The five yamas are: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, brahmacharya and non-attachment. The five niyamas are: purity, contentment, study of the self, tapas (austerity) and surrender to God. The yamas and niyamas are the first two components of yoga’s eight integral components which are: yamas, niyamas, asanas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Yoga sadhana can only be performed within the protective fortress of the yamas and niyamas. Without this foundation, the seeker is condemned to endless disturbances.
Yama and niyama (restraints and observances) are aids to purification. They help to make the sadhana simpler. If they are neglected, many hurdles crop up during sadhana and it takes a very long time to up-root these evils. To save time and energy, it is necessary that one must resort to yama and niyama.
The seeker who wants to peacefully pursue the course of sadhana should give up violence, non-truthfulness, stealing, promiscuity, hoarding, jealousy, impatience, cruelty, overeating and other impurities. All these must be avoided and abandoned or there will always be distractions and disturbances in performing sadhana.
There are countless asanas and mudras. Yet the ancient teachers have given predominance to only ten. They are: mulabandha, uddiyanabandha, jalandharbandha, mahamudra, mahavedha, mahabandha, viparitakarani, vajroli, shakticalana and khechari. These ten mudras are the immortal experiences of kriya yoga. A true yogi will certainly realize them through proper yoga sadhana.
A unique aspect of yoga sadhana is that the wholehearted practice of any one technique spontaneously elicits the entire spectrum of yogic techniques in a natural way. As a result, the initial stages of yoga prepare the groundwork for the more advanced stages.