The Eight Limbs of Yoga, and How They Work Together by Gregor Maehle

According to Patanjali there are eight “limbs” of
yoga. How they work together can be understood
from the following story:
Once upon a time a couple lived happily together
in a country that had an unjust king. The king
became jealous of their happiness and threw the
man into a prison tower. When his wife came to the
tower at night to comfort him, the man called down
to her that she should return the next night with a
long silken thread, a strong thread, a cord, a rope, a
beetle, and some honey. Although puzzled by the
request, the wife returned the next evening with all
the items. Her husband then asked her to tie the
silken thread to the beetle and smear honey onto its
antennae. She should then place the beetle on the
tower wall with its head facing upward. Smelling
the honey, the beetle started to climb up the tower
in expectation of finding more of it, dragging the
silken thread as it did so. When it reached the top
of the tower the man took hold of the silken thread
and called down to his wife that she should tie the
strong thread to the other end. Pulling the strong
thread up, he secured it also and instructed her
further to tie the cord to the other end. Once he had
the cord the rest happened quickly. With the rope
attached to the cord he pulled it up, secured one
end of it and, climbing down, escaped to freedom.
The couple are, of course, yogis. The prison tower
represents conditioned existence. The silken thread
symbolizes the purifying of the body through asana.
The strong thread represents pranayama, breath
extension, the cord symbolizes meditation, and the
rope stands for samadhi, the state of pure being.
Once this rope is held, freedom from conditioned
existence is possible.
Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga relate to Ashtanga
Vinyasa practice thus:
The first limb consists of a set of ethics, which
ensures that the yogi interacts in a harmonious way
with the surrounding community. The ethical precepts
are: not to harm others, to be truthful, not to
steal, to engage in intercourse only with one’s
partner, and to abstain from greed.
The second limb consists of observances, which
ensure that body and mind are not polluted once
they have been purified. Purification in yoga has
nothing to do with puritanism. Rather it refers to the
“stainability” of body and mind. “Stainability” is the
propensity of the body/mind to take on a conditioning
or imprint from the environment. The observances
are physical and mental cleanliness, contentment,
simplicity, study of sacred texts, and acceptance of
the existence of the Supreme Being. The first two
limbs are initially implemented from the outside, and
they form a platform from which practice is undertaken.
Once we are established in yoga they become
our second nature: they will arise naturally.
The third limb is asana. Many obstacles to knowing
one’s true nature are manifested in the body, for
example disease, sluggishness, and dullness. The
body profoundly influences and, if in bad condition,
impinges on the functioning of mind and intellect.
Through the practice of yoga asanas the body is
made “strong and light like the body of a lion,” to
quote Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. Only then will it provide
the ideal vehicle on the path of yoga.
As the Yoga Sutra explains,5 every thought, emotion,
and experience leaves a subconscious imprint
(samskara) in the mind. These imprints determine
who we will be in the future. According to the Brhad
Aranyaka Upanishad, as long as liberation is not
achieved, the soul, like a caterpillar that draws itself
from one blade of grass over to the next, will, by the
force of its impressions in this life, reach out and
draw itself over to a new body in a new life.
This means that the body we have today is nothing
but the accumulation of our past thoughts, emotions,
and actions. In fact our body is the crystallized
history of our past thoughts. This needs to be deeply
understood and contemplated. It means that asana is
the method that releases us from past conditioning,
stored in the body, to arrive in the present moment.
It is to be noted that practicing forcefully will only
superimpose a new layer of subconscious imprints
based on suffering and pain. It will also increase
identification with the body. In yoga, identification
with anything that is impermanent is called
ignorance (avidya).
This may sound rather abstract at first, but all
of us who have seen a loved one die will remember
the profound insight that, once death has set in, the
body looks just like an empty shell left behind. Since
the body is our vehicle and the storehouse of our
past, we want to practice asana to the point where it
serves us well, while releasing and letting go of the
past that is stored in it.
Yoga is the middle path between two extremes. On
the one hand, we can go to the extreme of practicing
fanatically and striving for an ideal while denying
the reality of this present moment. The problem
with this is that we are only ever relating to ourselves
as what we want to become in the future and
not as what we are right now. The other extreme is
advocated by some schools of psychotherapy that
focus on highlighting past traumas. If we do this,
these traumas can increase their grip on us, and we
relate to ourselves as we have in the past, defining
ourselves by the “stuff that’s coming up” and the
“process that we are going through.” Asana is an
invitation to say goodbye to these extremes and
arrive at the truth of the present moment.
How do past emotions, thoughts, and impressions
manifest in the body? Some students of yoga experience
a lot of anger on commencing forward bending.
This is due to past anger having been stored in the
hamstrings. If we consciously let go of the anger, the
emotion will disappear. If not, it will surface in some
other form, possibly as an act of aggression or as a
chronic disease. Other students feel like crying after
intense backbending. Emotional pain is stored in the
chest, where it functions like armor, hardening
around the heart. This armor may be dissolved
in backbending. If we let go of the armor, a feeling
of tremendous relief will result, sometimes
accompanied by crying.
Extreme stiffness can be related to mental rigidity
or the inability to let oneself be transported into
unknown situations. Extreme flexibility, on the other
hand, can be related to the inability to take a position
in life and to set boundaries. In this case, asana
practice needs to be more strength based, to create
a balance and to learn to resist being stretched to
inappropriate places. Asana invites us to acknowledge
the past and let it go. This will in turn bring us
