How to Use the Chakras Together with the Eight Limbs of Yoga to Enhance Your Practice and Joyful Spirit?

If you’ve been around the yoga community for some time you probably heard about the chakras. You may have also heard of ashtanga – or the eight limbs of yoga by Patanjali. Both are powerful systems to helps us progress in our spiritual practice.

Can they help us synergistically on our path to enlightenment?

How you can use the chakras

Chakras are energy centers in the body, that have specific locations and specific affects. Each energetic center is connected to a specific color, sound, emotion and purpose. They are a body mind connection. A chakra is like a spinning wheel of energy. It can be balanced or go out of balance, in excess or deficiency. Understanding the chakra system can help us have better awareness of how to balance or body, mind and life in general.

Ashtanga or the eight limbs of yoga

The eight limbs of yoga, known as Ashtanga yoga of Patanjali’s, is an eight part system that helps guide us to a better life and ultimately to being the one flow of energy, meaning experiencing samadhi and knowing our true self. It is a step by step system to master the mind and go beyond it.

Ashtanga and Chakras enhancing your life

Ashtanga and the Chakras are not really associated, but by looking at both systems, we may find some similarities and ways to enhance our progress. It is like having 2 sets of tools, both help us repair, improve and reach enlightenment, and together we may have a synergetic system to understand better where we are and how to better practice. It is not an exact science but rather a way to find links and connections between two great paths of information and enhance the way we can use them. 

The Eight Limbs and the Chakras

Yamas / Muladhara Chakra

The first limb, the yamas, are ethical codes to help us be respectful of our society and nature around us. The yamas teach us to stay truthful, not harm, not steal, to keep our sexual energy in right use, and to not be possessive.

The first chakra, muladhara chakra, is our root chakra, and corresponds to our basic needs and the ability to feel safe and protected as well as have enough food and essential needs meet. When this chakra is overactive you may experience anger, aggression, hard time accepting changes and materialism. Under active root chakra results in a feeling of being ungrounded, unstable, and having fear and anxiety about the basics of life. When it is balanced, our basic needs are fulfilled without attachment, jealousy or harming our surrounding.

 The yamas and the root chakra are foundations for a healthy and sustainable life. Start with making sure they are both balanced so you can feel secure and abundant, and have healthy and calm relationships with your surroundings.

Niyamas / Svadhistana Chakra

The second limb, the niyamas, addresses moral codes and advice on how to behave towards ourselves. The niyamas include five principles; Purity and cleanliness, being content, diligence and dedication, study of the self and surrender to a greater self, or God. These practices prepare us to understand who we are and let go of a strong sense of self.

The second chakra, svadhistana chakra is the sacral chakra. It relates to creativity, intimacy, sensuality, finding harmony in sexual energy and well being. When this chakra is overactive it will result in emotional attachment, sexual addiction and creating drama in your life. Under active sacral chakra will result in being frigid towards others, self denial to the point of fear of pleasure, weak sex drive, lack of creativity and unbalanced intimate relationships. When in balance you will feel confident in yourself and your sexuality.

Both niyamas and the sacral chakra help us build up a good use of our sense of self, confidence and contentment. 

Asana / Manipura Chakra

The third limb, asana, is what comes to peoples’ minds when they hear the word “Yoga”. The direct translation is “to place”.  It can mean the form in which you place your body, even just for meditation. In simple words: the physical part of the practice, which creates heat, steadiness and determination.

The third chakra, manipura, is the solar plexus chakra. Here is the power station, heat generation, activity, determination and self manifestation. Excess solar plexus chakra can lead to aggression and over controlling. An under active chakra can cause passiveness and low self esteem. This chakra is our place of feeling the power to manifest, take responsibility and take action. 

As the asana prepares our bodies for seated mediation, the flow of energy through the solar plexus chakra is the motivator to do and achieve. Keeping the energy flow needed to move into the higher levels of our being.

Pranayama / Anahata Chakra

The fourth limb, pranayama, is the control over the energy of life and the breath. It helps us achieve balance between yin and yang, open our lungs and heart space, and have smoother flow of energy and breath through the body. 

