bring our bodies into a state of meditation and then eventually liberation, or samadhi, which I'll get to. The fifth limb is called pratyahara, and this is sense withdrawal. So this is really techniques to let go of external distractions, which can be very difficult in modern life. I know, you know, I've been working at this for years, but I also have modern responsibilities as a mom, as a business owner. I'm getting texts all the time. I have someone a little human needing me all the time. It can be hard to find those instances where I can really shut off and go inward and tune into how I am feeling. So this one is extremely important in modern life and is necessary to prepare the mind and body for meditation. I know this one can be hard. So I think that anything that we can do to eliminate these external distractions when we can is great, but that's not always realistic, right? So we might do a humming practice or chanting. One of my favorites is Brahmari Pranayama, which is bee breath, and it's an inhale through the nose and then you humidous. And the humming helps if you close your eyes, too. It helps really bring everything inward, and it also calms the nervous system so that you can be in a more clear, open, and focused state. So if you're ever feeling overwhelmed, that's a really great one. They also make, like, really cool earplugs, headphones, all kinds of ways to kind of tamper down our sensory input so that we can get in touch with more internal peace, hopefully, or just whatever the internal sensations are. The 6th limb is called dharana, which is concentration. So we've sat and breathed and drawn our focus inward. Then it's time to focus or concentrate. So again, another really important one for modern life. So concentration helps create a sense of mental clarity, and that is needed for meditation. So I think we can practice this not only seated preparing for meditation, but in our daily lives. So that might mean when you were composing emails, let's say. Let's say you're working, composing emails, that's turning off other notifications if you're able to. It might mean listening to music and only listening to music, even just for a whole song, and noticing how that feels. You can think of concentration often as, like a mindfulness practice. So it might mean you're doing the dishes. You're only thinking about the dishes, feeling the dishes, doing the dishes. The mind isn't elsewhere, so there are so many ways, really, in most moments that we can practice dharana or concentration. But within meditation, that really means finding a point of focus. So that might mean a mantra or repetitive phrase, whether that's in Sanskrit or English. It might mean a sound that you're focusing on. There's a tratika, which is looking at a candle and watching the flame. So it means having point of focus. But whatever that might be for you can really vary just depending on what works. The 7th limb is dhyna, or meditation. So we go from turning our awareness inward to concentrating, and then that becomes meditation. So meditation is really this feeling of oneness with your object of focus. So it's really like the next step. Focusing requires effort. So Jurana has effort involved, and meditation is really the state where it becomes effortless, where you don't even have to try to focus anymore. It's just there. I would say, in modern interpretations or teachings of meditation, we hardly get to this point. It's really about the focus and the concentration. So this really does come often with a lot of practice time or even just the right circumstances lining up. Like, it might be a lot easier if you're laying on a beach listening to the ocean than if you're, you know, sitting in a crowded subway or something like that trying to find meditation. There are so many different forms and practices of meditation, so I would say try a few for sure.
[00:12:12] And also try not to be hard on yourself. When you reach roadblocks in concentration or meditation, really, the mind is going to wander. That's the nature of the mind. Again, go back to episode one. We talk about that you really build muscle when you notice that your mind has wandered and you bring it back to the point of focus and you do that over and over and over again, and eventually you can get to the space of dhyana or meditation. So I'd say if you expect to just sit down and empty the mind and that to be your meditation, I'm sorry, that's likely not going to work for you. It can be really, really frustrating. So finding a point of focus and then absorbing with that point of focus are really what we're aiming for. And that can be so many different things. It can be looking at the water, it can be walking, it can be even doing the dishes. Maybe you forget about everything else and it's just you and the dishes. Right? And then lastly we'll go to limb eight, which is samadhi, and that is absorption. Absorption, which is also. So it's a state of complete absorption and union with the divine. They say in the yoga sutras that the highest point of, or the. The best point of focus to use is the divine, whatever that means for you. So you'd be one with it in the meditation and then fully absorbed in it. In Samadhi, there's no separation between you and the divine or you. And whatever your point of focus is, you are it. It is you. And it really is the ultimate goal of yoga practice. And it is this realization that we are pure consciousness, that we are divine. It's meant to be blissier than bliss, one of the best feelings or probably the best feeling that you can ever have. And all of these other limbs help prepare us for that. Now there are yogic teachings and myths and stories about masters who have reached the state and then they stay there the rest of their lives. Do I believe that's true? Possibly. I think, you know, there are so many variations within humans, or there's billions of us. So sure that could be true is that most of us know. So what is the point? What is the point of this whole thing? I'll say that it's kind of like sometimes when I'm teaching a yoga class and we have a peak pose, which is might be like the hardest pose we do in the class. I'll say it doesn't even matter if you attain this or not. All of the work that you're doing leading up to it is important, invaluable and might eventually get you to this space. And it's the exact same thing with these eight limbs. It's not a waste of time. It is going to bring your life into more union, into more alignment. It's going to bring you more in touch with your spirit and you might even have moments of samadhi that help fuel it. But yoga isn't really about seeking Samadhi, even though it's a path that leads to it, it's not about seeking it. It's about being on the path, enjoying the path, being present with the path. And then, you know, perhaps we reach the destination at one point. It doesn't. I don't want to say it doesn't matter, because, of course, we all want to feel freedom, we all want to feel liberation, we all want to feel union. But how can we find little glimpses of that in our everyday lives? And how might this practice benefit not only ourselves, but those around us and society as a whole? So it's absolutely worthwhile whether or not you make it to the top of the tree or to the. To the 8th limb. So again, eight limbs in Yoga, they are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi. And I hope this sparks your interest to go a little bit deeper into these, to maybe notice how you experience them not only in your own life, but on the yoga mat. I would definitely recommend further reading. There are many, many different versions of the yoga sutras out there in my yoga teacher training. And what we sell in the studio at true love is living the sutras, which I really like. It's a very gentle introduction into them and it comes with reflections as well. So you get to read the sutras, but also apply them to your own life in a really modern, realistic way. So I certainly recommend that. Also, there's a book called the Yamas and Yamas that comes highly praised by many people. If you want to dive deeper into those two limbs specifically. And I also recommend if this is something that is exciting to you to join a yoga teacher training, you can do it not only to become a yoga teacher, but to deepen your own practice at true love. Ours will start again in March of 2025, but we'll open that up for sign ups here pretty soon.
[00:16:59] And it's so one of my very favorite things is not just reading about the sutras or the philosophy, but it's discussing it with other people and really connecting in that way, figuring out how it applies to our own lives and how we are similar to other people or even different. It's just such an enriching experience being able to really go deep with others on this level. So I highly recommend that if that piques your interest and reach out if you're interested in our teacher training too, I can't say enough great things about the program. If you have any questions or feedback about this episode, please feel free to dm me or the studio. I am Lauren Laduke on Instagram. We are trueloveyogac on Instagram and you can also send me an email laurenruloveyogac.com. if you have any other questions, questions about philosophy, or any other topics you'd like me to dive into as well, please reach out. I am all ears and I really am here just to serve you. I want to thank you so much for listening today. If you loved this episode, please rate and review. It helps the podcast so much and I hope that this helps you deepen your practice. Get a better sense of the holistic lifestyle of yoga. The goal of Yoga the practice of yoga have a very beautiful week. Om Shanti Om peace.
