I found yoga by accident, I didnt start practicing to get enlightened.  At the time I was really into going to the gym and I used yoga to help me“stretch” after my workout… but before I knew it it, yoga ended up helping me not only transform my body, but also I deep finding deep realisations and in starting my healing journey – uniting my body with my mind and spirit. ❤️‍🩹

Contrary to popular belief Yoga is not just physical postures, there are many ways to practice yoga even off of the mat! If you’re not familiar with the 8 limbs of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) of Patanjali, I invite you on this little journey as we delve a little deeper into Yoga Philosophy!

Basically, the Eight Limbs of Yoga can help us “get our shit together”, these are stages which can lead us to a deeper knowledge of ourselves, our minds, emotions and our spirit Self.

The first limb of Yoga is the 5 Yamas, which talk about external discipline and are roadsigns to a “better” life inside society. It is said that by practicing these Yamas we can gain a deeper sense of self-awareness which in return can help us to transform negative energy and cultivate a deep, abiding sense of peace.

The 5 Yamas:

✨ Ahimsa ( non-harming) which means not using violence against ANY living being as well as ourselves. And usually when there is an absence of violence, then arises love and kindness.

✨ Satya (truthfulness) here it is good to remember that sometimes the truth can also hurt, so Satya shouldn’t come into conflict with Ahimsa

✨ Asteya (non-stealing) this isn’t only stealing of physical things, it can also be understood as something like having the desire for something others have (fame, money, ower etc) and that can lead to cruelty and jealousy.

✨Brachmacharya(moderating the senses and the right usage of energy) Traditionally the intention of this Yama was to motivate yogis to conserve their sexual energy, although the word when translated can mean “actions that lead to Brahman”, meaning having behaviour which lead us towards God, higher power, the universe or whatever you want to call it. 

✨ Aparigraha (non-possessivenesses, freedom from attachment) so its not about the goal that we are trying to obtain, but about our journey on the way to the goal. Like Krishna said, to not become attached to the outcome of our actions, but instead to concentrate on our actions. Have you ever started comparing yourself to someone or forced your body into a poses that “makes an impact” on others during in a yoga class? That is an example of Aparigraha.

Can you think about and reflect on how these 5 Yamas may effect you and the people around you in everyday life?

The next limb consists of the 5 Niyamas which are considered to be spiritual tools for internal work for learning how to regulate emotions and perceptions. These are practices which teach us how to care for ourselves and help cultivate happiness as well as self-confidence.

✨SELF-PURIFICATION (SHAUCHA) meaning keeping our body and mind “clean”.

Reflection 💡 Do you try to be conscious of the food, emotions and thoughts that come into and arise in your body or do you ignore them? Do you critique yourself for these things or are you able to be understanding?

✨ CONTENTMENT (SANTOSHA) meaning being content with what is, accepting whatever life brings our way.

Reflection 💡 Do you find yourself holding on to the past or are you able to let go and live in the present? It’s hard to be content in life if we are disappointed with ourselves and keep trying to “fix” and “improve” ourselves because of past “mistakes” but everything is a process and sometimes letting go of the past is harder than we think so try not to judge yourself,

✨ SELF-DISCIPLINE (TAPAS) meaning “heating up” the body. The fire that comes from Tapas is said to be a able to help us change old habit that no longer serve us, t newer “healthier” ones.

Reflection 💡 The fire 🔥 of tapas can be used to replace old habits with new healthier ones. Can you think of something you’ve been wanting to do more regularly but you keep putting it off? Notice your mindset in this process, do you critique yourself because you “failed yet again” or are you kind towards yourself? 

✨ SELF-STUDY (SVADHYAYA) meaning getting to know ourselves better, gaining self awareness in a spiritual sense.

Reflection 💡 Reading spiritual books or watching movies can be very inspirational if we can learn to incorporate self reflection throughout the day. Can you recognize when you’re acting in harmony with your goals, and when you’re unconsciously countering them? 

✨ SELF-SURRENDER (ISHVARA PRANIDHANA) this doesn’t mean to mindlessly give ourselves away to something to someone, but its the process of surrendering to a higher meaning and leaving the fruits of our actions to God,higher power, the universe etc.

Reflection 💡 In meditation 🧘‍♀️ do you try to notice the thoughts, sensations and emotions as they arise? Do you ever notice the inner stillness of the present in between them. This experience can help us learn to let go of our attachments, even if just for a moment 😉

I won’t lie, for a long time I lived life without any self reflection. I hurt myself and I hurt many people with my actions, I wasn’t aware of the fact that I had never been taught how to regulate my emotions and so I just “reacted” to life. Often we may race through life without thinking about what’s happening with us or why we act the way we do, or should I say react impulsively. Its only when we begin to notice these things and feel these inner changes happening, can we begin to take care of ourselves and what here.  I’m definitely NOT perfect today but through my new found insight on how trauma works, therapy and different spiritual practices I’ve come to know myself better. I’m more conscious, aware and defiantly the most confident & happy that I have ever been in my life ♥️

The third limb of Yoga is Asana and  it’s probably the most well known of them all, but did you know that root of the word Asana means “ a comfortable seat”, which hints to us it’s original intentions. Most of the earlier asanas described were just that, seated postures preparing us for meditation 🧘‍♀️

And for a while that’s what Yoga was for me, just physical poses to get stronger & more flexible. It was very superficial, I only concentrated on that the postures looked like on the outside instead of what was going on inside of me. Until 5 years ago I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. During all the procedures and treatments I started meditating and it opened me up to a whole other inner level of practice and being. 