into the present moment and allow us to let go of
limiting concepts such as who we think we are.
The fourth limb is pranayama. Prana is the life
force, also referred to as the inner breath; pranayama
means extension of prana. The yogis discovered that
the pulsating or oscillating of prana happens sim
ultaneously with the movements of the mind
(chitta vrtti). The practice of pranayama is the study
and exercise of one’s breath to a point where it is
appeased and does not agitate the mind.
In the vinyasa system, pranayama is practiced
through applying the Ujjayi breath. By slightly
constricting the glottis, the breath is stretched long.
We learn to let the movement follow the breath,
which eventually leads to the body effortlessly
riding the waves of the breath. At this point it is
not we who move the body, but rather the power
of prana. We become able to breathe into all parts of
the body, which is equivalent to spreading the prana
evenly throughout. This is ayama — the extension
of the breath.
The fifth limb is pratyahara — sense withdrawal.
The Maitri Upanishad says that, if one becomes
preoccupied with sense objects, the mind is fueled,
which will lead to delusion and suffering.6 If, however,
the fuel of the senses is withheld, then, like a
fire that dies down without fuel, the mind becomes
reabsorbed into its source, the heart. “Heart” in
yoga is a metaphor not for emotions but for our
center, which is consciousness or the self.
In Vinyasa Yoga, sense withdrawal is practiced
through drishti — focal point. Instead of looking
around while practicing asana, which leads to the
senses reaching out, we stay internal by turning
our gaze toward prescribed locations. The sense of
hearing is drawn in by listening to the sound of the
breath, which at the same time gives us feedback
about the quality of the asana. By keeping our
attention from reaching out, we develop what tantric
philosophy calls the center (madhya). By developing
the center, the mind is eventually suspended and
the prana, which is a manifestation of the female
aspect of creation, the Goddess or Shakti, ceases to
oscillate. Then the state of divine consciousness
(bhairava) is recognized.7
The sixth limb is dharana — concentration. If you
have tried to meditate on the empty space between
two thoughts, you will know that the mind has the
tendency to attach itself to the next thought arising.
Since all objects have form, and the witnessing
subject — the consciousness — is formless, it tends
to be overlooked by the mind. It takes a great deal
of focus to keep watching consciousness when dis -
tractions are available.
The practice of concentration, then, is a pre -
requisite and preparation for meditation proper. The
training of concentration enables us to stay focused
on whatever object is chosen. First, simple objects
are selected, which in turn prepare us for the
penultimate “object,” formless consciousness, which
is nothing but pure awareness.
Concentration in Vinyasa Yoga is practiced by
focusing on the bandhas. On an external level the
focus is on Mula and Uddiyana Bandha (pelvic and
lower abdominal locks), but on an internal level it is
on the bonding together of movement, breath, and
awareness (bandha = bonding). To achieve this
bonding, we have to let go of the beta brain-wave
pattern, which normally accompanies concentration.
Instead we need to shift to an alpha pattern, which
enables multiple focus and leads into simultaneous
awareness of everything, or being in this moment,
which is meditation.
The seventh limb is dhyana — meditation.
Meditation means to rest, uninfluenced, between the
extremes of the mind and suddenly just “be” instead
of “becoming.” The difference between this and the
previous limb is that, in concentration, there is a
conscious effort to exclude all thoughts that are not
relevant to our chosen object. In meditation there is
a constant flow of impressions from the object and
of awareness toward the object, without any effort
of the will. Typical objects chosen are the heart lotus,
the inner sound, the breath, the sense-of-I, the
process of perception, and intellect, one’s meditation
deity (ishtadevata) or the Supreme Being.
In Vinyasa Yoga, meditation starts when, rather
than doing the practice, we are being done or moved.
At this point we realize that, since we can watch the
body, we are not the body but a deeper-lying witnessing
entity. The vinyasa practice is the constant
coming and going of postures, the constant change
of form, which we never hold on to. It is itself a
meditation on impermanence. When we come to the
point of realizing that everything we have known so
far — the world, the body, the mind, and the practice
— is subject to constant change, we have arrived
at meditation on intelligence (buddhi).
Meditation does not, however, occur only in
dhyana, but in all stages of the practice. In fact the
Ashtanga Vinyasa system is a movement medi -
tation. First we meditate on the position of the body
in space, which is asana. Then we meditate on the
life force moving the body, which is pranayama.
The next stage is to meditate on the senses through
drishti and listening to the breath, which is pratyahara.
Meditating on the binding together of all
aspects of the practice is concentration (dharana).
The eighth limb, samadhi, is of two kinds —
objective and objectless. Objective samadhi is when
the mind for the first time, like a clear jewel, reflects
faithfully what it is directed at and does not just
produce another simulation of reality.8 In other
words the mind is clarified to an extent that it does
not modify sensory input at all. To experience this,
we have to “de-condition” ourselves to the extent
that we let go of all limiting and negative programs
of the past. Patanjali says, “Memory is purified, as if
emptied of its own form.”9 Then all that can be
known about an object is known.
Objectless samadhi is the highest form of yoga.
It does not depend on an object for its arising but,
rather, the witnessing subject or awareness, which is
our true nature, is revealed. In this samadhi the thought
waves are suspended, which leads to knowing of
that which was always there: consciousness or the
divine self. This final state is beyond achieving,
beyond doing, beyond practicing. It is a state of pure
ecstatic being described by the term kaivalya — a
state in which there is total freedom and independence
from any external stimulation whatsoever.
In the physical disciplines of yoga, samadhi is
reached by suspending the extremes of solar (pingala)
and lunar (ida) mind. This state arises when the inner
breath (prana) enters the central channel (sushumna).
Then truth or deep reality suddenly flashes forth.
 

