The path of Ashtanga Yoga:
The Eight Limbs

The ancient Indian Guru Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras is considered the first master and teacher of yoga. He described yoga as consisting of eight limbs:

External practices

1. yama - Code of Ethics
   
   Ahimsa: non-violence, inflicting no injury or harm to others or even to one’s self also nonviolence in thought, word and deed.
   Satya: truth in word & thought.
   Asteya: non-covetousness, one should not even desire something that is not his own.
   Brahmacharya: abstain from sexual intercourse; celibacy in case of unmarried people and monogamy in case of married people. Even this to the extent that one should not possess any unholy thoughts towards any other man or woman except one's own spouse.
   Aparigraha: abstain from attachment to possessions.
2. niyama - Internal practices and reflections
   
   Shaucha: cleanliness of body & mind.
   Santosha: satisfaction; satisfied with what one has.. Being grateful for what one has
   Tapas: austerity and associated observances for body discipline & thereby mental control.
   Svadhyaya: introspection, looking within
   Ishvarapranidhana: surrender to (or worship of) God.
3. asana - postures, discipline of the body
4. pranayama breath control/techniques.
   The practice controls of the mind and preserve the Prana-vital energy
5. pratyahara -sense withdrawal or internalizing the senses

Internal practices

6. dharana - concentration and focus
7. dhyana - meditation
8. samadhi - Union with the supreme self- Self Realization

All the limbs, like a tree, are interrelated and support one another. The path is not to be seen as a ladder one climbs to get to the top but as a circular path. No one step is more important than the next. Each part of the eight limbed path holds its depth and importance. The asanas must first be established for the proper practice of pranyama (breath control) which then leads to further development of the yamas and niyamas. When these five externally oriented limbs of the practice are rooted the last three internal limbs will grow automatically from the foundation over time.

The Path to Meditation and Samadhi (self realization) is described as a single drop of water in a small bucket which then drops into a bathtub, a small bond, a lake, a river and then into the vastness of the ocean.

yogas citta-vrtti-nirodha Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind

Yoga Sutras 1.2