Yoga Lifestyle

The Yoga Lifestyle

How do you maintain a yoga lifestyle? Certainly doing yoga at the beach, while on vacation, or during a teacher training is one thing. So what about when you’re back home? How do you maintain a physical yoga practice?

Furthermore, living a yoga lifestyle goes beyond what you do on the mat. For this reason, this is what we strive to teach at Shanti Yoga: how to be a yogi in the modern world – for the long haul.

Eight Limbs

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras introduced the world to the eight limbs of yoga. As a result, these limbs are a guide to living yogically. They are:

1. Yamas, meaning external observances. It’s how you interact with the outside world.
2. Niyamas, or internal restraints. This is how you interact with your internal world.
3. Asana, or physical postures.
4. Pranayama, or breathing techniques.
5. Pratyahara, or sense withdrawal.
6. Dharana, or singular focus.
7. Dhyana, or meditation.
8. Samadhi, aka sustained bliss, nirvana, or enlightenment.

Yamas and Niyamas

The first two limbs have subsets.

Yamas breaks down into the following:

• Ahimsa, which is non-violence.
• Satya, or truth.
• Asteya, or non-stealing.
• Brahmacharya, or non-excessiveness. Sometimes translated as celibacy, or a
• and, Aparigraha, which is non-possessiveness or greed.

Niyamas is made up of:

• Saucha, or purity.
• Santosha, which means contentment.
• Tapas, meaning self-discipline and training of the senses. Consequently, it is this concept that recommends we stick to a regular yoga practice after a teacher training.
• Svadhyaya, or study of the self.
• Finally, Ishvara Pranidhana, which is awareness of the unity of all things. Aka complete surrender.

When taken together, these limbs provide a firm base for living a yogic lifestyle.

Which of these limbs do you agree with? Are there any you struggle with currently?

Want to learn more details about each of the limbs? Attend a training.