Padmasana: Right Leg First (Ashtanga Yoga, Practice & Philosophy by Gregor Maehle )

“Why is Padmasana traditionally done only by first placing the right leg and then bringing the left leg on

top? When asked this question, K. Pattabhi Jois quoted the Yoga Shastra as saying,: "Right side first and left

leg on top purifies the liver and spleen. Left leg first is of no use at all." He also explained that the lotus done

in this way stimulates insulin production.

Contemporary teachers have suggested performing Padmasana on both sides to balance the body. Improving

the symmetry of the body is achieved through the standing postures. However, the postures that strongly

influence the abdominal and thoracic cavities, such as Padmasana, Kurmasana, Dvi Pada Shirshasana, and

Pashasana, do not have the function of making the body symmetrical, but of accommodating the asymmetry

of the abdominal and thoracic organs. To accommodate the fact that the liver is on the right side of the

abdominal cavity and the spleen is on the left, the right leg is first placed into position with the left leg on

top. As leg-behind-the-head postures develop the chest, to place the left leg first in Kurmasana (turtle)

accommodates the fact that the heart is predominantly in the left side of the thoracic cavity.

Putting the left leg 1st in leg behind the head postures will correct any imbalances in the hips acquired from

right leg 1st in Lotus. As far as standing postures, it is a good idea to initiate from both sides. Generally the

first side will be held longer in class. Sometimes dramatically longer. This will create imbalance throughout

the entire body.” 

The five states of the mind, Gregor Maehle, Ashtanga yoga practice&philosophy

The five states of the mind are the restless
(kshipta), infatuated (mudha), distracted (vikshipta),
one-pointed (ekagra), and suspended (nirodha) mind.
To explain these five states we have to look briefly at
the three qualities of the mind.
As mentioned before, yoga states that there are
two separate entities that are both real and eternal
— nature (prakrti) and consciousness (purusha). The
closest idea in Western science to describe prakrti is
the state before the Big Bang or the state before the
universe manifested. Prakrti has also been translated
as “creation” (although prakrti itself is eternal and
uncreated) or “procreatress” — the matrix that procreates,brings forth everything.
Prakrti is said to be stirred into action by the
proximity or closeness of consciousness (purusha),
and it manifests the world with the help of its three
qualities (gunas). They are:
Tamas — heaviness, inertia, mass
Rajas — movement, energy, dynamics
Sattva — light, intelligence, wisdom.
Together, the three gunas form all phenomena and
objects. We can compare them in some ways to the
elementary particles proton, neutron, and electron in
Western science, which miraculously form all 105
elements and thus all matter. We cannot stretch this
comparison too far, though, since the gunas form
also ego and mind.
With the restless (kshipta) state of mind, rajas is
predominant. This mind is associated with hyperactivity,
excess movement, and one thought chasing
the next. It is said that this type of mind can only
reach concentration through intense hatred, such as
in destroying one’s imagined enemies. The restless
mind is very unsuitable for yoga, and one dominated
by a restless mind rarely takes it up. If they nevertheless
do so, it is often only in the hope of gaining
magical powers to vanquish their enemies.
With the second, infatuated (mudha) state of
mind, tamas is predominant. This mind is often dull,
stupefied or deluded, and infatuated with the body,
wealth, family, tribe, or nationality. Because the
tamas guna makes the mind heavy, one cannot look
further than any obvious objects of identification
such as those just mentioned.
The infatuated mind is not suitable for yoga, and
the only way it can concentrate is through intense
greed. If somebody with such a mind-set takes up
yoga, it is usually for physical gain (so that the body
looks better) or monetary gain (to be able to work
harder or achieve more).
With the third state of mind, the distracted
(vikshipta) mind, no guna is predominant. Rather,
any one of the three (rajas, tamas, or sattva) takes
over, depending on impulse. This state of mind can
also be called confused or oscillating, and it is typical
of people who identify with being “New Age.”
They see everything as being true and meaningful
and believe that “all have to live according to their
truth.” If something happens it is “meant to be,”
although possibly we were just too unfocused to
achieve a certain result.
Those dominated by the distracted mind are
opportunist agnostics — believing there are many
truths and that the one truth cannot be known.
Rather, one’s mind-set is merely adjusted according
to circumstances in order to stay comfortable. The
distracted mind has glimpses of the truth, but with
the next obstacle it is thrown off track and holds
onto another idea.
When in the grip of the distracted mind we often
hold on to beliefs, since we cannot permanently recognize
deep reality or truth. This type of mind is
unsuitable for higher yoga, such as samadhi, as it can
achieve concentration only randomly and it loses it
quickly.
The fact that yoga is a science that enables us to
directly perceive and realize the deepest layer of
reality means that the holding of beliefs is contradictory
to yogic examination. If we hold on to beliefs,
we will always superimpose them onto reality and
so never arrive at the correct conclusion. Realis -
tically speaking, most yoga students start with distracted
minds and most of one’s yogic life is spent
attempting to transform the distracted mind into the
one-pointed state.
In the fourth—one-pointed (ekagra)—state of
mind, sattva is predominant. Through yoga, the mind
is made more and more sattvic. If the state of pure
sattva is achieved, that is pure intelligence. This intelligence
is necessary to see reality as it is. According
to sutra III.55,
When the intelligence is as untainted as
consciousness, this will lead to liberation.
Somebody who is born in a state of one-pointedness
can become free after a comparatively short phase of
practice and study. This state of mind is suitable for
samadhi-based-on-an-object (samprajnata samadhi),
which is the lower type of samadhi. It is through this
type of samadhi that many of the great masters conceived
and compiled their teachings. However, the
feat should not daunt us. As the master Vijnana -
bhikshu said, “Transformation of the mind can be
gained only gradually, and not all at once.”
The last state of mind is nirodha, “suspended.” In
this state there is no predominance of any quality.
Instead, one’s mind is reabsorbed into its source,
which is nature (prakrti). Somebody in this state of
mind permanently rests in his or her true nature,
which is consciousness. The type of samadhi
achieved here is objectless samadhi (asamprajnata
samadhi), which is the higher form. The suspended
mind (nirodha chitta) is the goal of yoga. Masters
who had this type of mind conceived the
Upanishads, which are the highest scriptures. It is
because the mind does not interfere with intelligence
that nirodhas can see to the bottom of their
hearts and hear the divine truth. For this reason the
Upanishads are considered as revelation and of
divine authority.

