WHAT IS 8-STEP YOGA?
Isn't yoga just one thing? Where did eight come from? This road is so long, how can we go on?
No, no, don't be afraid, this is a fun path to walk, the steps are not steep, you don't have to go fast. There is no one next to you to look to see which step they are on. On the contrary, it is a path that you will take in, enjoy each of these wide and spread out steps, with the support of the guides, but still alone, completely at your own pace and time.
Let's go over the steps that will guide you on your inner journey.
Don't be intimidated by the Sanskrit names, it will be as simple as possible. Pay attention to the sub-items of the first two steps of the 8 Steps (Yama and Niyama)! If you look at the order, these come before the Asana, the movement part of Yoga that we know. So these are the points we will start from...
1) PATCH ; to be free from negativity. You can ask yourself the questions you will see in every article every day.
- Non-violence ; being compassionate and loving, both practically and in life, first to yourself and then to the whole world.
Have you harmed anything or anyone today? Have you shown compassion?
- Honesty ; being true at all times, giving out what is inside
Did you treat yourself and those around you right today?
- Not to steal ; not just physical material things, not to take anything that belongs to someone without their permission, not to enter their space.
Have you taken something that belonged to someone else without permission today? (Think broadly, including trespassing, stealing energy, time, attention)
- Mastery of desires ; being alert to excess and momentary pleasures and not going to those extremes.
Have you had too much of anything today? Have you fallen into the trap of any desire?
- Not being possessive ; enjoying sharing generously
What did you enjoy sharing today?
After purifying ourselves with the YAMAs, we came to the NIYAMAs.
2) NIYAMAs are like positive energies that we will receive into the area that opens after we purify ourselves.
- Cleanliness ; purity. Again a moment of broad thinking. Think not only about the cleanliness of your home, your desk in the office, but also about the cleanliness of your emotions, thoughts, and food. And again ask
Did you eat healthy today? Were your thoughts clean and pure?
- Pleasure, contentment; to be satisfied without complaining but also without taking solace
What was your mind complaining about today?
- To simplify ; to live a simple life without getting into monotony
Let's think broadly :) What unnecessary thing did you buy today? Which mess did you solve? Which unnecessary person did you get out of your rock?
- Returning to oneself ; getting closer to oneself, seeing problems and striving to solve them and improve oneself.
Did you focus on yourself and stay quiet today?
- Surrender ; this step is reached last after all.
What did you do today to feel an eternal sense of surrender?
When you progress through these steps, you will have prepared a very solid ground for yourself. First, your relationship with yourself will be strengthened, then with the environment, nature and others…
3) This is what we now define as Yoga. ASANA We could only come to the lara
ASANAs discipline the body. They provide physical opening. In certain poses, certain emotions are resolved and calmed down, or certain emotions grow and expand.
Its stimulating and balancing effects on the energy centers (chakras) within the body contribute to the development of a deeper mind-body connection.
4) PRANAYAMA Breathwork is a special path between body and mind. It provides great support in bringing the two together.
You can think of it as tuning your body and breath. When you start making a movement with every breath in your practice, after a while you will get the feeling that the movement accompanies the breath, not the breath accompanies the movement.
5) PRATYAHARA It means controlling the senses by pulling them from the external world to the internal world. Like the mind being able to remain for a while without reacting to the five senses. For example, while you are doing your concentrated practice, you can think of situations such as someone's phone ringing, someone breathing loudly, someone entering or leaving the room, etc. without distracting you.
6) DHRANA It is about focusing the mind on a single subject, object or thought and suppressing other distracting thoughts. The goal is to fix the mind entirely on a chosen subject. The purpose of Dhāraṇā is to discipline the mind, strengthen attention and develop internal focus. This stage helps to reduce mental distraction and prepare for meditation.
7) DHYANA , refers to focusing the mind, leading to a deep meditative state with inner peace and attention. It comes after the Dhāraṇā stage and aims to keep the mind on a thought or object for a longer and more continuous period. Dhyāna is a state in which the mind remains completely fixed and calm on a chosen subject.
In this stage of meditation, the flow of thoughts slows down and the mind reaches a state of inner silence and depth.
8) SAMADHI It is the final stage of meditation. It means that the thought or object in the mind has completely disappeared. In this state, inner enlightenment, integration with the universe, unity and permanent happiness are experienced.
We can think of it as the goal to actually reach Meditation. When we look at the steps of this path, it will be understood that it is not a path that should be rushed, it is not like ticking off a 'to do' list. It is a path that can be progressed by digesting and in one's own time.
Therefore, going directly to the 3rd step, namely Asana (like the person's sole purpose when starting yoga is to do cool inversions and to cycle through those poses :) ) and just staying there provides temporary benefits. Reaching the next steps, such as meditation, should be the goal.
Therefore, let's all move forward by digesting and internalizing these steps together.