Yama & Niyamaयम व नियम
Not poses or techniques — how you live, continuously. Read through once before you begin, and carry them with you.
Asanaआसन
"A steady, comfortable pose" — seven linked stages, warm body to warm body.
Pranayamaप्राणायाम
Seated, spine tall. Classical Hatha Yoga places breathwork right after Asana, deliberately — the body is warm, the breath easier to direct.
Pratyaharaप्रत्याहार
The hinge between the outer and inner limbs — drawing attention inward the way a tortoise draws its limbs into its shell, the image the Gita itself uses.
Dharanaधारणा
Holding attention on a single point — a sound, an image, the breath — without letting it wander. The direct training ground for Dhyana.
Dhyanaध्यान
Concentration that has become continuous, effortless, unbroken — attention flowing like oil poured in a steady stream, as Vyasa's classical commentary describes it.
Samadhiसमाधि
Not performed on a timer — absorption said to arise on its own, once meditation deepens. A home practice can only offer its conditions: unhurried, agenda-free silence.
Cool Downविश्राम
Not one of the eight limbs itself, but where their effort is absorbed. Rise slowly from Shavasana — roll to one side, pause a breath, then sit — standing up abruptly undoes much of the calm just built.
None of these eight are separate practices stitched together — they're one arc, each limb the direct ground the next one stands on. Ethics steadies the mind before the body moves; the body's stillness makes the breath easy to direct; the breath's steadiness lets the senses finally turn inward; and only then can attention hold, then flow, then rest.
ये आठों अलग-अलग अभ्यास जोड़कर नहीं बने — यह एक ही प्रवाह है, जहाँ हर अंग अगले की सीधी नींव है। आचरण मन को स्थिर करता है इससे पहले कि शरीर हिले; शरीर की स्थिरता श्वास को सहज बनाती है; श्वास की स्थिरता इंद्रियों को अंततः भीतर मोड़ने देती है; और तभी ध्यान टिकता है, फिर बहता है, फिर विश्राम पाता है।