Gregor Maehle Interview from http://loveyogaanatomy.com/

http://loveyogaanatomy.com/gregor-maehle-interview-2/

Pranayama practice and stage of life (ashrama) From the book Pranayma the breath of yoga G.Maehle

T. Krishnamacharya said that in ancient society all members were
adept in yogic practices . Although, considering the speed with
which modern life unfolds, it appears difficult to get back to this
state, the following paragraphs look at ways of integrating yoga into
one's life, looking at the Vedic categories of ashrama (stage of life).
The purpose of this information is to give modern yogis the ability
to fade in the complete practices of yoga over their entire lifetime.
The most important quantitative consideration for pranayama is
how to integrate it slowly into our lives. The Yoga Rahasya talks

about limbs of yoga as applicable to ashrama. According to the
Vedas, life unfolds in four stages. The first stage, brahmacharya,
takes up approximately the first 25 years of life. During this time
(brahmacharya ashrama) we learn and study everything that we need

for the rest of our lives. The Yoga Rahasya recommends that one
focus during this stage on asana practice interspersed with certain
mudras such as Maha Mudra and Tadaga Mudra.
The next phase of life, according to the Vedas, is the householder
ashrama (Grihastha ashrama). During this phase we generally marry,
start a family and enter professional life or run a business. As a
rough guide, Grihastha ashrama lasts from age 25 to 50. The Yoga
Rahasya suggests pranayama as one's main form of practice during
this phase, while maintaining the level of asana practice one had
when entering the ashrama. If during the householder stage you
added 30 minutes of pranayama per day to your asana practice, you
would find yourself well prepared to enter the next phase of your
life. The Vedas consider it imprudent, during the householder stage,
to reduce the attention dedicated to your family and professional,
mercantile or administrative services rendered to society. Please note
that the Vedas did not advise dropping out of society to find spiritual
freedom. Instead, they accepted that there were four human goals
(purusharthas): artha (acquisition of wealth), kama (sexual pleasure),
dharma (right action) and moksha (spiritual liberation). Fulfilment of all
four goals makes for a fulfilled life. Generally speaking, as one
progresses through the ashramas there is a progression of focus from
goall to goal4, whereas dharma (right action) applies at all times,
particularly when pursuing artha (wealth) and kama (sexual pleasure).

The situation changes somewhat when entering the Vanaprastha
ashrama, which lasts from age 50 to 75 approximately. Vanaprastha
means forest dweller, referring to the fact that in the ancient days
one would move with one's partner into the forest and build a cabin.
Today we would call this a sea or tree change; the term empty nester
refers to the same stage in life. The Vanaprastha is still available to
family and society in a counselling role, but one's yoga practice time
is now significantly increased due to reduced professional duties
and the fact that one's children are taking care of themselves. The
emphasis on asana may become less, while time spent practising
pranayama may double or triple. A significant meditation and

devotional practice is also introduced here. The main focus of the
Vanaprastha stage of life is spirituality and preparation for samadhi.
The final ashrama, Sannyasa (renunciate), lasts from approximately
75 to 100 years of age. At this point one surrenders all material attachment
and focuses solely on one's practice and service to the Divine.
When we read of extreme forms of pranayama practice, this usually
takes place during this stage of life.
The Vedic idea of yoga is that, rather than plunging head-on into
extreme forms of practice when young, one should develop one's
practice slowly while transiting through the various stages of life
fulfilling one's duties to family and society. This view is taken not
only in the Yoga Rahasya but also, for example, in yogic treatises such
as the Yoga Yajnavalkya and Vasishta Samhita.

Meditation with Sattvic mind (Pranayama the breath of yoga Maehle)

Famously, the Ramayana
shows the dangers of meditation when not done with a
sattvic mind. Of the three demon brothers, the demon king Ravana
practised meditation with a rajasic mind and wrath became his
undoing. His brother Kumbhakarna meditated with a tamasic mind
and fell into a deep slumber from which he only rarely woke up.
Only the third brother, Vibhishana, meditated with a sattvic mind,
and it was only his intellect that gravitated towards the Divine.
The Ramayana, although written down after the Mahabharata, contains
one of the most ancient orally-handed-down epics of humanity. It
delivers many subtle teachings on meditation, which, although mastered
by sages of a bygone era, are not understood any more by
modern practitioners. Hence more and more are heading down the
road taken already by Ravana and Kumbhakarna. It is not a general
lack of meditation that gnaws at the foundation of this world, for
this whole world meditates with profound expertise on Mammon,
the mighty dollar. It is what you meditate on that will determine
your destiny, for what you meditate on you will attract and become.
Before embarking on the voyage of meditation, the intellect has to be
made sattvic through pranayama.

Pranayama in the Bhagavad Gita (Pranayama the breath of yoga Gregor Maehle)

The Bhagavad Gita is the most influential of the Indian scriptures.
Containing the teachings of Lord Krishna, it defines pranayama in
two ways.16 Firstly it says that some practice pranayama by offering
apana (vital down-current) into prana (vital up-current) and prana
into apana, and thus arrest the breath. The Gita uses the term prana
apana gati. Frana gati is the inner down movement, which is contained
in the rising inhalation. Apana gati is the inner rising, which
is contained in the descending exhalation. This implies the profound
teaching that each force in the universe contains its own counterforce.
The pranic movement here is stopped by focusing on the gati,
which is the inner opposite of the apparent outer force. Apana gati,
the inner upward movement contained in the exhalation, is one of

the main motors to drive Kundalini (the coiled life force propelling
spiritual liberation) upwards.
The second definition of pranayama mentioned in the Gita is the
sacrifice of the senses into prana. During the movement of prana, i.e.
inhalation and exhalation, the senses reach out and attach themselves
to various objects of desire or aversion. During kumbhaka the
senses are naturally drawn inwards and the yogi supports this by
focusing on the Divine at the time of kumbhaka. The yogi forsakes
and surrenders the normal outgoing activity of the senses and thus
'offers' it to the prana suspended and arrested through kumbhaka.
Hence, like the Yoga Sutra, the Gita sees pranayama both as perfecting
the process of inhalation and exhalation and as mental operations
performed during the time of kumbhaka (breath retention).

