8 Limbs Of Yoga Meditation

In this meditation, I discuss the eight limbs of yoga as presented by Patanjali, and how they fit into a meditation. There is instruction on how to sit but please find a comfortable seat that works for you. There is a quiet background music part way through the track, with 3 minutes of music with no vocals at the end for you to relax to. The meditation starts from 4 minutes into the track. Prior to this, there is a basic introduction to the first three limbs of yoga.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this meditation.

The aim of this meditation today is to help us understand the different components of a meditation and why we do them from a yogic perspective.

What that means is we will work through the eight limbs of yoga as stated and scribed by Patanjali and not only will you hopefully understand why we do them but you will also experience how and why we do them too.

So I invite you to take a comfortable seat be it on a chair or on the floor and we'll start with the first of the eight limbs which is called yama and that translates to restraint and this is really observing external restraints.

In a sentence it's whether you've been a good person or not.

The second limb is niyama and this relates to not hurting thyself and this can be in the physical form of course but mostly it relates to your inner work.

Do you feed yourself with good things,

Good foods,

Good liquids?

Do you have clear pure and helpful thoughts?

This is niyama.

With the third limb asana which relates to being posture we will start our practice.

So I invite you to take a seat on the floor and if you need to you can prop your hips up on a cushion so that your hips are higher than your knees.

Now often when you see pictures of ancient yogis and contemporary yogis alike they are sat in a cross leg posture called siddhasana.

So we'll get into siddhasana which translates as the accomplished pose.

So what I invite you to do is to take either your left or your right leg and to bend the knee with that knee going wide to the outside of your body so that you can place the bottom of your foot the sole of your foot against your inner thigh.

And then if you take the other leg and bend it taking the knee wide to the opposite side can you place the outside of your foot in the crease between the opposite leg's thigh and calf muscle.

Again you would like the heel and the ankle to be quite close to the groin just as the other one is.

See how the legs feel.

With the upper body we would require you to keep a straight spine and your hands can either be palms up or palms down upon your knees.

Palms up is if you feel you want to connect with higher forces.

Palms down if you feel the need to ground.

So we ask and we study and we utilize the posture of siddhasana,

The accomplished pose,

Because it is believed to reduce stress levels and anxiety.

It's also meant to help direct energy from the lower part of the body,

The lower chakras,

Up the spine to the higher chakras.

Now if you're quite new to this posture or new to yoga,

This may be uncomfortable and impossible to hold for an entire meditation.

If that's you then I invite you to take sukhasana which is the basic crossed leg position.

And even if this is not working for you,

You can sit on a chair or make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Once we've established our posture we move to the fourth limb which is pranayama,

Breath control.

And today we'll utilize box breathing.

So once you have your posture,

Your position,

Be it sukhasana,

Siddhasana,

Perhaps you're sat on a chair with a straight tall spine but not straining because we want to find comfort.

Because meditation is not necessarily easy and if we're fighting a battle with our mind to quieten our thoughts and also fighting a battle with our body because it's uncomfortable,

It's going to make meditation difficult if not impossible.

So find comfort,

Treat your body and your mind,

If you can,

To five or ten percent more comfort if you can find it.

And then we'll return to breath control.

So let's take a deep breath in through the nose together,

Allowing that breath to sink deep down into the belly.

Breathing in and breathing out together through the nose.

Breathing in again,

Letting all sides of your abdomen expand,

Front side and back,

And exhale through the nose.

One more time,

Inhale,

And as you exhale softly we'll prepare for box breathing.

Let's breathe in for the count of four.

Here we go,

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold the breath,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe in,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

One more,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Breathe out,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And hold,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Wonderful.

Now just allow the body to sink into its natural rhythm of deep diaphragmatic abdominal breathing,

In through the nose,

Allowing the belly,

The abdomen to expand,

And breathe out softly through the nose,

Allowing the belly to retract back in and soften.

Pranayama,

Breath control,

Helps us move into the fifth limb,

Which is Pratyahara,

Withdrawal of senses.

So allowing our mind,

Our thoughts,

Our feelings,

Our vision,

Our hearing,

All the things that connect to the external world,

We allow them to draw inwards,

Just to gently move away from all the things that have happened today,

So that we can focus on our own inner work.

After all,

There is an inner world,

And there is an external world,

And meditation at this early stage is for our inner work.

So let the external world go,

Just for now.

The sixth limb,

Dharana,

Is based on concentration,

And meditation,

Although is often touted as having no thoughts,

In the beginning stages,

It's truly about being able to focus on one object.

So if you take your awareness down to below your belly button,

Two fingers below,

An area we call the Dantian in traditional Chinese medicine,

Zhigong,

I want you to keep your awareness just below your belly button,

And as you breathe in through the nose,

Allow that area to expand,

And as you breathe out,

Let it contract.

Maybe as you breathe in,

You feel a heat,

A warmth,

A sensation in your lower Dantian,

A pulse as you breathe in and out,

And if and when your attention wanders,

That's okay,

Just place an arm around yourself and bring your attention back to your lower Dantian,

Soft diaphragmatic breathing,

A singular thought on the sensations of the Dantian,

Eyes softening towards the back of their sockets,

Looking inwards,

Our senses perhaps perceiving and letting go of anything that comes and registers itself within the mind,

Just like a cloud passing by,

Let it come,

Let it go,

And return to our lower Dantian,

The spine tall and long,

A connection between heaven and earth,

We are that connection,

Letting the energy flow from our pelvis to our crown,

And as we exhale,

It just drops back down effortlessly,

Without thought,

Yet our focus remains on the lower Dantian,

And as you sit there,

We move into the seventh limb,

Dhyana,

And that is being in the state of meditation,

Where your mind and body are in unison,

And the simple sensations within the lower Dantian,

And focusing on the lower Dantian gives us a chance to be out of our head,

A place we often reside with our stress and our worries and our thoughts,

But just for now,

We reside in the lower Dantian,

In the region of the lower chakras,

Breathing in and breathing out,

And the last and final limb is the eighth limb,

Samadhi,

And with enough practice and enough consistency,

We achieve union with the source,

Fifth dimension,

Where all things,

Siddhis,

The extraordinary powers reside,

Remain in this state,

This meditative state,

For as long as it feels comfortable,

I thank you for joining me in this meditation,

And I look forward to spending time with you again.

Reviews

I really enjoyed this talk on the 8 Limbs of yoga & meditation such beautiful music & the Breathing was so good to Thankyou 💕💫 so much🙏🏻