The Eight-Fold Path

Sage Patanjali’s treatise on raja yoga, the Yoga Sutras, codified the first definitive, unified and comprehensive system of yoga. Often called the eight-fold path, it is comprised of:

1. Yama (self-restraints)
2. Niyama (self-observances)
3. Asana (yogic postures)
4. Pranayama (yogic breathing practices for the expansion of life force in the body)
5. Pratyahara (disassociation of consciousness from the outside environment)
6. Dharana ( concentration)
7. Dhayana (Meditation)
8. Samadhi ( Identification with pure consciousness)