Mula bandha, Uddiyana Bandha from the book Ashtanga yoga practice and philosophy Gregor Maehle

The term bandha is related to the English word “bonding.” We bond breath, movement, and awareness together. The first bandha is called Mula Bandha,which translates as “root lock.” The root referred to here is the root of the spine, the pelvic floor or, more precisely, the center of the pelvic floor, the perineum.The perineum is the muscular body between the anus and the genitals. By slightly contracting the pubo-coccygeal (PC) muscle, which goes from the pubic bone to the tailbone (coccyx), we create an energetic seal that locks prana into the body and so prevents it from leaking out at the base of the spine.Mula Bandha is said to move prana into the central channel, called sushumna, which is the subtle equivalent of the spine.Locating the PC muscle might be difficult at first.It has been suggested that one should tighten the anus, or alternatively contract the muscle that one would use to stop urination, but these indications are not entirely accurate: Mula

Bandha is neither of these two muscles but located right between them.These suggestions have their value, however, offering some guidance until we become more sensitive and are able to isolate the PC muscle more precisely.For females it is essential not to mistake Mula Bandha for a contraction of the cervix. This con -traction tends to occur especially during strenuous activity. Should a woman do this on a daily basis when engaged in two hours of yoga practice, she could experience difficulty in giving birth.In the beginning we employ mainly a gross muscular lock, which works mainly on the gross body. Through practice we shift to an energetic lock,which works more on the subtle or pranic body.When mastered, Mula Bandha becomes exclusively mental, and works on the causal body.To become familiar with Mula Bandha, sit tall and upright in a comfortable position and focus on slightly contracting the perineum, which is the center of the pelvic floor. With the exhalation, visualize the breath beginning at the nostrils and slowly reaching down through the throat, the chest, and the abdomen until it eventually hooks into the pelvic floor, which contracts slightly. As the inhalation starts, there will be an automatic reaching upward.Since we keep the breath hooked into the pelvic floor through contracting the PC muscle, we create suction and an energetic lift upward through the entire core of the body. This is Mula Bandha. With this movement the first step is taken to arrest the downward flow of life force, which increases with age and invites death, disease, and decay like the withering of a plant, and convert it into an upward flow that promotes growth and further blossoming.Mula Bandha is held throughout the entire breathing cycle and during the whole practice. Every posture needs to grow out of its root. This is only finally released during deep relaxation in complete surrender.The second bandha is Uddiyana Bandha. It is sometimes confused with Uddiyana, one of the shat karmas or six actions, also called kriyas, of Hatha Yoga. This Uddiyana is a preparation for nauli, the stomach roll.Nauli is practiced by sucking the entire abdominal content up into the thoracic cavity. It is done only during breath retention (kumbhaka), and it is very different from the technique practiced in VinyasaYoga. The Uddiyana Bandha of Vinyasa Yoga is a much gentler exercise. It consists of lightly contracting the transverse abdominis muscle, which runs horizontally across the abdomen and is used to draw the abdominal contents in against the spine.To successfully switch on Uddiyana Bandha, it is important to isolate the upper transverse abdominismuscle from the lower part and use only the part below the navel. Doing other wise impinges on the free movement of the diaphragm. If the movement of the diaphragm is restricted for a long time, aggressive,boastful, egotistical, and macho tendencies can develop in the psyche. This is not endorsed by traditional teaching, however. Shankara and Patanjali provideus with the following explanations. True posture,according to Shankara, is that which lead seffortlessly to meditation on Brahman and not to pain and self-torture. Patanjali says that asana is perfected when meditation on the infinite (ananta) is achieved through the releasing of excess effort.Some have claimed that Ashtanga Yoga is warrior yoga, and that warriors used it to psych themselves up for battle. This is a very sad misunderstanding.Those who have had a true experience of the practice will have come away feeling tired and happy —and definitely not psyched up for battle. Rather, one feels more like hugging one’s enemy and, incomplete surrender, handing them whatever they demand — perhaps even imparting genuine adviceas to how to enjoy life and not waste it with suchbstupidities as aggression and warfare. There is no warrior yoga. War and yoga exclude each otherbecause the first yogic commandment is ahimsa —nonviolence.Richard Freeman says that Uddiyana Bandha is infact only a slight suction inward just above thepubic bone. The more subtle Uddiyana Bandha becomes, the more blissful, peaceful, childlike, and innocent becomes the character of the practitioner.I suggest starting by firming the abdominal wall below the navel and then, as awareness increases with years of practice, allow Uddiyana Bandha to slide downward. Again, the more subtle it becomes,the more influence Uddiyana Bandha will have on th esubtle body.As I have mentioned in the previous section, a lot of emphasis has been placed on abdominal breathingin our culture in the last forty years. This has its place in the performing arts — especially dance and theater — and for therapy. It is certainly helpful for singers and actors, and for someone undergoing psychotherapy. Abdominal breathing, with complete relaxation of the abdominal wall, is recommended a suseful when ever we want to connect to our emotionsand bring them to the fore. In the New Age movementin particular, emotions are seen as something sacred that one needs to follow and live out. Abdomina lbreathing is a good idea whenever one wants to intensify one’s emotions.In many other situations, though, it is not helpful to heighten one’s emotions. After all, emotions are only a form of the mind. To be emotional means to react to a present situation according to a past conditioning.For example, if I am rejected in a certain situation that is new to me, I will feel hurt. If i find my self in a similar situation again, I will become emotional even before any new hurt has been inflicted. I will emote “hurt” before I actually feel it. An emotion is a conserved feeling that arises because the original feeling has left a subconscious imprint in the mind. Patanjali calls this imprint samskara. The theory that being emotional is being more authentic is flawed, since an emotional person is as much in the past as a person who is constantly“in his or her head.”Besides the fact that it makes one emotional,constant abdominal breathing also has negativ ephysical repercussions. It leads to sagging, collapsing abdominal organs with enlarged, weak blood vessels and stagnant blood. Then follow a lack of oxygen supply, a decrease in vitality, and eventually the development of chronic disease.If the lower abdominal wall is kept firm and the upper wall is relaxed, the diaphragm moves up and down freely and the whole abdomen functions like the combustion chamber of an engine, with thediaphragm as the piston. This produces a strong oscillation of intra-abdominal blood pressure, and it is exactly this mechanism that produces healthy abdominal organs. When the diaphragm moves down and the abdominal wall is held, the pressure in the combustion chamber will rise. When the diaphragm moves up, all the blood is sucked out of the abdomen and blood pressure drops. This strong oscillation of abdominal blood pressure constantly massages the internal organs and leads to strong,healthy tissue.We look now at the subtle mechanics of Uddiyana Bandha. Uddiyana means flying up. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika states that, because of Uddiyana Bandha, the great bird of prana flies up incessantly through the sushumna. Sushumna is the central energy channel,which lies, albeit in the subtle body, roughly in front of the spine and originates at the perineum. It terminates within the head — some sources say at the highest point of the head, but more often it is described as ending where the head is joined to the spine. The sushumna is usually dormant. It is accompanied by two other nadis (energy channels), which wind around it like the snakes of the caduceus.These are the lunar (ida) and solar (pingala) channels.There are certain parallels between solar and lunar energy channels on the one hand and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems on the other, but we cannot say that the one is the other.The Hatha Yoga Pradipika explains that prana should be directed into sushumna by closing the ida and
pingala. The same text states that, by practicing MulaBandha, prana will enter sushumna. In a later stanza of the text a great truth is revealed: time (which we perceive as the fluctuation of night and day) is produced by the sun and moon.In other words, it is the illusion of time that prevents us from recognizing deep reality (Brahman), which is timeless and is fabricated by the moment of inner breath (prana) int he pingala (solar) and ida (lunar) energy channels.The stanza goes on to reveal the key to all physical yoga, which is that the sushumna devours time.In other words, if prana is made to enter the centralchannel it will devour time, which is itself a creation of the fluctuating mind and which keeps us from abiding in deep reality, the timeless consciousness(Brahman). Time is the operating system of th ehuman mind; to go beyond time is to go beyond mind. This is possible when the great bird of prana flies up in sushumna, and sushumna devours time.For this the use of Mula and Uddiyana Bandha is prescribed.Even the great Shankara says that Mula Bandha should always be practiced, since it is fit for raja yogins. In other words, even raja yogins — those who practice mind suspension and who are sometimes disparaging about Hatha yogins and their preoccupation with their bodies—should take up the practice of Mula Bandha, since it leads to going beyond mind.If we remember now Patanjali’s definition of yoga being the suspension of mind, we begin to understand the importance of Mula and Uddiyana Bandha.

