What the 8 Limbs of Yoga Taught Me About Healing, Presence, and Union

Remembering the Way Home

There are paths we stumble upon, and there are paths that feel as if they’ve been waiting for us all along.

Yoga—true yoga—was never something I found in a studio or on a mat. It found me. Over and over again. In heartbreak, in silence, in breath, in the unraveling of all I thought I was.

What began as movement became a mirror.
What began as discipline became devotion.
And what began as practice became remembrance.

What many don’t realize is that yoga isn’t just about poses.
It’s an ancient, 8-limbed path—a holistic system that guides us from ethical living to the deepest states of inner stillness and union with the divine.

Each limb has met me at different stages of my journey.
Each one has helped peel back a layer, restore a truth, and bring me closer to myself.

Each of these limbs has been a turning point, a teacher, and a thread in my return to wholeness.

A Path of Ethics, Embodiment, Breath, and Inner Freedom

1. Yamas – Ethical Roots

How we relate to the world

The yamas are the ethical foundations of yoga—guidelines for how we treat others and the world around us. They are not commandments, but invitations to live with integrity and love.

Ahimsa (non-harming)
Satya (truthfulness)
Asteya (non-stealing)
Brahmacharya (wise energy use)
Aparigraha (non-possessiveness)

These teachings became my compass, helping me purify my life and soften my mind. They showed me how to stop outsourcing my power and start living from a place of peace. From this foundation, stillness began to bloom.

2. Niyamas – Inner Disciplines

How we relate to ourselves

The niyamas are personal observances—inner disciplines that guide us toward clarity, contentment, and self-remembrance.

Saucha (purity)
Santosha (contentment)
Tapas (discipline)
Svadhyaya (self-study)
Ishvarapranidhana (surrender to the divine)

Through these, I learned how to tend to my inner garden. To clean the lens through which I see the world. To stop fighting life, and instead trust its rhythm.

3. Asana – The Temple Body

Physical posture

This is the yoga most people know—physical postures. But it’s not about flexibility or performance.

Asana taught me how to feel again.
To awaken, soften, and inhabit the temple of my body.
To anchor into presence and open to something greater than myself.

4. Pranayama – Breath as Bridge

Breath regulation

Pranayama is the art of working with breath—our life force energy.

It taught me how to refine the mind, expand my energy, purify stuck emotions, and touch the quiet spaces inside myself. It is where I first learned that breath is a bridge to the divine.

5. Pratyahara – The Turning Inward

Withdrawal of the senses

Pratyahara is the withdrawal of the senses—not to escape, but to deepen.

It taught me to turn away from the external world so I could hear the inner one. This is where the portal opened. This is where I met the mystery.

6. Dharana – Sacred Focus

Single-pointed concentration

Dharana is single-pointed concentration. It taught me that my mind, when anchored in presence, becomes a sacred tool for creation.

Through dharana, I remembered how to direct my energy—and stop scattering it in all directions.

7. Dhyana – Absorption in Stillness

Meditation

Dhyana is not something I force—it’s something I fall into.

It’s the space between thoughts.
The quiet hum beneath the world.
A moment where I am simply being, free from striving, free from form.

8. Samadhi – The Bliss of Union

Liberation

Samadhi is the culmination of the path. The dissolving. The nectar.

It’s not a reward, but a return. A felt knowing that I am not separate. That I never was.

This bliss sustains me. Nourishes me. It’s why I stay devoted to the path.

🕊️ Conclusion: The Spiral Path

The 8 limbs of yoga are not linear.
They spiral. They return. They open.

Some days, I am simply practicing truthfulness.
Other days, I am dissolved in breath or stillness.
Often, I’m just remembering to listen.

But this path—this sacred unraveling—has shaped me. Softened me. Strengthened me.
It has carried me through the darkest nights and into the quietest joy.

If you’ve ever felt called toward something deeper, something older, something already inside you…
this path is waiting.

And you don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to be willing.

🌸 Want to begin (or deepen) your journey?

I offer private sessions, classes, and embodied guidance for anyone curious about the healing power of yoga—whether you're brand new or ready to go deeper into the inner limbs.

Let’s breathe, move, and remember together.

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