The stages of Yoga originated in the Yoga Sutra, through a set of concise but knowledge-rich prayers through which Patanjali was able to manifest his knowledge.
Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga is made up of a total of eight stages, which is why it was given this name, since ‘Asht’ symbolizes the number ‘eight’ and ‘Anga’ means ‘member’, which translates into ‘Yoga of the 8 members’. And these eight members are the following:
– Yama
– Niyama
– Asana
– Pranayama
– Pratyahara
– Dharana
– Dhyana
– Samadhi
According to the sage Patanjali, these 8 stages of Yoga should be present in every Yoga practice whenever the general purpose of Yoga is to be achieved.
Similarly, Iyengar always wanted to spread through his teachings a simpler way to understand the philosophical and methodological part of Patanjali’s Yoga, and this I made possible through the Yoga Sutras.
However, Iyengar required the use of symbolic elements, and in this case he chose a tree to represent the 8 stages of Yoga, which have to be put into practice frequently in order to perfect the technique so that the perception of the true self, which is one of the purposes of Yoga, is made possible.
As for Guruji’s point of view, every tree is composed in the same way by eight parts, which are: root, trunk, branches, leaves, sap, bark, flowers and fruits.
All the above-mentioned make up a whole tree and complement each other in such a way that they cannot grow in the absence of any of them.
If this is taken to a Yoga perspective, one could relate and say that every part of the tree refers to or is associated with certain stages of Yoga.
With this hypothesis in mind we can establish the following: The Yama is the root, the Niyama is represented by the trunk, the Asanas would come being the branches, Pranayama are the leaves, Prattyahara is symbolized by the bark, Dharana by the sap, Dhyana by the flowers, and Samandhi its representation is the fruits.
The meaning of the stages of Yoga
Before beginning in depth the purpose or objective of each of the eight stages of Yoga, the main thing is to know its basic and key concept, which was established by none other than Patanjali himself in the following manner:
- Yama: These are the moralistic commandments of the universe, related to abstinence and self-regulation.
- Niayama: It is based on self-purification in order to better carry out the practice of Yoga.
- Asana: It forms all the postures contained in Yoga.
- Pranayama: Is based on controlling the rhythm of breathing.
- Pratyahara: This state is about withdrawing and emancipating the mind of each person by mastering the senses and the existence of objects or external elements.
- Dharana: This is related to the ability of each individual to concentrate.
- Dhyana: Its basis is solely meditation.
- Samadhi: It means to absorb deeply, to arrive at a high state in the conscience by means of meditating intensely, thus obtaining that the person obtains that all their I, as much the spiritual one, physical and mental, are united conforming one single one.
Objectives of the stages of Yoga
Yama
Related to the power of regulating and training oneself in Yoga. Yama is made up of five elements of self-regulation that are part of the 8 stages of Yoga.
These elements are as follows: Not to be violent and not to hurt, to be sincere and honest, to be honest and not to commit theft, to control impulses related to sexuality and not to be greedy or to have objects that are not necessary.
Niyama
It focuses on cleansing so that the body, mind and spirit are pure; on having an attitude or way of being optimistic; training the senses; self-study and reflection of the sacred scriptures; and finally possessing an attitude in which one gives oneself to one’s personal source. All this is part of the Niyamas, the second stage of Yoga.
Asana
These are all the postures that are performed in the practice of Yoga. The basic meaning of the word ‘Asana’ lies in ‘As’ which means ‘to sit’.
It is known that Yoga can be defined as a way of controlling the mind to become self-realized by performing postures that provide comfort and stability.
Therefore, when a person practices Yoga, he must reside in himself to find his true nature and achieve self-realization.
And as for the postures or asanas, they are necessary for meditation, and therefore must be performed with firmness, stability and immobility, while at the same time providing comfort.
Pranayama
It determines the fourth of the stages of Yoga, it is based on the regulation of the breath so that it can be done slowly and subtly, so that the continuous circulation of energy can be perceived, which is manifested through the exhalations and inhalations, and the lapse of time between both.
It is important to know that Pranayama consists of three fundamental elements, which are Inhalation, exhalation and the lapse of time that the person takes to do each one of these.
When practiced frequently and knowledge about this stage of Yoga is obtained, it causes a thinning or a reduction of the karma of each person, and this leads to the dimming of the light inside, thus making it brighter.
In order to properly control the breathing, it is necessary to perform a posture in which the individual is seated with stability and comfort.
Pratyahara
It deals with the removal of the cognitive and action parts that form the external environment and are rooted in the mind through images and memories.
It is hypothesized that the senses are guided by the mind, and therefore if the mind can internalize itself then the senses will more quickly follow.
If the senses in the actions that are located in the mind do not have any kind of involvement with the different mental elements, and start to be part of where they really belong, then the successful realization of the fifth stage of Yoga, which is Pratyahara, is achieved.
Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi
These three are the last stages of Yoga. Dharana represents the ability to concentrate, Dhyana the ability to meditate and Samadhi the superconsciousness.
Dharana is about being able to concentrate during the practice of Yoga, so that one can establish concentration on one element.
Dhyana is about meditating, and depends to a great extent on Dharana, because in order to meditate correctly, the attention of the mind must be fixed on one place.
And Samadhi, refers to the deep absorption, so that one reaches a state where only that place is illuminated where one is concentrating and therefore the mind is illuminated.
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