Croucher 1

Chantal Croucher

Dr. Paul Jerard

TC17

April 20, 2020

Yogic Philosophy

Yoga isn't a religion however a way of thinking. Yoga is the association of the
brain, body and soul; all levels interconnected inside one breath. It's not about a
particular style of Yoga or a particular body type however the internal procedure that
happens inside every person. It begins from inwards by comprehension and
investigating own self and thus moving outwards and acknowledging how oneself is
associating with the remainder of nature. It's everything about mindfulness; how and
why everything around us is acting and responding, what duties every last one of us
has and subsequently how would we impact this more prominent picture by molding
our connections. However, there is a large number of moral thoughts formed by
investigating the more profound components of the body, mind and soul.

Maharishi Patanjali inside the Yoga Sutras depicted 8 limbs where every one of
them work together for a total work on consolidating theory into one's day by day life.
The word Sutra means "strand or string" and alludes to a progression of instructing that
are strung together like pearls on an accessory. Patanjali accumulated the Sutras in the
wake of contemplating yoga's more seasoned convention; an assortment of 196 short
refrains and maturing around 2,000 years of age, however its shrewdness is ageless.
The principal expression of the primary section is "Atha" which converts into "Now"
implying that, the only thing that is important is that we start at this very moment to live
and rehearse with more prominent mindfulness and nearness.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras comprises of eight limbs; these limbs go about as rules
on the most proficient method to carry on with an important and deliberate life. The
initial four limbs relate on refining our potential outcomes, picking up authority over the
body and building up a general familiarity with our actual self. The last four limbs
manage the faculties, the psyche and accomplishing a higher condition of awareness.
It's a continuous procedure where each progression sets you up for the following; an
individual arrangement of observing and controlling the brain, body and soul. One
shouldn't look at the 8 limbs as a prerequisite yet just as a guide for a lighter, more
joyful, more advantageous and progressively serene Life. All things considered; every
one's practice is an individual practice.
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This sutra and those that develop it are the most imperative to introduce to
today's yogic activity. While quite a bit of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is intended for the
individuals who are near enlightenment, those near enlightenment ought to invest
energy understanding Ashtanga yoga. For some, yoga's definitive climax of self-
acknowledgment can't be achieved on request. Patanjali comprehended these
obstructions of the human mind and talented us with his eightfold way.

Every limb of his path expands upon those before it, and to avoid any of the
steps would be a significant obstruction—if not the destruction—to additionally advance.
The eight limbs of yoga start with the Yamas and Niyamas, laying the preparation for
the ethical direct expected to manage us on our yogic path. The limbs end with
samadhi: a definitive objective of yoga.

The eight limbs of yoga, which are talked about beneath in more detail, contain
moral controls and individual observances (Yamas and Niyamas), poses (Asanas),
breath work (Pranayama), capacity to turn internal (Pratyahara), fixation (Dharana),
meditation (Dhyana) and the condition of satisfaction and ecstatic retention (Samadhi)
— the ultimate goal of yoga.

There are five Yamas which guide us toward higher standards and qualities.
They're concerned about both your own prosperity and how you identify with others. In
Sanskrit it translates to mean “restraints”. These limbs are: nonviolence, truthfulness,
nonstealing, nonexcess and nonpossessiveness.

Yama

1. Ahimsa: the ethic of nonviolence. By grasping ahimsa, you avoid harming

yourself or others genuinely, verbally, or intellectually.

2. Satya: the ethic of truthfulness. This implies truth in words, considerations and
deeds, and adjusting what you state with what you do.

3. Asteya: the ethic of nonstealing. Genuinely direct, this alludes to not taking
what isn't yours.

4. Brahmacharya: the ethic of nonexcess. The purpose of this yama is to

construct the inward quality, imperativeness, and force required for higher yogic
practices.

5. Aparigraha: the ethic of nonpossessiveness. This yama urges you to get just
what you need and debilitates you from connection to common belongings.
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The Niyamas urge yogis to embrace a way of life that bolsters the profound
journey of yoga. In contrast to the Yamas, which center for the most part around
agreeable associations with others, the Niyamas are centered around singular lead and
order. Translated from Sanskrit, Niyama means “observances”. They include: purity,
contentment, self-discipline, self-study and surrender. These five moral observances
are intended to energize individual development, and to show yogis how to disguise and
appropriately utilize their vitality.

Niyama

1. Saucha: The ethic of purity. This alludes not exclusively to great cleanliness,
yet to virtue of nourishment, psyche, and environmental factors.

2. Santosha: The ethic of contentment. It urges you to be happy with what you
have.

3. Tapas: The ethic of self-discipline. Through tapas, you build up the resolution
expected to remain on the yoga way.

4. Svadhyaya: the ethic of self-study. This incorporates instruction and

investigation of otherworldly messages, just as a comprehension of our individual
reason throughout everyday life.

5. Ishvara pranidhana: The ethical of surrender. This training diverts the vitality
you consume on natural undertakings to your quest for self-acknowledgment.

Asana is the physical act of yoga, which is intended to purge the physical body
and advance its durable wellbeing. From an exacting perspective, you figure out how to
locate a consistent and agreeable stance that can be supported for an extensive stretch
of time during reflection.

