What are the Yoga Sutras?
- Liquid Yoga
- Mar 30
- 7 min read
Heard of the Yoga Sutras? Wondering what they have to do with the yoga you practice on the mat? Find out here- Yoga 101 with yoga teacher Emmalene.
I won't lie, I'd never really heard of the Yoga Sutras before I did my yoga teacher training. I'd read quite a lot about buddhism and "modern" spirituality but I was really unfamiliar with some of the roots of yoga and the origins of how we approach yoga on the mat today.
So if, for example, you've been to a class and the teacher has said something like "we're working more with X today as mentioned in the Yoga Sutras", but you've never really got any further with exploring where yoga comes from, fear not! I am here to give you the low down.
So what are the Yoga Sutras?
In order to adequately explain the Yoga Sutras we need to go way back to the origins of yoga within the traditions that come from modern-day northern India.
For thousands of years, the people of this culture developed their ideas about how best to develop themselves whilst exploring and processing the mysteries of human existence on earth.
Works that we still find today from earlier traditions include the Vedas, which are essential sources for Hinduism and later religions. The Yoga Sutras came along later - up to about 2000 years later- than the Vedas, which gives us an idea of depth of time through which our yoga traditions developed!
Practically, the Sutras consist of 196 sayings or aphorisms which lay out a system for the practice and progression of yoga. They include a definition of yoga and a description of the conditions we need to create in order to practice and discover it.
The Yoga Sutras are attributed to the "sage" or wise person named Patanjali, and they sit within a philosophical approach called Samkhya. I could go down the rabbit hole here (I am a geek!) but it's enough to say that Samkhya tends to consider consciousness and experience rather than focus on God or gods, which makes the yoga of Patanjali more approachable and relevant for people who may have other (ie non-Hindu) religions or none.
Did the Yoga Sutras invent yoga?
The Yoga Sutras do not represent the invention of yoga so much as a point at which the practices of yoga had become widely enough practiced and recognised in India that they could be put together into a system of development.
It's also important to recognise that the yoga in the Yoga Sutras does not look very much like most of the modern physical yoga that most of the world (especially the western world) practices today. It's often noted that the Yoga Sutras only really make a brief mention of posture, it's just one of the eight "limbs" that are described, but we tend to make an entire yoga practice out of postures today.
So the Yoga Sutras represent a point where yoga had a clear system and identity that has been passed down to us but it's also clear that it has developed and changed a lot too in the c.2000 years since they were put together!
What is in the Yoga Sutras? What are the Eight Limbs?
The Yoga Sutras consist of 196 sayings or aphorisms which are short snappy lines (in Sanskrit) detailing different aspects of yoga theory and practice.
They are further divided into four chapters which cover the theory, practice, challenges and gifts of yoga.
The Yoga Sutras provide us with a clear definition of yoga as "the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind" or "the stilling of the patterning of consciousness" in sutra 1.2 (depending on which translation you use). This is really helpful context, especially in a modern yoga class where at face value you might be tempted to think that the definition of yoga is a movement sequence- in fact there's something else going on!
The Eight Limbs of yoga are quite famous in the yoga community and have given their name ("Ashtanga" in Sanskrit) to many things over the years including a whole system of yoga postures that's very popular today.
The Eight Limbs appear in chapter 2 which is dedicated to describing how we practice yoga. They are made up of the following:
1) the Yamas (moral/social considerations to live well)
2) the Niyamas (personal disciplines to live well)
3) Asana (posture of meditation)
4) Pranayama (breath control)
5) Pratyahara (drawing in the senses)
6) Dharana (concentration or focus)
7) Dhyana (meditation or absorption of attention)
8) Samadhi (awakening, bliss, enlightenment)
I could easily deep dive on these and will save that for another post.
The Eight Limbs provide a clear structure for how to practice and what the different stages of the practice look like. It becomes obvious that the goal of yoga (the stilling of the mind, to consistently achieve bliss or awakening) is the result of lifelong practice- or perhaps many lives of practice, if you assume reincarnation in your view of life!
What do the Yoga Sutras tell us about Postures?
