In our western culture, your first impression of Yoga might have been that it is an activity that keeps the body fit. Certainly Asana, or physical movement, is one aspect of Yoga.  It focuses on the physical body. But Yoga encompasses more than physical fitness.  It also offers tools and practices to help us be our best mentally, emotionally , and spiritually.  Patanjali, the writer of the Yoga Sutras, identifies eight limbs of Yoga. The limbs offer students of Yoga a guide to stilling our minds so that we can see with greater clarity, ease our personal suffering, and live more meaningful lives. The first four limbs offer guidance in developing our personality, and caring for our physical and energetic body. These are more tangible aspects of our being. The last four offer guidance in developing the less tangible elements of our nature.

Patanjali's limbs are often compared to a road map. I often  think of them like a recipe. Each ingredient adding to the whole. As we practice, we never really move on from any of the limbs, we just add to them.
I might even dare to compare journeying through the limbs to executing a really good cinnamon roll recipe. The Yamas and Niyamas are the dough, we roll it out and spice it up with Asana and Pranayama, we place it in a quite, dark place(Prathyahara), and we wait patiently for it to rise(Dharana and Dhyana). Depending on many things: temperature, humidity, how well the dough was kneaded, the state of the ingredients, this can take some time. We practice waiting(and while we do, maybe we make another batch because... cinnamon rolls), and then in the oven it goes to bake. And finally after the heat is applied it is ready. This final delicious product is Samadhi.

The heat of the oven is key. It must be the right temperature. Too much heat or too long, and the rolls burn. Too little heat or time and they just don't cook right. I think of the oven as our actions and choices as practitioners. We have to spend just the right amount of time and effort on each task. Too much and we can burn out. Not enough and we never quite mature. Admittedly, it's an imperfect analogy. But, it is serviceable, and I love a cinnamon roll.

Patanjali's eight limbs range from the gross, or most easily tangible, The Yamas and Niyamas, to the most subtle, Samadhi. We begin with practicing discipline and morality in life, using the Yamas and the Niyamas as guides on how to treat others, our environment, and ourselves in positive ways. The Yamas ask us to pay attention to how we relate to the outside world. The Niyamas guide us in cultivating positive personal habits.  Next come Asana and Pranayama.
Asana does keep the body fit. As the saying goes, a well oiled machine works better. It also allows us to practice disciplining the mind through the body and cultivate the ability to step outside ourselves into the position of the observer. We can also cultivate the principles laid out in the Yamas and Niyamas during our Asana practice. An example of this would be using practice to intentionally cultivate Tapas(dicispline) by showing up to our practice everyday whether we feel like it our not. Pranayama allows us to do much of the same work as Asana but through the breath. Pranayama really flexes those mental focus muscles! During pranayama practice we focus on our breath as we learn to control it. Together Asana and Pranayama prepare the physical body for the stillness necessary for Prathyahara, Dharana, and Dhyana.

Prathyahara and Dharana occur as we learn to focus our minds more concisely. Prathyahara is described as withdrawl of the senses. I like the explanation that it's more the discipline of not allowing our senses to distract us. We own them, rather than them owning us. We don't allow a scent or noise to take away from our focus. Dharana is the act of focused concentration. T.K. Desikachar writes that Dharana is when we focus the mind on a particular object, or thing. It is also sometimes defined as concentrated effort. Fire gazing, Pranayama, and Mantra can all be examples of this. We can also experience Dharana in day to day activities that require our focus.

As the concentration of Dharana develops, it becomes Dhyana. Dhyana is something we fall into, it's that space between where our focus has become effortless and uninterrupted. Dhyana is tricky because when we realize we have experienced it , we aren't in it any more, and we must begin again with focused concentration. With practice Dharana and Dhyana can develop into Samadhi. In Samadhi, the distinction between the process of concentration, the person concentrating and the object of concentration disappears completely.

You may have experienced Samadhi in savasana at the end of a practice. You're lying there and it's quiet. I'm not sure I have time for this. You're lying there and it's quiet. Is savasana really that important? And you're lying there and it's quite. Okay I'll just relax into this, breathe. And you're lying there and it's quiet. I'm breathing, I'm breathing.... And you're lying there.... and then a voice calls you back saying that the five minutes have passed.  You aren't totally sure how that could be that that much time has passed, but you feel great.
So what happened? You completed an Asana practice, with Pranayama(hopefully). You entered savasana, closing your eyes(Prathyahara). You focused yourself on your breath(Dharana) and at some point you kept breathing but you didn't have to tell yourself to focus(Dhyana) Then for just awhile you slipped into a place where you just were. You were not a mind telling itself to focus on the body breathing, but your thoughts weren't elsewhere either there were no mental lines drawn, you just were. That's Samadhi, oneness. The feeling of lightness after is a direct result.

With the eight limbs, Patanjali gives us a practical guide. He lays out the tools to quiet the mind and cultivate union of the body, mind, and spirit. Through Asana, Pranayama, the Yamas, and the Niyamas we cultivate discipline and focus in our minds. A disciplined mind is a calm mind. Through a calm mind we can see ourselves and that around us with more clarity. As we understand more completely, we find acceptance, contentment and a stillness which facilitate Prathyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and finally Samadhi.