Classical Yoga (Patanjali)
The systematic path of meditation and self-discipline codified by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, outlining eight limbs from ethical conduct to meditative absorption.
Classical Yoga (Patanjali)
When most people hear "yoga," they think of postures. But Patanjali's Yoga Sutras — Classical Yoga — is primarily a contemplative discipline: a systematic path of meditation aimed at stilling the mind and revealing the true nature of the self.
Origins and History
The Yoga Sutras, composed around the 2nd century BCE (dating debated), are 196 terse aphorisms codifying a tradition likely much older than the text itself. Patanjali organized practices developing in India for centuries, drawing on Samkhya philosophy, early Buddhist meditation, and the contemplative traditions of the Upanishads.
The text lays out an eight-limbed (ashtanga) path moving from external conduct to increasingly subtle inner awareness. For most of its history, the Yoga Sutras was one philosophical text among many. Its modern prominence as the foundational yoga text is largely a 20th-century development.
Core Teachings and Practice
Patanjali defines yoga as chitta vritti nirodha — the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. When the mind becomes still, the true self (purusha) is revealed, free from identification with thoughts, emotions, and the body.
The eight limbs provide a comprehensive framework: ethical restraints (yama), observances (niyama), posture (asana), breath control (pranayama), sense withdrawal (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and absorption (samadhi). While modern yoga culture emphasizes asana, Patanjali's system places its center of gravity in the final three — concentration, meditation, and the profound stillness of samadhi.