Pranayama, or breath guideline, shapes an extension between the three

remotely focused appendages above and the four inside focused appendages that
follow. Subsequent to setting up the body through asana, you control and grow the
breath through pranayama to expand your life power. This assists with freeing the brain
from interruption and numbness, setting it up for the following phases of yoga.

Pratyahara is the act of tactile withdrawal. When the body and its vitality are
under our own control, the faculties must be aced. At the point when the brain is not, at
this point a captive to the faculties, it can advance on the otherworldly way.
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Dharana implies focus, and this progression is basic for the following
appendage: reflection. Without focus, contemplation is inconceivable. You should
initially deal with the body, prana, faculties, and psyche to have the option to
appropriately focus.

Dhyana is the act of contemplation. Reflection immediately emerges through the

continuous progression of focus. Thus, dharana must be aced first before this
appendage can be accomplished.

Samadhi comes through continued contemplation and is the most significant

standard of yoga. In this stage, the feeling of 'I' or 'me' is outperformed. There are
different degrees of samadhi, however it's the higher yogic samadhis that are expected
to achieve self-acknowledgment.

The limbs do expand on each other; however, their movement isn't intended to
be inflexible. For instance, somebody may start asana before they have mastered
Niyama, yet at the same time should follow the general movement of the eight-limb way
so that they do not hit barriers on route.

Including philosophy in classes matters, as it reminds the students that yoga is

much more than just the postures alone, and it aids them in connecting to themselves,
as well as to something so much greater beyond just ourselves.

Incorporating all eight limbs into a Yoga class can be very challenging
considering the time for each class. How much time should you spend on theory,
pranayama, contemplation and asana? A smart thought would be that, for each class a
reference point can be given to every limb as practice advances after some time. By
along these lines classes can turn out to be all the more intriguing and professionals
can process little bits of astuteness all the more without any problem.

An instructor should offer to his or her students the knowledge of the sutras and
urge them to rehearse the use of these limbs and notice any progressions they may
bring into their background. The teacher’s job is simply to open their minds to individual
examination and not to mention to them what to think. A Yoga instructor is a guide, who
instructs you to inevitably turn into your own educator. Thus, understudies from their
point of view ought to accomplish classes once in a while as well as ought to be
bringing home and applying what they have realized in class.

In the cutting-edge world, Pratyhara (capacity to turn internal) is without a doubt

one of the most troublesome parts of yoga to follow. Regardless of whether we express
extraordinary consideration over the nourishment we eat, and the individuals we come
into contact with, our faculties are over-burden more often than not with promotions, TV
projects, and music. The Yoga sutras express that tactile impressions are the primary
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nourishment for our brain, and we can't overlook the impact of our physical condition on
making us what our identity is – both deliberately and subliminally.

Luckily, Pratyahara gives us numerous devices to handle the over-burden of data

continually overwhelming our senses. The least difficult way to cut off completely is
through investing energy in reflection with the eyes shut or taking off into nature. The
sutras disclose to us that the brain is the sixth sense organ, and we can control what
data is absorbed. By putting our consideration on a certain something, we stop the
impact of other influences from entering.

The following two limbs – dharana (fixation) and dhyana (contemplation) are tied
in with entering a profound reflective state, to set us up for the last limb, samadhi (joy),
in which the individual becomes one with their reflection. As indicated by Patanjali, there
is a further state past samadhi – nirbija-samadhi, depicted as the total partition of Soul
and Matter. The last part of the sutras clarifies this in more detail, asserting that in this
express, the soul has the ability to broaden all over, including travel through existence.
At the end of the day, this is the finished acknowledgment of Purusha and Prakriti, and
the greatness of the material world.

The eight limbs of yoga bless the professional with a down to earth guide of living
agreeably inside society. They instruct us to be thoughtful, caring, and to deal with
yourself as well as other people by understanding individual morals. The limbs advance
self-study, careful center, and an educated practice, just as building up an attention to
oneself and the consciousness of the psyche. Patanjali instructs us that genuine yoga
happens when the “fluctuating waves of the mind” stop, and we comprehend that we
are “ineffable stillness, which is always present” and “independent of thoughts being
present or absent” (Miller). With this point of view, the cutting-edge yogi can start to live
liberated from requests of advanced life, and in line with their actual nature.
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Work Cited

1. Adele, Deborah. The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yogas Ethical Practice.

Duluth, MN: On-Word Bound Books, 2009. Print.

2. Hewitt, James. The Complete Yoga Book: Yoga of Breathing, Yoga of Posture,

and Yoga of Meditation: Three Volumes in One. New York: Schocken Books,
1977. Print.

3. Martino, Gabriel. “Teachings of the Yoga Sutras and Contemporary Yoga

Practice - Assignment Essay for the Course ‘Philosophy of
Yoga.’” Academia.edu. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2020.

4. Miller, Richard “Flowering of Freedom: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” 2015,

http://www.sutrajournal.com/the-flowering-of-freedom-the-yoga-sutras-of-
patanjali-by-richard-miller

5. Vishnudervananda, Swami. The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. Three Rivers

Press (CA), 1995. Print.