I had what some people call an “awakening “ I realized that I dont have to keep on  trying to “fix” or change myself. That I am not broken. And in those brief moments when I able to be present n the here and now, besides all the thoughts and  beyond all these bodily sensations there resides this presence. You can call it the observer, consciousness or this mindful loving awareness, which has always been that and  is already perfect just the way it is. This realisation was really freeing for me because ever since I can remember, I always felt like I was worse than, different, broken and hopeless, but that just isn’t the case.

Today I am grateful to be cancer free and if it has taught me anything is to be kinder to myself and to recognise that I have all the strength and answers I need inside of me and that I dont need to fix or change myself. And no I am not special or supernatural, we all have this inner strength and  knowledge inside of us! Yoga practice is one path of many that can help us come to this realizaion.  

Prāṇāyāma is the fourth limb of the eight-limbed yoga system. It means to extend, to stretch and, at times, to restrain life force (“prāṇā”) through the breath. Our breath, as it turns out, is also a gateway into the nervous system it can have an effect on how we feel. Different breathing techniques can either be relaxing or energizing. 

As a caution ⚠️ we should try to remember that the breath isn’t something neutral, if you are living in high stress or have a trauma history certain pranayamas can be triggering. Meaning they can stir up old memories as they have been shown to activate the fight or flight response of the sympathetic nervous system.

When I first started my yoga practice, my breath was so shallow and non existent that I don’t even know how I functioned like that on a daily basis 🙊 During some more demanding yoga poses like backbends specifically I would start having intense emotions of anxiety and panic. With practice I was able to gradually learn how to breathe and “be in” these poses without freaking out. This is how yoga practice can help us build resilience – learning how to bounce back into the feeling of safety after something stressful happens. We have to keep in mind that we are all programmed differently, and it’s ok to go at our own pace and sometimes decide not to do certain things if they are causing us distress. And sometimes just becoming aware of our breath can be a huge step towards healing ❤️‍🩹 

Pratyahara” is the fifth limb of Yoga. It means “control of senses,” or “gaining mastery over external influences.” It has been compared to a turtle withdrawing into its shell—the turtle’s shell is the mind and the turtle’s limbs are the senses. According to yogic texts, its only hen our senses disappear are we able to see what is hiding behind the, – our Consciousness.

Some consider Pratyahara to be something that comes about thanks to our practice of the previous limbs, but it can also in and of itself become a practice. Learning how to control and even do away with our senses makes sense during the practice of physical postures in yoga, it can can us turn our awareness inwards and to find stillness. BUt if we were to do the same in everyday life, retreating into our inner shell like the turtle, we would become numb to life. But is that what life is all about? Well maybe if we are planing on dropping everything and going to live in a cave somewhere on top of a mountain.

Some recent studies have also shown that turning attention inwards (wether through Prayahara or Mindfulness) can sometimes cause side effects in some individuals like distress, panic attacks, depression or even states of disassociation.  Some people (especially those with a history of trauma) who may already deal with disassociation on a daily basis, may have a difficulty discerning the state of deep meditation as opposed to a state of disassociation.

Besides our 5 sesnses- sight, touch, hearing & smell – according to the most recent neuroscience studies we also have another sense called Interception, meaning a somatic feeling and sensing of ourselves ( especially pertaining to the visceral organs located in the chest and stomach) as well as our emotions. This sense is quite different from the rest because it requires our awareness and practice, as you’ve probably noticed before our mind often like to wander – that is its natural state! Its not easy to be completely present in the moment, thats why practices like Mindfulness invite us into the here and now through guiding our attention inwards towards all the sensations that flow from inside our body.

Other studies suggest that Interception is an inseparable part of us being aware and focused, and practice like Mindfulness can lead to beneficial changes in the structure of the brain that are responsible for Interception as well as states of “mindlessness”. Interoception is a window into our body that informs our mind and brain, so practicing Pratyahara combined with Interoception can help us differentiate the signals coming from our body (nervous system) from mental impressions in a rational way. It is a process of learning how to respond to life instead of reacting impulsively; regardless if we ar on the mat or off it in the “real world”.

 Of course, all of this is can sometimes be easier said than done. If we are living in high stress or have a history of trauma, often our nervous system can become “disreguated”. This means that we can either become hyper-aroused and ready for fight or  flight because we are flooded with fear that danger is lurking behind every corner, or the opposite, we may start to numb ourselves and detach from our bodies as to not feel pain and other distressing emotions. Its important to remember that even if we are having some of these symptoms of “disregulation” that this is our bodies natural defence mechanism, it doesn’t mean that something is wrong with us, our body is trying to protect us.