The Antiquity of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga from the book Intermediate serie by Gregor Maehle

Frequently I have been approached by students who were disturbed by modern scholars’ claims that Ashtanga Yoga is a modern invention. This brief chapterasserts that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is in fact an ancient practice and offers evidence supporting this conclusion. I consider this a vital point because to realize thatyour sadhana (practice) is handed down by a living ancient tradition and to energetically connect with this tradition will elevate the quality of your practice to acompletely different level; that is, it will transform you not just physically but spiritually.Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga has grown out of the fertile ground of the Vedas, which form a vast body of ancient knowledge. As noted in chapter 1, there are fourmain Vedic texts, the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda. There are also four Upavedas (ancillary Vedas) addressing the subjects of medicine(Ayurveda), economy (Arthaveda), military science (Dhanurveda), and art (Gandharvaveda). The Vedas have six limbs called Vedangas, namely Sanskrit grammar(Vyakarana), astrology (Jyotisha), etymology (Nirukta), phonetics (Shiksha), meter (Chandas), and ritual duty (Kalpa).

The Vedic teaching is divided into sixsystems of philosophy, called darshanas: logic (Nyaya), cosmology (Vaisheshika), creation (Samkhya), psychology (Yoga), Vedic ritual (Mimamsa), and ultimatereality (Vedanta).Yoga, the ancient Vedic branch of psychology, does not compete with the other five darshanas but rather works in conjunction with them. Accordingly, Yogauses the findings of the Samkhya darshana as its philosophy;1 in this regard Yoga may be seen as the psychological branch of Samkhya. Yoga also uses the findingsof the Nyaya darshana in regard to logic. All the other darshanas, however, look to the Yoga darshana as the authority on meditation.Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sutra, contributed to the Yoga darshana; he also contributed to the Vedic limb of Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar) by writing hisGreat Commentary (Maha Bhashya) on Panini’s grammar. Furthermore, he compiled a treatise on one of the Upavedas, namely, the Ayurvedic text CharakaSamhita. Vyasa, the compiler of the Brahma Sutras, the authoritative text on Vedanta, also authored the most important commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is the basic text accepted by all forms of Ashtanga Yoga. We thus find a thorough interweaving of yoga in general and Ashtanga Yoga inparticular with the other branches of Vedic science.What, however, is the origin of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga? The vinyasa method is only one of the schools that come under the general name of Patanjali’sAshtanga Yoga, and strictly speaking, the terms Ashtanga Yoga and Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga are not identical. Some modern Western scholars have argued thatAshtanga Vinyasa Yoga must be a recent invention because it has a multitude of asanas and because there appears to be no scriptural evidence indicating that it hasancient origins. Both of these arguments are invalid, as I explain below.



