Yoga Practice

The sage Patanjali wrote Yoga Sutras – totalling 195 sutras

The classic sutra relating to Ashtanga Yoga is :

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yama niyama-āsana prā?āyāma pratyāhāra dhāra?ā dhyāna samādhayo-'??āva?gāni II

It is the 80 th Sutra – meaning before informing us on the 8 limbs of Yoga many things related to Yoga are covered and in fact in the preceding sutra  to above sutra  the following is stated:

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yoga-a?ga-anu??hānād-a?uddhi-k?aye j?āna-dīptir-āviveka-khyāte? II

Meaning practice of yoga removes impurity (ignorance) and provides illumination (wisdom) and capacity to make distinction for reasons causing sorrow or happiness.

The above information provided to make a point that generally Yoga gets tagged to 3rd or 4th limb that is Asana and Pranayama but it is much more than that and we must start with 1st and 2nd limb which are equally if not more important to other limbs and so to say should be the starting point in practice of Yoga !!

So what are Yama and Niyama ??

Yama :--

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ahi?sā-satya-asteya brahmacarya-aparigrahā? yamā? II

Ahimsa (non-injury), Satya (truth), Asteya (abstention from stealing), Brahmacharya (continence) and Aparigraha (abstinence from avariciousness) are the five Yamas . Basically yamas are the restraints one MUST put on oneself or say should be the behaviour pattern of the person staying/living in society.

Niyama :--

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?auca sa?to?a tapa? svādhyāy-e?varapra?idhānāni niyamā?

Cleanliness, contentment, austerity (mental and physical discipline), Svadhyaya (study of scriptures and chanting of Mantras) and devotion to God are the Niyamas . Basically niyamas are the tenents provided for individual practice.

Step 1 , 2 are also ABSOLUTELY important if one has to reach the 8th step of the ladder called Ashtanga Yoga !!!