Reflection Paper
Growing up in an athletic and spiritual household, I undoubtedly was surrounded with yoga my entire childhood. When I began with yoga 1 class, and got introduced to the eight limbs of Yoga, and the depths of the Niyamas and Yamas, what I thought of yoga started to form into something new. I came into class after deconstructing my previous beliefs/teachings from previous training I had taken. This gave me more interest towards the subject. With each class, my body experienced more and more discipline levels, and my love and craving for this practice kept increasing. While we learned about the eight limbs of yoga I first perceived them as rules you have to go by in life. The more I practiced and read the chapters throughout these months the more I realized not to look at the eight limbs as rules but, as a structure to achieve success in my practice and life. Tools to make the best version of you you could possibly be.
The first limb, The Yamas, holds an immense amount of importance and underlying meaning behind its initial definition. To abbreviate it, the Yama Limb represents how one is in society and social branches. I am passionate with the practice of the Yamas, because it talks so clearly in terms of what our world deserves and needs. Within the Yamas, there are five sub genres.
The first is Ahimsa which is the practice of nonviolence. I find that, it is easily disregarded as obvious, but once you understand it more, the importance of it will seem clearer. For me it is easier to be kind to our community and to the world we live in, than to ourselves. I have experienced my mind distorting ideas of me many times making me feel negative about myself, and have found that Ahimsa spoke directly to me. I find when I practiced Yoga this semester with the idea of Ahimsa I was more conscience on what my body physically needed. Before diving into practice I would ask myself questions like “how does my body feel today? Do I need to use blocks? Do I need to use a bolster? How deep should I go into this pose?” When I practiced yoga with the intent of this concept, my physical practice heightened and it would stick with me throughout the day.
The second limb within the Yamas is called Satya, or truthfulness. When I think of honesty, I immediately think of it as being honest to the people you interact with. It was not until learning more about the depth of this meaning in my practice did I begin to appreciate that being honest within myself was liberating and also enabled me to go deeper into not just my yoga practice but also my artistic process. Being a human in this society that’s based with what we see in the media, I have always lacked self confidence. Now I attempt to play with Satya daily by accepting how my body feels, and to ignore the media constructed ideas that I unconsciously make for myself. Accepting that I am more than enough to the world and I should not be self conscience to bloom my ideas and artistic concepts out to the world. It’s helped me feel more passionate about my art work and has made me feel confident with decision making.
Asteya being the third branch refers to, of non stealing. Asteya builds off the Satya, they must be side by side for you to be authentic. If one is lacking, the other will fall as well. This goes for all eight limbs, they coexist and all support one another. Asteya is basically walking the talk, I mean yes, don’t steal material things from people, don’t steal ideas from people, but most importantly don’t steal all these truths from yourself. By avoiding these truths about yourself there is no room for learning about yourself or blooming into the world. I practiced Asteya by living my truth everyday and acting on it. Writing down ideas or concepts that came to mind in a journal while meditating was super helpful for me throughout the semester. It helped me look at exactly what needed to be done within myself or just what needed to be braught to life, and not ignoring all the very relevant things that were dodged down on paper made me feel more productive and essentially watered my personal plant.
The fourth limb known as Brahmacharya or non-excess. Practicing celibacy or the non accession of sexual energy, desirable energy as an all. When we have desires towards something, it can create negative actions that are routed from desire rather than a mindful thought. I see a connection with this limb in my Yoga practice, when my body wants to unravel out of a pose but then I push myself to continue through it. When I continue through something difficult and find the end to it, it's more satisfying then if I were to give in immediately to the desire of giving up.
The fifth and last limb under the branch of the Yamas is Aparigraha, in other words, non attachment. This is extremely important to me personally because I find myself easily getting wrapped up in the attachment to things I know are unnecessarily important to me.
The second limb within the eight limbs are the Niyamas, which is the observance within yourself, and tends to your goodness to the external world, making it necessary for it to coexist with the yamas mentioned above.
The first branch within this limb is called the Shaucha which or purification is simply the practice of purifying our soul and cleansing the excess purifications. I feel like this acts as important reminder to always be surrounding yourself with pure intentions and human necessities such as our basic food, water, friends, environment, etc. The second limb that follows this is Samtosha or contentment. To me, this means to enjoy what it is we have, without depending on those things to create our happiness. I believe that true happiness lies within, and if you are seeking your happiness through material items or people, then your happiness becomes inauthentic, which in a way, connects back to the Yamas stating we must not steal, for creating artificial happiness for yourself is a form of taking something you didn’t have the right to take.