The Dwindling Number of Asanas
Some scholars who argue that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a modern invention claim that asanas have accumulated over time. They base this claim on the fact thatmedieval texts such as the Gheranda Samhita or the Hatha Yoga Pradipika mention relatively few postures, while our system today includes many.They argue thatAshtanga Yoga must therefore be a nineteenth-century invention, as it contains too many asanas to be truly ancient. This argument is flawed. From the number ofpostures given in particular scriptures, it is not

possible to gauge the antiquity of its system or lack thereof. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, for example, does not givean exhaustive list of postures, and it was never its intention to do so. The Pradipika does not list all the asanas explicitly because they were to be learned throughpersonal instruction from a teacher and not from merely reading a text.In fact, the older the yoga system is, the more asanas you will find. Under the influence of entropy (disorder), over time we have lost not only more and moreSanskrit treatises and knowledge but also more and more asanas. The shastras state that originally there were 8,400,000 asanas, equaling the number of livingspecies in the universe, which were known in their entirety only by the Supreme Being in the form of Lord Shiva.2 This passage states that at the outset of time, webegan with a virtually infinite number of asanas. The nineteenth- to twentieth-century yogi Ramamohan Brahmachary reportedly knew seven thousand asanas andtaught three thousand of them to Shri T. Krishnamacharya.3 Most modern asana systems contain only a few dozen or in some cases in excess of one hundredpostures. Over time, therefore, the numbers of asanas has decreased, not increased.



The Lack of Scriptural
EvidenceUnfortunately, most yogic schools did not leave any scriptural evidence behind. Even the Vedas weren’t committed to paper until the nineteenth century. Thetraditional view was that a body of knowledge could be read and sullied if it was written down. Most yogic schools kept their teachings secret and confined tomemory. Asanas were learned only through personal instruction from someone who had mastered them. Some Western scholars discount all aspects of Indianspirituality that were not recorded in books. This is often due to the fact that they see themselves merely as observers and do not want to get their feet dirty on theground. But Indian spiritual traditions are mainly oral traditions. If you wanted to learn something, you needed to get the trust and acceptance of somebody whoknew what you wanted to learn. Most knowledge that was confined to texts was considered so general that it was hardly usable. The mere absence of scripturalevidence, therefore, does not prove that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is not ancient or that a large number of postures came into existence only recently.



Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga as a Vedic Adjunct
The Ashtanga Vinyasa system, authored by the Vedic seer Vamana, is not a modern creation but follows the most ancient of Vedic designs. It is in fact a Vedicadjunct. The oldest of the systems of philosophy (darshanas) is probably the Mimamsa darshana. Mimamsa describes and analyzes Vedic rituals. The elaborateVedic rituals are not senseless jumbles, as some Westerners have stated, but symbolic representations of the entire cosmos.Although the practice of yoga does not include any traditional Vedic rituals, it is nevertheless closely connected to and influenced by them, as we can see fromthe following dialogue recorded in the Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad, the oldest of the philosophical portions of the Veda:4Yajnavalkya, the foremost of the Upanishadic rishis, finds himself invited to a dialogue with the emperor Janaka. First, however, he has to undergo a crossexaminationby nine learned court priests. The priests are hostile to this outsider from the forest, as they are worried that he might gain influence over the emperor,so they try to keep the upper hand in the dispute.Yajnavalkya’s first opponent, Ashvala, erroneously assumes that Yajnavalkya has no deep understanding of ritual and asks him how a performer of the Vedicritual attains mukti (emancipation, freedom). Yajnavalkya answers by noting what the four priests who officiate the ritual represent: fire and speech for the Hotrpriest, the eye and the sun for the Adhvaryu priest, the wind and breath for the Udgatr priest, and mind and the moon for the Brahmana priest. Fire, sun, wind, andmoon are represented by the Vedic deities Agni, Savitri, Vayu, and Soma, which partake of the ritual. Wind (vayu) is symbolic for the life force (prana), and thevarious forms of prana are called vayus. Yoga holds that the location of the sun in the body is the stomach and the location of the moon is the so-called somachakra, located at the soft palate in the head. But fire, moon, and sun represent together the three main energy channels: ida (moon), pingala (sun), and sushumna(fire). Fire, moon, and sun also represent the six chakras: fire, the muladhara and svadhishthana chakras; sun, the manipuraka and anahata chakras; and moon, thevishuddha and ajna chakras.In this way, Yajnavalkya interprets the offices of the four priests as having the functions of speech/sound, sight, breath, and mind. Through those four powers, theperformer of

the Vedic ritual attains freedom, he says. Significantly, sound, sight, breath, and mind are the defining factors in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.Producing the Ujjayi sound and listening to it represents sound. Keeping one’s focus on drishti (focal points) represents sight. Breath, anatomical and pranic, isthe permanent core focus of the practice (correct practice is to let movement follow breath rather than vice versa). When all these are bound together throughbandha (bandh means “to bind”), then the mind is stilled. The stilling of the mind eventually reveals consciousness, since the mind is what veils consciousness inthe first place because of its clouded, opaque nature. As the Brahmana is the chief priest of the four in the Vedic ritual, so is the mind the chief ingredient inAshtanga Vinyasa Yoga. We can thus see from Yajnavalkya’s ancient discourse that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is an exact application of the esoteric principles of theVedic ritual. Even today we can perform our daily Vedic ritual by means of the Ashtanga Vinyasa method, giving us the opportunity to invoke the wisdom andmight of the ancient Vedic sages, who lived as long ago as ten millennia before our time.While practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, many of us have intuitively felt that we were partaking in a truly ancient practice, but we never knew its exact origins.The Yajnavalkya discourse shows that its principles were conceived at the dawn of time. For modern practitioners it is important to realize that Ashtanga Yoga is not just the latest exercise craze, newly developed just to get your body into shape. Whenyou practice this yoga, you become part of an ancient tradition that has weathered many a storm. Connect with this age-old wisdom and honor its founders andmany contributors. Know that when this practice was conceived, many concepts and ideas that make up our life and society today did not exist. And this traditionwill still exist when many of these ideas are gone. In the meantime, continue your practice mindfully and respectfully of the ancients and don’t worry too much whatmodern scholars, who barely dip their toes into the ocean of yoga, have to say about it.

