Eight Limbs of Yoga

For most people, the practice of yoga simply means the practice of asanas or physical postures and stretching. A typical "yoga" class at a gym or a health club usually lasts one hour and consists of a fairly vigorous practice of various asanas. The practitioners feel great because they develop more flexibility and strength at the physical level. But is the practice of asanas all there is in yoga? Can yoga help us reduce stress? Can it make us more aware of our own actions and take more ownership of our actions and their outcomes? Can it help us with negative emotions like anger, fear, jealousy, hatred etc? The answer to all the se and many more questions that may come to your mind is a thumping "YES". However, to get all those benefits, we need to turn to Patanjali who in the Yoga Sutras has enumerated eight limbs of yoga.  By practicing these eight limbs of yoga we can indeed get all the benefits and strive to achieve our highest potential in life, in all spheres of our activity.  Listen to this audio recording from one of the sessions of the recent 21-day yoga challenge program.