Of the 196 sutras, there are really only three which mention posture. These appear in chapter 2 as part of the Eight Limbs:
2.46 The postures of meditation should embody steadiness and ease
2.47 This occurs as all effort relaxes and coalescence arises, revealing that the body and the infinite universe are indivisible
2.48 Then one is no longer disturbed by the play of opposites
(Chip Hartranft translation, Shambhala 2019)
Classically it's assumed that these sutras refer to the seated posture of meditation, which may well be correct, but although the sutras are in 'instruction mode' in chapter 2 they don't get granular enough to tell us what these postures of meditation actually are. Cue the next 2000 years of the development of postural yoga!
These sutras do tell us that when our postures become steady and comfortable we can move towards the revelation of a truth- that our bodies are at one with the universe.
This is not new news to many of us- you may have felt this when doing many other activities like walking in a beautiful place, hitting the flow state with your swim or your run or taking part in something where you feel greater than the sum of your parts. The sutras are reminding us that we can revisit this truth though yoga posture practice and attain more equilibrium in ourselves each time we do it.
How do the Yoga Sutras relate to a modern yoga class?
Whilst the Sutras only have a few short things to say about posture practice, a modern yoga class will often be made up of 80-90% posture practice! How can this relate?
The truth is that at the time of the Yoga Sutras being collated, yoga was mainly practiced by people who had renounced their regular lives and dedicated themselves to finding enlightenment, much like monks and nuns do today.
It's not possible for most people to take this approach today (just as it was then, too) but we have taken the practices of yoga and distilled them into something which helps us on our life journey even amidst the intensity of everyday life.
The posture practice of yoga, in my opinion, has become so popular because it provides us with a type of moving meditation that supports our daily and lifetime struggles in the world (the things which cause MANY fluctuations in the mind) and helps us to find more steadiness and equilibrium. As we do so we not only live better but we also have a chance to get those glimpses that we are part of something greater than just ourselves- whether that's on the yoga mat or halfway up a mountain.
Outside of the postures, yoga teachers will also often bring in themes from the Yamas and Niyamas as they relate to the practice on the mat or things that you can take into daily life (even with out being a monk!).
For example, Ahimsa or non-violence is the first Yama. Yoga teachers often ask, where could you be kinder to yourself in this practice? Where are you pushing it too far? What is your reaction when you can't do something as you expect or wish to? These relate to non-violence.
How do the Yoga Sutras relate to ongoing yoga practice?
The Yoga Sutras give us a path, a guide, to what ongoing yoga practice looks like.
For many people, coming to a yoga class is the start of a journey that will continue for much of life. The Yoga Sutras give teachers support and structure for where to take the students during class so that they can move through the journey. As a student, once we discover the Yoga Sutras ourselves, we can use them directly.
The Yoga Sutras may not be a practical guide to posture or breath practice, as our teachers can be, but they give us more of the 'lifestyle' approach to yoga which we can use both on and off the yoga mat.
For example, from the sixth limb of yoga (Dharana, concentration or focus) is described as "locking consciousness in a single area", something it's very difficult for many of us to do deliberately without practice. As we do it more in a yoga class, we might notice that our ability to concentrate outside of a yoga class improves too, which gives us more motivation to practice it both on and off the yoga mat.
The Yoga Sutras describe the benefits of ongoing yoga practice- becoming steadier, being less affected by hunger, acquiring beneficial qualities (friendliness, for example) by focusing on them- and many more. They also warn us that as we move on the path, we should not become attached to our accomplishments of these benefits as that will cause us difficulty.
Should you read the Yoga Sutras if you practice yoga?
If you practice yoga, I think it's important to know of the yoga sutras as they give some cultural and practical context to what you do in class. They are not, however, required reading for many practitioners. Yoga teachers are trained to support the integration of the ideas and themes from the Yoga Sutras on a practical and relatable level in a modern yoga class.
If you're interested in learning more about the theory and definition of yoga beyond a movement and breath class however, it might be good to get a copy. There are a lot of good commentaries out there both in yoga literature and on the internet, and for those who are insatiably curious (or like me perhaps, just downright geeky) it can provide deeper insights into the whole practice of yoga.
Are you curious to continue your yoga journey? I offer private sessions tailored to your goals and needs, both in person and online. Head over to the private classes page and book now or contact me for a pre-booking chat.
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