Patañjali’s Aṣṭāṅga Sādhana

Yama Niyama

Bahiraṅga Sādhana

(Practice 24*7)

Āsana Prāṇāyāma Pratyāhāra

      Antaraṅga Sādhana

      (Part of Daily practice)

Dhāraṇa Dhyāna Samādhi

Saṃyama

(Happens due to regular long interval practices)

Yama : The DONTs

  • Ahiṃsā: The avoidance of physical, verbal and mental injury to others.
  • Satya: The avoidance of speaking the untruth at a thought level and at a verbal level.
  • Asteya: The avoidance of possessing anything physical, verbal or mental that doesn’t legitimately belong to you.
  • Brahmacarya: The avoidance of inappropriate attitude and relationship with the opposite sex. Being on the path of Brahman.
  • Aparigraha: The avoidance of amassing wealth. Even though your earning is legitimate, you must not earn beyond a limit, you must share with society.

Niyama : The DOs

  • Śauca: Having internal and external purity at a physical, verbal and mental level.
  • Saṃtoṣa: Having contentment; never compare yourself with others. 
  • Tapaḥ: Having moderation by living a simple life.
  • Svādhyāya: Having time for scriptural studies leading in to self-analysis.
  • Īśvara praṇidhāna: Having acceptance of the laws of Karma or in other words surrendering to the lord.

Āsana : Postures

Sitting in a cross-legged posture without movement and without switching out legs for 20 mins is called Āsana Siddhi. All the āsana practices are done to arrive at this sthira-sukha (stable-comfortable) seated posture.

Prāṇāyāma : Breath regulation

Literally meaning breath regulation but essentially engaging the extroverted mind to focus inward on your body. Sagarbha Prāṇāyāma meaning breath regulation along with chanting not only leads to physical health but most importantly spiritual health.

Pratyāhāra : Withdrawal

The withdrawal of the senses from wandering in the external world.

Dhāraṇa : Focus

Focussing the mind on a chosen object.

Dhyāna : Meditation

Retaining the mind or retaining the thought on the focussed object. This is more of a struggling stage to keep the mind focussed.  
 

Samādhi : Complete Absorption

 
Mind and thoughts dwelling on the object of meditation without disturbance. This is more of an end to the struggling stage.
 

Thus following these 8 steps on an everyday basis leads to the purification of the mind which then sets up a stage for jñāna to seep in well☺︎