At Atmayaan Yoga Academy in Bangalore, India, where I’m currently training to become an International Power Yoga teacher, their motto is “to learn is to teach, to teach is to learn.”

I’ve discovered this runs true across nearly anything we can fathom: athletics, specializations, careers, parenting, financial management, traveling, languages, cooking, the arts, etc.

Much of learning how to teach Yoga to others shall be based upon self-directed study, or swadhaya, meaning self-study. Only to the extent that we know ourselves can we then teach others anything at all. It is not enough to imbibe all the wisdom our Master Teachers impart upon us students, but it is the sincere and disciplined efforts outside of class itself that shall have further-lasting impact upon our ability to learn, and thus, to teach.

Living a simple, monastic life at the Academy, having small, home-cooked vegetarian meals with Indian chai tea, practicing asanas (body postures) daily under Master Teachers, reading and researching, yogic philosophical and theoretical discussions, daily written reflections regarding my experiences, what I’ve learned, how I feel about the day’s lessons, practicing dharana, or concentration and the cultivation of inner perceptual awareness — all serve to truly have the transcendental power to change my fundamental being, my fundamental existence in this world.

I feel a great shift within me; these are the days I feel I am observing a baby chick hatch from its shell, one peck at a time; only this time, I am the chick, the shell was my former self.

If you are a yogi (or yogini for females, someone who is attempting to master the body and mind) or someone who is interested in better understanding the ancient art and practice of Yoga, I would love to share with you what I’ve learned, as much as possible, given the vehicle in which I’m delivering you the teachings.

Shall we begin?

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Let’s start with the basics first.

Yoga is far deeper than just asanas. Those who only practice asanas are not reaping the full benefits of what Yoga can offer, and thus, degenerates into mere exercise of the body.

To even get to a place where one can understand and begin the practice of asanas, one must understand Yama and Niyama (the first and second limb of Yoga).

Yoga itself has been around since 500 BC, around the time of Buddha, before any forms and branches of what we are familiar with today, known as Hatha Yoga, came to existence around the 14th century.

Hatha can be broken down into Ha, which means sun, solar, positive, active, masculine, and Tha, which means moon, lunar, negative, intuitive, feminine.

When you breathe in through your nostrils, the right nostril breathing is Ha (+) which correlates with your brain’s left hemisphere. The left nostril breathing is Tha (-) which correlates with your brain’s right hemisphere.

You can tell which side dominates by holding your hand, palm facing down, thumb touching your chin, and breathing out through the nostrils so you can feel the air breathed out. Which side can you feel more air? As of today, my right side, the Ha side, dominates. Try it for yourself if you’d like.

Yoga is derived from a Sanskrit word “yuj,” meaning to connect, join, balance. What is it that we are connecting, joining, balancing? It is the union of the individual with the universal consciousness, or Oneness.

You may be familiar with the phrase, the 8 limbs of Yoga. But what are they exactly and what does it really mean for your practice?

In Sanskrit, “8 limbs” translates to Ashtanga. You may have heard of Ashtanga Yoga, a style of Hatha Yoga.

So essentially, the 8 limbs of Yoga are Ashtanga Yoga. They are:

1. Yama
2. Niyama
3. Asana
4. Pranayama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana
7. Dhyana
8. Samadhi

1. Yama is universal morality, and Patanjali, who developed the Yoga Sutras around 500 BC, maintained there are 5 different moral restraints for the practitioner.

(1) Ahimsa means non-violence. Not just refraining from physical violence, but violence in word and thought. Violence begets destruction. Yoga is not to destroy. Sometimes, it is not even to create. It simply is.

A positive interpretation of ahimsa is “to have a loving touch.” That our actions, words and thoughts, be filled with love and compassion.

(2) Satya means Truth*, and Patanjali says, “When truth is established, the means of action becomes unnecessary.” (2:36) This means Truth does not need faith or belief in order to exist. It does not need or desire our opinions. It simply is for Truth’s own sake.

In philosophy, the meaning of the word satya is unchangeable, or that which pervades the universe in all its constancy, or that which has no distortion. It is an objective understanding of Truth, not a subjective one. Satya also means being in accordance to one’s true nature and not doing what is not in accordance with the self.

