THE EIGHT STAGES OF YOGA

THE  EIGHT STAGES OF YOGA

The first two stages of Patanjali’s yoga, YAMA (social discipline/ external control) and NIYAMA 

(individual/ internal) consist of five restraints and five observances, the don’ts and dos of right living, 

together known as the ‘Ten Commandments of the yogi’.

Yama [YS 2,30] recommends the observance of ahimsa (non-violence), satya (non-lies), asteya (non-stealing),  

brahmacharya (non-indulgence in sexual activity) and aparigriha (non-attachment).  Niyama is about maintaining  

shaucha (purity in body and mind), seeking santosha (serenity), tapas (austerity), svadhyaya (scriptural study) 

and Ishvara pranidhana (imitation of Ishvara). [This is not devotion to god, because Ishvara is nothing more than 

an impersonal macro-purusha [YS 1,24] and there cannot exist any personal relationship between Ishvara and man.