The Eight Limbs, "Agni" and The origin of yoga from the book The intermediate Series by Gregor Maehle

The Eight Limbs

Patanjali had achieved the state of samadhi, which refers to an experience of oceanic or divine ecstasy. Today the term ecstasy often connotes a drug-induced stateof euphoria or the peak of sexual pleasure, but there is a passage in the scriptures where in samadhi is said to have about a trillion times the intensity of sexual pleasure. In other words, it is far beyond anything you can imagine in normal experience. Because he existed continually in this state of absolute freedom, Patanjali described a path that could lead all of us to it. He asked himself, Which state immediately precedes divine ecstasy? The answer was meditation (dhyana). Samadhiis our true nature, but we cannot receive it if our minds are too busy to listen, he reasoned; therefore, the path to samadhi lies in quieting the mind, which isaccomplished when one achieves the state of

relaxed openness that occurs in meditation.Patanjali then asked himself, Which state immediately precedes dhyana? The answer was concentration (dharana). Concentration is the state that enables one tostay in meditation (or in any other state, for that matter). Many people achieve a spontaneous meditative state for split seconds only. The goal is to perpetuate that state, and that is made possible by dharana.What does one need for concentration to arise? One needs inward focus (pratyahara), answered Patanjali; concentration is destroyed by outward distractions.Patanjali then inquired, What state is the prerequisite for inward focus? The answer was easy. Since the mind goes wherever the breath or its subtle equivalent,prana, goes, one needs breath regulation (pranayama) to achieve inward focus.Which state is necessary for one to practice breath regulation? asked Patanjali finally. Since breath and prana are dispersed in an unhealthy body, and health is produced by the practice of postures, the answer was asana. Patanjali saw that these six steps had to be placed on a foundation of ethical guidelines governing one’s inner and outer life. On this basis he stipulated the firsttwo limbs, the restraints (yamas) and observances (niyamas). Without these limbs as the foundation for the others, all the benefit accrued by practicing the other sixlimbs would likely be lost.Although Patanjali conceived of the eight limbs from the top down, we must practice them from the bottom up, starting with the ethical precepts of yama and niyama.



Agni

Agni represents the inner fire in yoga. Accordingly, the sushumna, visualized red, is called the fire nadi. Inner fire is created through ritualistic practice (tapas)such as asana. The term tapas is derived from the verb root tap, to cook. Inner heat, produced by correct forms of exertion, is used to burn toxins and impurities.such as asana. The term tapas is derived from the verb root tap, to cook. Inner heat, produced by correct forms of exertion, is used to burn toxins and impurities.Any such activity brings about sweat, which is the water produced by the heated body.14 Sweat has an important function in yoga. Shri B.N. S. Iyengar
repeatedly instructed me that “sweat goes to the next life.” This means, on one hand, that the fruit produced by right exertion is not lost when the mortal body is shed; and onthe other hand, that creative power is ascribed to the sweat itself. In the Puranas there are several incidences of procreation happening when a drop of sweat falls offthe brow of a celestial or rishi, and a new powerful being springs up from it. Procreation in the Golden Age (Satya Yuga) was thought to be possible withoutintercourse; the father merely wiped the sweat off his brow and rubbed it on the skin of his wife. Finally, the medieval Hatha texts inform us that the sweat producedby practice should not be wiped off but rubbed back into the skin. By this method, inner glow (tejas) is restored. Tejas is another form of Agni.




The  origin of yoga 

The Supreme Being in the form of Lord Shiva is credited with the authorship of yoga (in the Mahabharata, Shiva is called Yogeshvara, Lord of Yoga) because many myths about the origin of yoga start with a dialogue between him and the mother of the universe, Uma Parvati, often called Shakti.On one occasion when the Lord was teaching, the serpent of infinity, Ananta, was hiding close by and eaves dropped on the secret teaching. (Of course,Ananta is yet another aspect of the same Supreme Being, manifesting for the promulgation of the eternal teaching.) After he had heard enough, Ananta tried to slither away undetected, but Shiva apprehended him, having been aware of his presence all along. For his transgression, he sentenced Ananta to the task of relating this secret teaching (yoga) to the human beings. Ananta, the one-thousand-headed celestial cobra, then approached the next human village in his new found role as ambassador of yoga.

However, the Indian villagers — who didn’t take too kindly to the appearance of normal, one-headedcobras, much less one-thousand-headed ones — pelted Ananta with stones. Ananta returned to Lord Shiva for advice, and the Lord suggested he take ona human form. After doing so, he succeeded in teaching yoga to human beings. This incident is still remembered today in the second pada of the opening prayer of the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice. It says, “abahu purushakaram,” which means, “to him who is of human form from the arms upward.” It also says, “sahasrashirasam shvetam,” which means “one thousand white heads.” This is to acknowledge the fact that Ananta, the one-thousand-headedserpent of infinity, took on a human form and was called Patanjali. To reflect this, Patanjali is depicted as a human torso placed on the coils of a serpent.