When people say, “Be true to yourself,” what this essentially means is, be Truth.

* The next book I’m working on is entitled Truth and will cover myriad concepts, theories, philosophical, experiential, intellectual and spiritual components of Truth itself.

(3) Asteya means non-stealing, or honesty. It is a subjective understanding. Asteya is not limited to just non-stealing, but allowing your worldly materials, art, goodwill, thoughts and more, to flow freely and abundantly.

(4) Brahmacharya means continence or celibacy, or withdrawal of the senses. Brahma means universal soul (and is also the Hindu god of creation) and brahmacharya could be interpreted as someone who is close to or at the feet of Brahma.

(5) Aparigraha means non-receiving, or a non-acceptance of gifts from others. It implies that the yogi should not be under the obligation of anyone, and sometimes in receiving gifts, we develop covetousness and a further wanting of such gifts.

2. Niyama are ethical and personal observances.

(1) Shoucha means purity or cleanliness. Not just in external purity, such as bathing and cleaning, but in internal purity of thought. The inside creates the outside, not the other way around.

(2) Santosha means contentment, or acceptance of life situation. Rather than a craving for more, it is the practice of being content with what you already have.

(3) Tapas means austerity, or simple living. This certainly includes minimalism as a philosophy and way of life and those who follow such a path are minimalists (I am one, you may be one too).

(4) Swadhaya means self-study, or self-directed study. Not solely learning from a teacher, one must also be able to learn from oneself.

(5) Ishwara Pranidhana means to surrender the gross to the subtle.

What does gross and subtle mean in yogic philosophy?

Gross means the material (e.g., the Earth) and subtle refers to the non-material (e.g., space). So ishwara pranidhana means the surrender or complete devotion to divinity, which leads to Samadhi, the eighth limb of Yoga, or Union with the Divine.

3. Asana, or body postures, may be what you are most familiar with. In fact, most folks, when asked what is Yoga, refer to all of Yoga as physical acts of putting your body in different postures on the mat.

What is ordinarily taught in Hatha Yoga classes is that in order to train your mind, you must first train the body.

The mind should be able to train the mind, but most people are not at this point of awareness yet. Thus, by placing your body in a certain position, this is making the mind experience that position, thus training your mind.

In Hatha Yoga Pradipika (1:17), it is said,

Hathasya prathamaangatvaadaasanam poorvamuchyate. Kuryaattadaasanam sthairyamaarogyam chaangalaaghavam.

This translates to,

Prior to everything, asana is spoken of as the first part of hatha yoga. Having done asana, one attains steadiness of body and mind, freedom from disease and lightness of the limbs.

4. Pranayama is regulation or control of the breath, or the extension of the vital force from the prana dimension into the material (or third dimension).

Prana is the energy that sustains all life. It is weightless and formless.

You’ve heard of vegetarians. You’ve heard of vegans. Have you heard of fruitarians? What about liquidtarians? And breatharians? There are some gurus who exist solely on prana alone. You don’t need to believe this, but prana is what sustains all of life. The idea is that if you have control of prana, you have control of life, your life. You needn’t anything else for sustenance.

Asana and Pranayama are what makes up Hatha Yoga and what you would experience when you attend a Yoga class.

Limbs 1 to 4 are what makes up outer Yoga, or mastery of the mind through the body.

Limb 5, pratyahara, bridges the outer with the inner, limbs 6 to 8.

Limbs 6 to 8 make up the inner Yoga, or mastery of the mind with the mind itself.

5. Pratyahara is the control or withdrawal of the mind from the senses. This is practiced in order to still the mind.

6. Dharana means concentration of which there is a subject and an object. Concentration leads to meditation and flow awareness. Dharana can be taught but Dhyana (the seventh limb) cannot.

7. Dhyana means meditation, the pure thought and absorption in the object of meditation. This is the nondifference between subject and object. It is the merging of the observer with the observed.

In Western thought, this is often noted as Oneness.
In Eastern thought, this is often noted as Not Two.

Notice the difference. “Not Two” does not automatically mean “One.”

8. Samadhi is the superconscious state, the deepest and highest state of pure consciousness where body and mind have been transcended. The yogi is no different from the cosmic self.

Yoga is not merely the physical practice, as you can see.

It is, in fact, a liberation of the soul.