Ashtanga Yoga

Yoga is the core principle of Santan Dharma and one of the six philosophies, The Darshana. This Yoga in present form is formulated by great Sage Maharishi Patanjali in Patanjali Yoga Sutram. This is known as Ashtanga Yoga.
Ashta means eight. Yoga has eight limbs and that is why it is known as Ashtanga Yoga. In this post we would discuss all 8 limbs of Yoga in brief.

Yama
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Yama means the restrains, for yoga some restraints are required.

Yama is further classified as follows:
o Ahimsa - Non-violence
o Satya - Truthfulness
o Brahmacharya - Control of the senses and celibacy
o Asteya - Non-stealing
o Aparigraha - Non-covetousness and non-acceptance of gifts

Niyama
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Niyama means discipline. Human should try to keep some discipline in their life, Minimum discipline are further classified as follows:
o Saucha - Purity, cleanliness
o Santosha - Contentment
o Tapas - Austerity
o Swadhyaya - Self-study, study of scriptures
o Ishwara Pranidhana - Surrender to God's will

Asana: Body posture
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Asana is a body posture combined with the breathing. I don't think anybdoy can have any doubts that healthy body can be the only mean to achieve anything by human.Asanas make our body healty. There are many Asanas. It is not possible to confirm the exact number of all Asanas(one can confirm it from somewhere), this is not very relevant though to count them. Asanas are one of the limbs which is extremely popular world wide.

Pranayama : Control of prana or life force
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Pranayam = Pran(life) + Ayam(the base, the power).. Pranayam are second most important after meditation. As name prescribes, it provide uncounted benefits and strengthen tp the very life force. It directly effects vital system of our body, like nervous system, respiratory and hormonal system. Pranayam also provides entry to the Meditation. One who master Pranayam can easily get into the state of meditation which otherwise if diffcitul to achieve.

Pratyahara :Withdrawal of the senses.
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This method is complementary method for the meditation. The natural tendency of the senses is to go out towards the objects of the world. In doing so they pull the mind out and away from the inner Self and create powerful waves on the lake-mind. Therefore, the yogi must be able to pull the senses within if he is to keep a balanced and peaceful mind.

Dharana: Concentration.
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This is another complementary process to meditation. The meditator is fully focused on the object of concentration, his mind as still as the flame of a lamp in a windless room. When this state is maintained long enough, it will lead to dhyana(Meditation).

Dhyana :Meditation
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This is the state of complete peace. When body stay still thoughts in mind stops, human heart and soul get purified in same manner as impurity get settled on the base of still water. This is the sate when mind exist in its maximum capacity and human feel extreme peace, the peace which can hardly be defined by any words.Only those know about meditation who gets into this state. And once they able to reach to this state, they are completely changed. They know that whatever they knew through the body and mind was just a fraction of what exist as complete truth.

Samadhi - Super-conscious state
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This is higher state of meditation and extremely rare to achieve. Only counted yogis and Sanyasis can achieve it. Once human able to reach state, he develops super human capabilities.