This limb is followed by Tapas, or asceticism. This limb signifies discipline, and like all the others, holds importance both on and off the mat. I keep this limb close to my heart, for it is the one that reminds me to practice even when I don’t want to, and reminds me that pushing through the difficulty on and off the matt, will bring me contentment, and strength. The more we take advantage of Tapas, and continue to push through self stubbornness, the stronger our passion becomes thus burning away any impurities one might have. I want to continue pushing myself to carry the strength that allows me to overcome my obstacles at all times. I want to feel the urge not to practice, just so I can fight that urgency with passion. I want to use this limb to challenge myself and see growth within it. With Tapas, I will treat my body with respect, and health. With this, I will be committed to my internal and external practices in order to cleanse any excess dilution.
After Tapas, comes Svadhyaya or ‘self study.’ This limb infers that we hold self examination and awareness close to your heart. When we are able to look within ourselves and teach ourselves to push past our limitations and open up to new lessons, even if they scare us. This gives us the chance to be self centered within ourselves as well as our yoga practice. When I am in a flow of practice in Yoga and think about this limb, I believe that both the physical and emotional aspects within me heighten greatly. For example, I notice positive changes in my posture and awareness with my breathing. This limb reminds me to left unwanted dualities out of my life, and to push through unwanted tendencies.
The last Niyama is Isvarapranidhana, otherwise known as celebration. With this comes the contemplation of God and the acceptance of surrounding bigger energy. This limb represents take time in our day to recognize that we are not all there is, and that there is a energetic guide we can become attuned to and befriend. This limb is personally important to me for it gives me a sense of reassurance in times of struggle in my practice, to have the awareness of a supporting realm of godlike energy.
The third limb is Asanas which is the section of body postures. Within the deeper level of this practice, we learn to “stay” or “abide” (the sanskrit wording), within our practice, to calm our mind and find our connection within. Our physical postures affect our internal “postures,” for when we learn to correctly align our bodies in these postures, the physical grace and flow of each begin to flood into our physical world and daily lives. As stated in Chapter Fifteen in our reading, “Letting go in the practice of yoga postures occurs when there is enough concentration present that we can slip into the flow of conditions that we call yoga postures.” This limb flows and connects absolutely with the fourth limb of Pranayama, or breath control. When we become in touch with a pattern of breath, a sense of peacefulness and cleansing enters your body. The practice of breath is needed for all of the other limbs to fully operate. For example, when our breath becomes real it creates heat or the inner fire of tapas, releasing any inner impurifications. When we find this pattern, it soothes our nervous system and reduces craving or attachment that may have been previously present within. Our breath supports healthy energy and physical posture. I can personally say that without learning about the importance of my breath within Yoga, my practice would be nothing special; breathing has made all the difference in the world for me. As quoted in The Inner Traditions of Yoga, "The winds are like currents of energy, and when we tune into the various currents, we see they are made up of perception, thought, nervous system, cognition, and all activities of mind and body.”
After this limb comes Pratyahara, our control of the senses. This limb teaches us to withdrawal from the external items which feed our senses. For me, this limb helps me continue on my spiritual pathway by suppressing the desire to reach out to sensory entertainment. When we are no longer attached to these materialistic things, we find the contentment and peace within. It has been a constant theme throughout this semester for me, that what truly will bring us happiness is the acceptance of it being within. We hold the magic and power, and must engage in these limbs in order to access it.
Dharana, or concentration and cultivating inner perceptual awareness, follows as the limb after. With Dharana, we hold our attention and focus in one place. In order for us to reach this mental point, our mind must be in a peaceful state, which is owed to other connected, coexisting, limbs. With this limb, we focus our mind, and cease ourselves from other directions or pathways of mentality. When we reach purification through yoga poses, we open up many more doors than just the ones in our physical practice.
The second to last limb is Dhyana, or devotion, meditation on the Divine. Once we have mastered our pattern of breath, and clarity emotionally and physically, our ability to meditates increases and supports us. Meditation becomes a resource for us to see things authentically and the illusions of desire or distraction begin to vanish. We begin to find insight within our perceptions and poses, therefore bettering our routine and practice. This limb brings all other limbs together to a place of mental peace and wakefulness. I personally feel that this limb brings me comfort for it helps me confront my fears and hesitations, both in my physical and mental practice. I believe this limb to be sacred and important for the clear mentality of one's mindful practice.
The last of the eight limbs is called Samadhi or union with the Divine. Being the last, it signifies a type of enlightment, where body and mind is one with your consciousness and senses. This limb allows one to find a sense of equality, realism, and acceptance for themselves and the world around them. Reaching this state of bliss means you have incorporated all other limbs, and found a place of non attachment to the outer world. For me, reaching this goal seems completely worth all restraints and obstacles I have and will face in my practice.
These limbs have become a friend of mine, a supporter and a pusher. They have not only taught me to continue through the struggle and calm my mind, but they have taught me to be a better person to myself and the world around me. I am intrigued by the state of bliss I have the potential to reach, and this class has fully inspired me to pursue a spiritual path which follows these eight limbs. I am infinitely grateful that I was given the chance during this class to truly experience each of these limbs and witness the positivity and strength it brought into my life