Ashtanga Yoga
8 branches - The path of unity
The path of change
1- YAMA
Inner purification (awareness of conditioning)
Ahimsah
Become aware of our violent thoughts
Satya
Truthfulness, sincere self-examination
Asteya
Become aware of the desire for possession
Brahmacharya
Become aware of the energy of life
Aparigraha
Become aware of mental concepts
2 - NIYAMA
External purification (consciousness of action)
Shaucha
Action without personal profit
Santosha
Satisfaction through acceptance of what is
tapah
Be determined to seek the source of consciousness
Svadhyaya
Seek to associate with the truth
Isvara Pranidana
Surrender to the divine (love)
3- ASANA
Physical purification (consciousness of the body
4 - PRANAYAMA
Subtle purification (developing awareness of the breath)
5 - PRATYAHARA
Withdrawal of the senses (conscious use of the 5 senses)
6 - DHARANA
Discernment (concentration)
7 - DHYANA
State of being (meditation)
8 - SAMADHI
State of unity, totality, liberation (pure consciousness)
Are you ready to change ?
Ashtanga Yoga
ashta = eight⎜English= branch⎜yoga= unit
Although the word Yoga can have several meaning, we will qualify it by change, because now something will finally change, something we are not used to, and by conviction that life conceals an immense mystery, but that it is possible to access it in simplicity of mind. By openness to what is. Pure existence, eternal and universal, Yoga touches the hearts of men whether we see it or not.
Ashtanga finds its origins in the Sanskrit texts, expounded by the sage Patanjali, who was the first to systematize the path of classical yoga.
These are the stages that structure the logical progression through which the practitioner passes before reaching the state of Yoga.
They are all related to each other, and can be practiced simultaneously.
The first five branches (the external support) are the foundations of the last 3 (the internal practice).
The first two branches YAMA & NIYAMA are crucial, and are often the most neglected. Without these the practice has no meaning, and does not allow the process that the practice of yoga is supposed to bring, the upward inner transformation.
Because It is subtle,
invisible and immaterial,
the sages spoke of its accessible form,
and it is by progressive degrees that this form will be
— Avhaduta Gita ll.15