From Asana to Awareness: Integrating the Eight Limbs Into Practice - Treasure Coast Yoga Academy

About Course

This course invites yoga teachers to move beyond the posture and re-embody the full path of Ashtanga Yoga as articulated by Patanjali. Rather than teaching the Eight Limbs as a linear list, this program explores them as an interconnected mandala of inner and outer practice. Teachers will reflect on how the limbs are lived in the yoga room — and beyond — as ethics, discipline, presence, and spiritual inquiry. Philosophical insight meets embodied awareness in this deep-dive designed for teachers ready to move from memorization to integration.

• See the Bigger Picture – Understand how Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga provide a complete framework for practice beyond postures.
• Bring Philosophy to the Mat – Explore how to weave yamas, niyamas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi into asana-based teaching.
• Teach with Depth – Learn practical ways to design classes and workshops that integrate alignment, breath, mindfulness, and self-inquiry.
• Support Student Transformation – Discover how the Eight Limbs can guide personal growth, spiritual development, and trauma-informed teaching.

Course Content

Reframing the Eight Limbs: From Hierarchy to Integration
This module invites yoga teachers to expand their view of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. Rather than a linear ladder to climb, the limbs can be seen as a living mandala — dynamic, interconnected, and ever-unfolding in both practice and teaching. Rooted in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, this exploration helps teachers reorient their understanding to emphasize integration over compartmentalization.

The Eight Limbs as a Holistic Mandala, Not a Ladder
Patanjali Framed the Limbs in Context – Clarity from the Sutras
Beyond the Mat – Deconstructing the Modern Bias Toward Asana
A Deeper Look at Niyama and Pratyahara as the Soul of Practice
Embodied Integration vs. Intellectual Understanding – What Teachers Must Model

Yama and Niyama on the Mat – Ethics in Motion
In this module, teachers are invited to reconsider ethics not as external rules but as embodied wisdom, expressed through the lived experience of the classroom. Yama and Niyama are the first two limbs of Patanjali’s Eightfold Path and form the ethical and spiritual foundation of all yoga practice. This section explores how these values are expressed through presence, touch, language, boundaries, and relationships — not in abstraction, but in every moment of teaching.

Asana as Self-Study and Energetic Practice
In this module, asana is reintroduced not as a peak performance or aesthetic achievement, but as a mirror and a doorway. Teachers are invited to explore how postures can become profound portals for energetic awareness, inner inquiry, and self-refinement. Asana is not just where we align the bones, but where we align with being. Here, we’ll explore the neuroscience of sensation, the spiritual value of effort, and how breath and subtle locks transform movement into meditation.

Pranayama and Pratyahara — The Inner Turn

Meditation, Dharana, Dhyana in the Teaching Space

Stillness as Strength: Cultivating Attention in Movement and Silence
Reflect
Dharana as a Skill of Teaching Presence: Single-Pointed Awareness
Journal
Leading Dhyana: Cues for Stillness Without Striving
Practice
Class Structure that Supports the Meditative Limb (Even in Asana Classes)
Worksheet
Integrating the Full Path in Modern Teaching: Case Studies and Personal Reflections
Reflection

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About Course

What Will You Learn?

Course Content

The Eight Limbs as a Holistic Mandala, Not a Ladder

Patanjali Framed the Limbs in Context – Clarity from the Sutras

Beyond the Mat – Deconstructing the Modern Bias Toward Asana

A Deeper Look at Niyama and Pratyahara as the Soul of Practice

Embodied Integration vs. Intellectual Understanding – What Teachers Must Model

How Ahimsa, Satya, and Aparigraha Show Up in Cueing and Touch

SaucSaucha, Santosha, Tapas, Svadhyaya, and Ishvarapranidhana – Lived in Class Culture

Ethical Considerations for Adjustments, Sequencing, and Student Relationships

Real Case Studies: Boundary Violations and Restorative Repair

Creating Classes that Cultivate Ethical Presence, Not Just Physical Skill

Reflection and Journal

Asana Beyond Alignment – Portals to Pratyahara, Dharana, and Dhyana

Interoception, Proprioception, and the Yoga of Sensation

Embodying Svadhyaya and Tapas Through Challenging Postures

How Breath and Bandhas Subtly Shift the Energetic Experience of Asana

Cueing with Awareness – From Form to Feeling to Formlessness

Reflection and Journal

Pranayama and Pratyahara — The Inner Turn

Pratyahara as a Prerequisite

Subtle Shifts: How Turning Inward Alters Perception and Energy

Teaching Practices that Support Sensory Withdrawal

Worsksheet

Traditional Pranayamas that Enhance the Inner Gaze

Practice

Designing Moments of Stillness: Transitioning from Asana to Awareness

Reflection

Meditation, Dharana, Dhyana in the Teaching Space

Stillness as Strength: Cultivating Attention in Movement and Silence

Reflect

Dharana as a Skill of Teaching Presence: Single-Pointed Awareness

Journal

Leading Dhyana: Cues for Stillness Without Striving

Practice

Class Structure that Supports the Meditative Limb (Even in Asana Classes)

Worksheet

Integrating the Full Path in Modern Teaching: Case Studies and Personal Reflections

Reflection

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