1. Yama (The five "abstentions"): Non-violence, non-lying, non-covetousness, non-obsession with sense data, and non-possessiveness.
2. Niyama (The five "observances"): Purity, contentment, austerity, study, and surrender to a higher power.
3. Asana: The physical practice most of us understand to be yoga. Asana literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for meditation.
4. Pranayama ("Suspending Breath"): Prâna, breath, âyâma, to restrain or stop. Also interpreted as control of the life force.
5. Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.
6. Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.
7. Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.
8. Samâdhi ("Liberation"): Merging consciousness with the object of meditation.
