Browse by category
George’s Intro
Yoga has more to offer. I’m George, a BWY yoga teacher, creator of the Online Yoga Lesson Planner and yoga card deck maker. I also have a habit of turning teaching ideas into yellow sticky-note doodles.
The eight limbs give us plenty to explore beyond the next posture. They bring questions about conduct, attention, breath and meditation into the conversation. That can sound like a lot to squeeze between the warm-up and the person asking where the toilets are.
These editable handouts make a useful starting point. There’s a one-page overview followed by a separate page for each limb, with plain-language explanations, classroom applications and a reflection question. Pick a page, introduce one idea and give it room to land.
Download the Eight Limbs Handouts
Nine pages in one document
Both versions contain the same overview and eight individual handouts. The pages have white backgrounds for printing. Add your class details, adapt the wording and print the page that suits your students.
The Eight Limbs at a Glance
Start with the wider picture. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras set out an eight-limbed path within Indian yoga philosophy. Posture is one part of that account, alongside ethical conduct and increasingly inward practices. This is an influential yoga tradition, rather than the only way yoga has been understood.
- Yama: ethical restraints, including non-harming and truthfulness.
- Niyama: personal observances, including contentment, study and dedication.
- Asana: posture, with an emphasis on steadiness and ease.
- Pranayama: regulation of the breath.
- Pratyahara: withdrawal of the senses from their habitual outward pull.
- Dharana: concentration on a chosen focus.
- Dhyana: a sustained flow of attention in meditation.
- Samadhi: meditative absorption.
The list appears in Yoga Sutra 2.29. Translations and commentaries differ in their wording; this introduction to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras provides useful background for teachers who want to explore further.
Bring the Yamas and Niyamas into Class
Make the idea tangible. The handouts introduce all five yamas and all five niyamas. A small example can help students connect an unfamiliar term with a choice they recognise.
For ahimsa, invite students to choose a supported version of a posture. For satya, encourage honest feedback about comfort. For santosha, ask what feels sufficient today. For svadhyaya, read a short passage with context and leave a question to consider.
These are contemporary classroom applications, not complete translations. The pages retain the traditional context of brahmacharya and Ishvara pranidhana, while giving students room to reflect through their own experience and beliefs.
You do not have to explain ten Sanskrit terms while everyone is balancing on one leg. They are already busy.
Explain Attention and Meditation Clearly
Give each idea its space. Pratyahara, dharana and dhyana can sound similar when introduced in a hurry. A simple distinction helps: pratyahara concerns the pull of the senses; dharana establishes a focus; dhyana describes continuity of attention to it.
For a short introduction, offer a comfortable seat and a choice of focus. A visual object or contact with the chair may suit someone better than the breath. Invite students to notice when attention wanders and return gently. Eyes can stay open, and participation is optional.
These small exercises introduce aspects of practice. They do not demonstrate that someone has attained a particular classical state. Samadhi is presented as a topic for study and inquiry, without promising it as the outcome of the afternoon class.
Eight Themes to Explore over Eight Classes
One theme is plenty. Use the following as discussion prompts alongside a suitable class plan. The order follows the eight limbs, but an eight-week course is an introduction, not a claim that everyone progresses through the whole path in eight lessons.
- Yama — considerate choices. Offer a genuine choice to rest and ask how non-harming might influence an everyday decision.
- Niyama — a small commitment. Choose a realistic practice or study habit to revisit during the week.
- Asana — steadiness and ease. Explore how a chair, cushion or adjustment changes the experience of a posture.
- Pranayama — meet your breath. Begin with ordinary breathing, without forced depth or breath holds. Use the breathing handouts for further teaching ideas.
- Pratyahara — choose your attention. Notice a sound, then deliberately return to a comfortable anchor.
- Dharana — begin again. Give attention a simple focus and practise returning when it wanders.
- Dhyana — allow continuity. Leave a short, unhurried period with a familiar focus, without checking for a special result.
- Samadhi — stay curious. Discuss the meaning of absorption and invite questions for further study.
Make the Handouts Work for Your Students
Keep the invitation practical. Give out one page at a time, use it as a discussion aid or adapt it into a short email after class. The reflection questions also work as private journal prompts; nobody needs to share a personal answer with the group.
Keep the explanation alongside the activity when editing. A movement example should not become the entire definition of a philosophical concept. Use a translation with commentary when teaching the text in more depth, and be comfortable saying that you will look into a question.
The pranayama page begins with gentle breath observation. Students can use another focus if breathing exercises feel uncomfortable, and more demanding methods need individual guidance.
Give Your Class a Theme
Leave room to explore. Use the Online Yoga Lesson Planner to organise your sequence, add a theme and keep your teaching notes close by. A clear plan makes it easier to leave space for questions, quiet and the people in the room.
George’s Conclusion
Take one idea with you. Download the handouts, choose a page and use it to begin a conversation. The eight limbs give us plenty to return to as teachers and students.
And if your class remembers one useful idea after the shoes go back on, that is a good place to start. You can leave the other seven for another day.