What this means is that focusing attention inwards won’t always be beneficial, neither regulating nor calming. It may actually have the opposite effect and turn all the attention towards that which we have been desperately trying to avoid- difficult emotions, thoughts and overwhelming bodily sensations like a feeling of  tightness in the chest or stomach, stiffness, elevated heartbeat, shallow/fast breath, racing thoughts etc. So if you are experiencing any of these things during your practice and maybe feeling overwhelmed, maybe try not to blame yourself that you’re doing something wrong or that something is wrong with you. It may just be a sign that you may be doing too much too soon. Maybe try to slow down, maybe get a second opinion. It’s also worth mentioning here that Yoga and meditation are not a panaceum cure all and they won’t always be beneficial for everyone. We are all different.

Our next limb of Yoga is Dharana and is often translated as “concentration” on a single point of focus- keeping us in the PRESENT moment. We’ve already discussed this a bit above, Pratyahara and Interoception can lead us to be more aware and present. 

Have you ever been so hyper focused on something that you totally lost track of time and the rest of the world just kinda fell away?These “in the zone” flow states are a glimpse into the 6th Limb of Yoga, Dharana.

Often in yoga we use breath and gaze (drishti) to keep us centered but its good to remember that our breath is not always neutral and it can sometimes be triggering and cause distress. In a more trauma informed approach we may want to try a more “open awareness “. Meaning that besides just focusing on the breath, we can also use body sensations, gaze, sounds and orientation/proprioception to anchor in the present. 

One we are aware of the fact that focusing inwards can sometimes be overwhelming for some individuals, one way today our toes in the water so to speak would be to  so incorporating Toggling between these inner(Interoception) and outer (proprioception & Exteroception) states. In other words, being present to all the emotions and sensations that arise and then if/when it gets too intense shifting our attention back to something else for a moment. This with time and practice may help us build resilience – the ability to bounce back quicker from stressful situations.

Unfortunately teaching the mind to be present and focused is like training a puppy how to sit, its not an easy task 😉  After a while you may start to notice that these thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations just keep on coming just  like clouds in the sky, and that there’s absolutely nothing we can really do to stop them. This realization can be freeing  and reveal some deeper truths to who we really are. 

The seventh limb of Yoga is Dhyana, often translated as meditation, contemplation and is an inseparable part of the process of inner work and self realisation. Ever since meditation has become quite popular around the globe, many studies have been done that verify it to be something that not only reduces stress, but also has the ability to calm the body mind (nervous system) and return us to homeostasis. But is this all that Dhyana is and does it have the same effect on everybody?

We should keep this in mind that everyone is different and just because we may find something to be relaxing, it doesn’t automatically mean that everyone else will also.

When I first started meditating a couple years ago it was really hard for me to sit still. I kept getting flooded with intense memories and emotions from the past and future. It was not relaxing to say the least. It took me years just to be able to sit with myself in silence, little by little it became “easier” but still each day is different and some are harder than others.

For some people, especially those living with high stress or this with a history of trauma, sitting or lying still with eyes close surrounded by strangers can sometimes be overwhelming and evoke difficult emotions, thoughts or body sensations. Thats why I kindly invite my fellow teachers to offer different variations of poses to students, especially during Savasana(final relaxation) and during meditation. I mean after all lying perfectly still with closed eyes is not the one and only way to relax; you can also remain seated, you can keep your eyes open and most importantly you have the freedom to move or leave the room if you feel the need to!

Again, just because it may be easy for us to sit in meditation or to be present and perfectly still in Savasana, it doesn’t mean that everyone else does also. And just because someone may have a different experience or difficulty with these things, no matter the cause, it doesn’t mean that they are a bad yogi or that they are doing something wrong. And isn’t it true that the space where we practice yoga “should” be supportive, safe and a place where we dont feel pressured or judged?

The eight limb of Yoga is Samadhi, Patanjali describes it as a state of enlightenment or union, transcending the Self altogether through meditation and the practice of all the prior limbs of Yoga. But is this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow about blissfully floating away on a cloud in total ecstasy? I think not. 

I think that Samadhi is not about escaping from ourselves or our lives, but rather the REALIZATION to who we really are and seeing life and reality for exactly what it is, without our thoughts, emotions, attachments and aversions governing it. 

There are actually a couple of stages of Samadhi but without getting too technical the final one is said to lead us to a state of pure “I-am-ness” – pure consciousness or like Jack Kornfield likes to say to that mindful loving awareness ♥️✨✨

So you see Yoga is a bit more than just down dogs, handstands and meditation. It is also a tool inviting us to do some deep inner spiritual work, if we want to of course. The choice is yours, you are the writer of your life and if you listen to the voice within, you will know what is right for you!