The fourth chakra, anahata chakra, is the heart chakra. Here is where we open up to feeling motherly love and compassion. We find emotional balance and an opening through both the heart and the lungs. We breathe more fully and allow smoother flow of energy between the lower, physical chakras and the higher, more spiritual ones. When this chakra is over active, emotions will be unbalanced, with feeling of jealousy, attachment and being demanding or excessive sacrificing. When it is under active, emotions can lead to depression, loneliness, and a feeling of isolation.

Control of life force, and breathing leads to a balanced emotional being where love and energy flow through the body.  

Pratyahara / Vishuddha Chakra

The fifth limb, pratyahara, is the ability to withdraw from our senses. When we withdraw from external stimuli, what we experience in our senses does not translate into reactions in our minds. 

The fifth chakra, vishuddha chakra is the throat chakra. It is responsible for expression in voice and intent, in communication, and in expression. Lack of balance in the throat chakra is manifested by not being able to speak clearly and honestly, having poor communication and even lack of creativity in expression. When the throat chakra is in excess, talking happens too much, unclear and communication or expression may be in a way that is harmful to you or others. 

Learning to control our communication and our interaction with the external world, happens through right use of the throat chakra, as well as through control of mind over senses.

Dharana / Ajna Chakra

The sixth limb, dharana, is the ability to focus on a single object so that you are in control of the wandering mind.  It is a presence in every moment. Performing a single act with full awareness, and focus.

The sixth chakra, ajna chakra, is the third eye chakra. This is where we enter deeper into spiritual awareness, intuition, and preparation for deeper meditation. When it’s blocked, you will find it hard to concentrate and focus, and the mind will wander. When the third eye chakra is out of balance, it is hard to connect wth intuition and remembering the spiritual path (dharma). Keep it balanced by staying present, focused and aware. Focus on spiritual living more than just physical pleasures.

Dharana and ajna chakra are both the gateways to enlightenment. Through practice, these will help you develop stronger awareness and abilities to step up into deeper meditations.

Dhyana

The seventh limb, dhyana, is the state of meditation. After controlling the mind to stay still and focused, we are able to move deeper into a state of being where the mind is completely present and surrendered from activity. It is a state beyond the ego and the thinking self. This happens as we drop into meditation, the separation between the object we’ve been concentrating on and the observing self begin to fade away and dissolve into oneness.

The seventh chakra, sahasrara chakra, is the crown chakra. It is the home of awareness of the true self, the universe and the connection between the two. This is the portal into oneness, where we flow out of the mind in into the state of being. We are transitioning into the ultimate. When the crown chakra is over active there may be brain fog or detachment from the surrounding world and there may be a feeling of disconnectedness. Under active  crown chakra might result in lack of ability to grasp new ideas, and no desire to discover your true inner self.

Dhyana and the crown chakra are both entry points into the existence of oneness where the mind is released and a state of emptiness arrives.

Samadhi

The eighth limb of ashtanga yoga is samadhi, the final union of self with the universe. It is the state of freedom from the mind and the attachments to the worldly happenings. There are no more boundaries and no attachments to identity and physical form.

This doesn’t relate to a specific chakra but to the free flow of energy through all chakras and beyond. It is when our chakras correspond with all outer energies and our life force is in flow with universal flow.

As we balance our life, and have a sustainable practice on and off the mat, we build both the flow of energy through our chakras as well as the evolution through the eight limbs leading to complete liberation.

Conclusion

Both systems are great tools to develop a balance life and lead us deeper into the virtual path. The chakras can help us see what is out of balanced in body and mind, while the eight limbs shows us  path towards enlightenment. They are not interchangeable, but can supplement each other to work in synergy. Use the wisdom of both to empower yourself and your student to grow healthier, happier, and close to the understanding of your true self.

Practice

Look at each limb and find where you’re struggling, where you’re not the 100% you can be. Maybe some of the limbs are not even part of your practice. Now look at the corresponding chakra, is everything in balance?  Set an intention to work on each aspect you find that may be out of balance. Be specific with your intentions, and have clarity on what you will do to re-balance. Say you found that your third chakra is out of balance, take a look at your physical practice. Maybe you practice only once a week and you need to be more active. Or maybe you are over training and need to take it down a notch.

 What do you think? Please share in the comments what were your results from the experiment, did you change anything in your practice? Did it affect your daily life?