The eight limbs of yoga, or ashtanga yoga, is a framework from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, one of the central texts of Indian philosophy. Nobody knows exactly when the text was written: scholars place it around the turn of the Common Era or in the first centuries after.
The scheme gets quoted a lot but rarely explained, especially the question of what ethics is doing in it. Below, the app's text briefly describes each limb, and after that you'll see how they relate to practice.
In the Yoga Sutras, the sage Patanjali described yoga as a path of eight limbs: ashtanga yoga, literally “eight-limbed yoga” (not to be confused with the athletic style of the same name). These limbs are not a ladder where each step opens only after the previous one, but facets of a single practice that develop together.
1. Yama — ethical principles toward the world: nonviolence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation, non-attachment.
2. Niyama — principles toward yourself: purity, contentment, discipline, self-study, and dedicating your practice to something higher.
3. Asana — a steady, comfortable position of the body. This is the “physical yoga” most people start with. In the classical sense, asana prepares the body for sitting still for a long time.
4. Pranayama — control of the breath and, through it, of energy and the state of the mind.
5. Pratyahara — withdrawing the senses from external objects and turning attention inward. It happens naturally in Savasana and in deep pranayama.
6. Dharana — concentration, holding attention on a single object.
7. Dhyana — meditation, an unbroken flow of attention.
8. Samadhi — complete absorption, a state of oneness.
In this app, you work with the third and fourth limbs, asana and pranayama, while the theory sections help you get a feel for the first two. That's enough for your practice to stop being just exercise and become yoga.
Outer and Inner Limbs
In the Yoga Sutras, the last three limbs, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, are called inner compared with the first five. Patanjali also gives the three a single collective name: samyama. The first five deal with behavior, body, breath and the senses, and you can train them on purpose.
The last three are no longer exercises but states of mind that emerge once the outer limbs are established. Pratyahara works well as the bridge between the two halves: attention has already turned away from the outside world but isn't yet gathered on one point.
Interestingly, the sutras give asana only three short aphorisms: a posture should be steady and comfortable, and unnecessary effort drops away in it. Detailed descriptions of hundreds of poses came much later, in the hatha yoga texts.
Where the Limbs Show Up on the Mat
Dhyana and samadhi can't be carried out from instructions the way a pose can. The text describes them as the fruit of long, regular work with the earlier limbs, which is why the app has no separate exercises for them.
Why Yoga Needs Ethics
Yama and niyama head the list for a reason. A mind caught up in conflicts, grudges and hurry has trouble holding attention even in a simple pose. The principles of the first two limbs make it calmer and more honest, so they come before asanas.
They're explored in depth in the articles on yama and on niyama.
Hatha Yoga