Popular culture would have us to narrow down yoga to a tangible meaning. Yet, it is so much more and includes principles for navigating life!

Imagine smelling a fresh pie straight out of the oven. The scent is so alluring that you follow it to the kitchen only to find that there is a piece missing. You find yourself paying more attention to what is missing than what remains.

That is probably not the best analogy for yoga, but rock with me on this one.

Yoga is so much more than (a slice of) the physical practice. In fact, it consists of eight slices, or limbs, that make for a meaningful life. They are:

1. Yamas guide how we treat others. It is much like the “golden rule” with five specific charges: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non stealing), brahmacharya (continence), and aparigraha (non covetousness).

2. Niyamas govern our personal habits through five practices: saucha (cleanliness), samtosa (contentment), tapas (spiritual austerity), svadhyaya (study of sacred texts and of self), and isvara pranidhana (surrender to God).

3. Asanas are the poses you practice in a yoga class. Through it, the body is prepared for meditation.

4. Pranayama is breath control. As you practice various techniques you are better able to remain calm in shaky situations.

5. Pratyahara is the practice of detaching so that you may build awareness from a bird’s eye view.

6. Dharana is concentrating inward on a singular focus that is only cultivated after pratyahara.

7. Dhyana is the state of having awareness without focus. It is meditation.

8. Samadhi is the sense of ecstasy or enlightenment that transcends the Self and knows the interconnectedness of self with all.

To learn more, read Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.