The 8 Limbs Made Clear: A Modern, Practical Guide to Patanjali’s System
Yogaland Podcast
Andrea Ferretti
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Long before Jason was an anatomy nerd, a sequencing, and a technique nerd, he was a philosophy nerd. In fact, his undergraduate degree is in Philosophy. On this episode, he breaks down Patanjali’s 8-limbed path through a modern, practical model that finally makes sense -- not as a ladder to climb, but as concentric circles of self-regulation that move from the external to the deeply internal.
We’ll explore how yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi work together as a system for grounding, clarity, and inner steadiness — and why this perspective is easier to apply in real life than the traditional “8 steps” approach.
If this brings more clarity to the 8 limbs, please share it with your students or fellow teachers!
***A reminder: Jason's 200-Hour Online Yoga Teacher Training is now open for enrollment. The early bird pricing expires Dec. 21st, so enroll before then to lock in your $300 discount. Learn more at jasonyoga.com/200
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, welcome to Yoga Land. I am your host, Jason Crandall. |
| 0:07.1 | I am doing a solo cast today. |
| 0:09.4 | Andrew and I will be back together next week. |
| 0:11.8 | And I don't know how many of you know this about me, but long before I was an anatomy nerd, a sequencing and a technique nerd, I was a philosophy nerd. |
| 0:20.8 | I have an undergraduate degree in philosophy. And to this day... nerd, a sequencing, and a technique nerd, I was a philosophy nerd. |
| 0:23.2 | I have an undergraduate degree in philosophy. And to this day, I literally cannot believe that I work, at least in some capacity, where I |
| 0:30.0 | draw on that undergraduate education. |
| 0:32.8 | Anyways, I actually rarely teach yoga philosophy overtly outside of my teacher training programs. |
| 0:41.1 | For me, when I'm teaching philosophy and when I'm studying yoga philosophy, I don't want to rush. |
| 0:47.5 | This content takes time. |
| 0:49.6 | And so, yes, of course, it can be incorporated in an asana class. |
| 0:53.6 | But truthfully, my preference is to go a little |
| 0:56.0 | bit deeper into yoga philosophy as student and teacher when I'm not also cueing or practicing |
| 1:03.4 | down dog. I think it's just a little bit easier to let it sink in. So what I have created today |
| 1:08.1 | is a way of looking at the eight limbs as a method of self-regulation |
| 1:15.0 | from the gross to the subtle. And I think that when we start to see this conversation, |
| 1:22.7 | and when we start to see the eight limbs as concentric circles or as nesting dolls. They, we start to see that they have |
| 1:32.9 | this incredible, beautiful, integrated logic. I'm excited for you to listen to this and just a really |
| 1:38.3 | quick heads up before we start. I have a couple of upcoming things. Number one, my 200-hour teacher training online course is |
| 1:46.4 | coming up. You can find more information at that at jasonyoga.com slash 200. And also, I have a couple of |
| 1:55.5 | live events coming up. I will be in LA at the Center for Yoga in early January. I think it's January 10th. |
| 2:04.3 | I'm going to do two workshops there. I would love to see you. I'm actually really excited about |
... |
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