Written by Joseph Berridge, Founder of Joga Yoga
Yoga philosophy is the set of ideas behind yoga practice: what the mind is, why we suffer, and how to become free. Its classic text is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 195 or 196 short aphorisms compiled in the early centuries CE. It rests on a simple model: pure consciousness on one side, the busy mind and body on the other, and the eight limbs as the method for telling them apart. Here is what the tradition teaches, how old it really is, and how to use it off the mat.
What is yoga philosophy?
Yoga philosophy is a set of ideas about how the mind works, why people suffer, and how to become free. In the Indian tradition it is one of the six classical schools of Hindu philosophy, alongside Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta, as summarised in Wikipedia’s entry on Yoga philosophy.
Its classic statement is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The second sutra of the first chapter defines yoga as restraining the mind (citta) from its fluctuations (vrittis). Everything else in the text, including the eight limbs, is a method for doing that.
Yoga and Samkhya were so closely linked that scholars often describe yoga as “Samkhya with God.” According to the scholar Edwin Bryant, the first reference to yoga as a separate school appears in the writings of Shankara in the 9th century CE. Before that, the two were treated as one tradition.
How old is yoga philosophy?
You will often read that yoga philosophy is 5,000 years old. The texts do not support that figure. Some ideas yoga draws on are much older, but the system most teachers mean when they say “yoga philosophy” took shape in the early centuries CE.
| Text | Approximate date | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Rigveda | c. 1500 to 1100 BCE | Ritual hymns. Not a yoga manual. |
| Early Upanishads | Before the Yoga Sutras | The self (atman), ultimate reality (brahman) and early ideas of energy channels in the body |
| Bhagavad Gita | Dates debated | Yoga as action, knowledge and devotion, taught inside the Mahabharata epic |
| Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | Early centuries CE, about 400 CE by Philipp Maas’s dating | The first systematic yoga philosophy, including the eight limbs |
| Amritasiddhi | 11th century CE | The earliest known source text for hatha yoga |
| Hatha Yoga Pradipika | 15th century CE | Postures, breath control, locks and mudras as a path to meditation |
These dates come from Wikipedia’s scholar-sourced entries on tantra, the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The Yoga Sutras compiled material from Samkhya, Buddhism and older yoga traditions, so Patanjali organised ideas rather than inventing them.
The posture-heavy yoga taught in most studios today comes mostly from the later hatha tradition and modern teachers. That does not make it less valuable. It just means the philosophy and the poses have different histories.
The core ideas of yoga philosophy
The eight limbs make more sense once you know the model of the mind they are built on. These are the ideas that model rests on.
Purusha and prakriti
Yoga takes its picture of reality from Samkhya. There are two realities. Purusha is pure consciousness, the witness that is untouched by thoughts. Prakriti is everything else, including matter, the senses, the mind and your sense of “me.” Suffering comes from confusing the two, taking the changing mind for who you are.
The three gunas
Prakriti is made of three qualities in shifting proportions. Sattva is clarity and balance. Rajas is activity, craving and restlessness. Tamas is heaviness, inertia and confusion. Yoga practice aims to increase sattva, so the mind is clear enough to see itself.
Citta and the vrittis
Citta is the mind as a whole: intelligence (buddhi), ego (ahamkara) and the everyday thinking mind (manas). Vrittis are its constant movements, the thoughts, memories and reactions that pull attention around. Yoga, in Patanjali’s definition, is the practice of quieting them.
Ignorance and liberation
The Yoga school holds that ignorance is the root of suffering and of the cycle of rebirth. Liberation (kaivalya, or moksha) comes from clear discernment between purusha and prakriti. Our guides to the types of karma and samskaras explain how past actions and habits keep that cycle going.
Ishvara
Unlike Samkhya, yoga includes Ishvara, often translated as the Lord. The Yoga Sutras use the term in 11 verses and define Ishvara as a special self untouched by suffering and karma. Commentators have read it as a personal god, an ideal of pure awareness, or anything with spiritual meaning for the student. The text leaves room for all three readings.
The eight limbs of yoga
The eight limbs (ashtanga) are the Yoga Sutras’ practical method. They run from how you treat others to the deepest states of meditation.
| Limb | Meaning | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Yama | Restraints | Non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, sexual restraint, non-possessiveness |
| 2. Niyama | Observances | Cleanliness, contentment, discipline, self-study, devotion to Ishvara |
| 3. Asana | Posture | In the Sutras, a steady and comfortable seat for meditation |
| 4. Pranayama | Breath control | Regulating the breath to steady the mind |
| 5. Pratyahara | Sense withdrawal | Drawing attention in from sights, sounds and cravings |
| 6. Dharana | Concentration | Holding the mind on one object |
| 7. Dhyana | Meditation | Unbroken flow of attention on that object |
| 8. Samadhi | Absorption | The mind becomes still and clear, and the object alone shines |
The five yamas are listed in Yoga Sutra 2.30. Patanjali also explains why each one matters. Non-harming (ahimsa), for example, is said to end hostility around the practitioner, and contentment (santosha) to make inner sources of joy matter more than outer ones. For how ahimsa shapes food choices, see our guide to the yoga diet.
The last three limbs work together. Patanjali calls them samyama in the third chapter and treats them as the tools for self-knowledge.
How to use yoga philosophy in daily life
Yoga philosophy is meant to be practised, not just read. These are small, concrete ways to start.
- Pick one yama for a week. Notice every time you exaggerate, for example, if you choose satya (truthfulness).
- Keep a five-minute evening journal for svadhyaya (self-study). Write down one reaction you had and what triggered it.
- Sit for 10 minutes a day and count how often the mind wanders. That is direct observation of the vrittis.
- Set a sankalpa, a short intention, at the start of each practice.
- Read the Yoga Sutras slowly in a translation with commentary. One sutra a day is plenty.
Karma and dharma are the next ideas most students want to understand. Our guides to karma and dharma and agami karma go further into both.
Yoga philosophy FAQs
What is the main text of yoga philosophy?
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a collection of 195 or 196 short aphorisms in four chapters. The count depends on which commentary you follow. The Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads are also widely studied in yoga teacher training.
Is yoga philosophy a religion?
It comes out of the Hindu tradition and includes the idea of Ishvara, but it has no required rituals or single deity. People of many religions, and none, study it as a philosophy of mind and ethics.
How is yoga philosophy different from Vedanta?
Classical yoga is dualist: consciousness and matter are two separate realities. Advaita Vedanta, the best known form of Vedanta, is non-dualist and holds that only one reality exists. Vedanta texts such as the Brahma Sutras argue against yoga’s dualism while still valuing yoga as a practice.
Do you study philosophy in yoga teacher training?
Yes. Yoga Alliance 200-hour programmes include yoga humanities, which covers history, philosophy and ethics. How much time a school gives it varies, so ask to see the curriculum.
Is tantra part of yoga philosophy?
Tantra is a separate family of traditions, but it shaped hatha yoga heavily. Our guide to what tantra is explains the link.
Study yoga philosophy in Bali
Joga Yoga’s Yoga Alliance accredited teacher trainings in Canggu include yoga philosophy with Dada, a monk for more than 20 years, alongside daily asana, pranayama and meditation. See the next start dates and what the fee includes.
See training dates