Posts In: yamas and niyamas

Tame Our Overindulgences

Everywhere we look, we see the results of living in excess. In a society that glorifies more and more, it becomes challenging to listen to the voice of intuition urging us towards moderation and balance. This Yama, Brahmacharya, can be particularly difficult to work on, and some may even question its importance. Let’s take the example of eating too much – when we overindulge, we feel sluggish and uncomfortable, lacking the motivation to do anything else, except maybe watching television. The same can be said for overdrinking, oversleeping, overworking, and overexerting in any aspect of life – it drains our vital life force, our prana. (more…)

Asteya – Non-stealing

The 3rd Yama is simple, don’t steal. In its simplest form, Asteya asks that we not take what does not belong to us. While most of us wouldn’t be categorized as a thief, this yogic principle draws our attention to more subtle ways in which we rob not only others but ourselves, on and off the yoga mat. (more…)

Satya is the 2nd of the five Yamas, or observances, in the yogic path to awareness. Satya means Truthfulness. Living a path of truthfulness seems easy enough yet can be complicated. Why I say complicated is because Satya calls for us to dive deeper than the surface layer of truth that we show outwardly and explore what is really our truth and essence. (more…)

Over the summer I have been reflecting on and studying some of the foundations of a yoga practice and have been pleasantly surprised at the added awareness to my everyday life. These are known as the yamas and niyamas which are guidelines of living and navigating in the world through our relationship to ourselves and others. They are the foundation of all yoga practices and without a firm foundation we lack the necessary building blocks to navigate in this world with joy and happiness.

Ahimsa

The 1st Yama, which is called Ahimsa or non-violence/non-harming, calls for us to pay attention to how we treat ourselves and others. My first reaction to thinking about this was (more…)