Furthermore, there are distinctions according to whether [practice is] mild, moderate, or intense.

Patañjali recognizes that practitioners vary not only in their general level of intensity but also in degrees within each category. This creates nine types of practitioners:

• Mild intensity: mild-mild, mild-moderate, mild-intense
• Medium intensity: medium-mild, medium-moderate, medium-intense
• High intensity: high-mild, high-moderate, high-intense

This nuanced analysis reflects reality: not everyone progresses at the same pace, and that is fine. Yoga adapts to the practitioner, not the other way around. What matters is constancy and correct direction, regardless of speed.