Approximately 2000 years ago, the great yoga sage Patanjali set out eight limbs of yoga in his classical text The Yoga Sutras.
While all eight limbs are key to truly practicing yoga as a whole, principles one and two, the yamas and the niyamas offer specific guidance for living a a fulfilling and meaningful yogic life.
Yoga is such a personal practice and a yogic life is about living in a way that respects your true nature and helps you find union with all the aspects (shealths) of your being. The yamas and niyamas act as stepping stones that work to cultivate self-awareness so you can find balance and harmony within yourself.
Having said this, Patanjali’s lengthy verses aren’t always the easiest to digest and some elements can feel slightly out of place in our day and age. That’s why we’ve unpacked the essentials of the yamas and niyamas and how they can be integrated into life off the mat and into the world.
The Five Yamas
Yoga’s five yamas offer a moral code of conduct for living a truly spiritual life. Whats interesting about the yamas is that they aren’t just limited to how we conduct ourselves, but emphasise our relationships with others.
Ahimsa: non violence
Ahimsa or non-violence might seem fairly self-explanatory but there’s more to this first yama than meets the eye. This is because ahimsa applies not only in a physical sense, but verbally and emotionally too. For instance, this means bouts of road rage where barrages of expletives are used, are considered a verbal form of himsa or violence. Putting yourself or others down is seen as emotional violence and pushing yourself to the point where you cause yourself pain or injury on the yoga mat is also seen as himsa in a physical sense.
Practicing ahimsa requires us to resist the knee-jerk reactions where violence is directed towards ourselves or others. Instead, we must take the completely opposite approach. This means treating others with kindness, love and respect, even when they might not be doing the same. The next time negative thoughts arise of the temptation to act or react in a way that could be considered “violent” occurs, step back and become the observer. Violence, no matter where directed, has a toxic, draining effect on the body and mind. When you realise the effect himsa has on yourself and others you can start to move away from resorting to violence and begin fostering greater peace internally.
Satya: Truthfulness
The second yama, satya, is all about truth and the pursuit of one’s own true self. Satya involves always speaking the truth, which means no lies (even white ones), no embellishments (even when they make your anecdotes sound that little bit better) and no gossip (even when its juicy)
Actively practicing truthfulness requires us to slow down. It involves objectivity, thought and careful consideration of our words, actions and choices so they do less harm and more good. Satya asks we respect the power and the weight of truth and untruth and the impact they have on ourselves and others.
Patanjali says the purpose of practicing honesty is to become open and fearless. When we embrace satya and uphold the truth to the utmost, we have nothing to fear, the mind is clear and serene, whihc allows us to see our true selves and live in a way that respects this. Adopting satya can be as simple as evaluating your day objectivly and thinking about when you practiced truthfulness and when you did not. It’s amazing how many white lies - with no malice intended and often for no apparant reason - we can drop each day. Becoming aware of living in a truthful manner even in this smallest form is a conscious step towards embracing satya.
Asteya: non-stealing
Asteya or non-stealing applies in a literal sense and on a more conceptual level. To understand asteya and how it might apply to you, think beyond the physical and of the immaterial intangiable things one can “steal”. For instance, we can steal a friend’s time when we turn up for lunch late. We can steal someones energy when we demand too much of them and we can steal happiness when we treat people without kindness and compassion. You might even go a step further and thinka bout the air you bretahe, the water you drink and other elements you take and depend on without acknowledgement.
Practicing asteya is about becoming conscious of what you take from others and your surroundings and whether its freely given or not. Awareness of this yama helps us avoid taking more than we need and encourages contentment with what we have and who we are. Asteya also stresses the importance of giving back. If you have a friend who gives you a shoulder to cry on or is always there to get you out of a bind, you should return that love and energy on an equal level. This is kindness and gratitude in action and allows true “wealth” or happiness to come into our lives.
Brahmacharya: sense control
Brahmacharya has a number of interpretations, celibacy being one of them, whihc is why it can seem a bit of a stretch to integrate into modern life. To help you better understand this yama, lets consider what is aims to acheive. Traditionally one of the purposes of brahmacharya was practing abstinence in order to conserve sexual energy, the idea being that this energy could be better controlled and directed into other areas in order to progress spiritually. To make this more relevant to the present day, you can think of brahmacharya as an active practice of controlling your senses, urges and desires and using the time and energy saved to fulfil these needs more productively. For instance, think about what senses might rule your behaviour; what temptations and vices you grapple with and how much time it takes to fulfil them. Wheather you are a shopaholic, love snakcing on junk food or enjoy sleeping till midday, the instant gratification you seek from these sense-driven excesses and indulgences is fleeting and takes you futher away from your path or higher purpose. Considering this, practicing brahmacharya can be as simple as devoting time to meditation, journalling or walking in nature. these are just a few ways you can explore and connect with your inner self by directing energy away from your outward desires.
Aparigraha: non-possessiveness
More than ever, we are becoming defined by our possessions. Whether its the clothes we wear, the gadgets we own or even where we live, our ownership and attachment to our possessions, and the never-ending desire to accummulate more, have become an ingrained part of our identities and measure of happiness. The fourth yama, aparigraha, asks that we do something very radical for our material world: that is, let go of our attachments and recognise thier impermanence. This doesnt mean you have to strat throwing away everything you own. Instead, before you start accumulating new objects, think about whether you really need the item in question and what purpose it will serve. This kind of thinking helps ensure your material possessions dont come to define you. By slowly learning to curb the cravings of the ego and the desire to accumulate more, you can start to refocus and beomce content with and grateful for the immaterial things in your life. Letting go of greed and desire allows room for new energy and slowly lets us see we dont need more objects to make us happy - we already have everything we need within us.
THE FIVE NIYAMAS
Now you have a grasp of the yamas’ moral codes, lets move to the niyamas or personal observances that you can actively adopt and use as a guide for living soulfully.
Saucha: purity
Saucha, the first of the niyamas, refers to purity and cleanliness. Outer purity can have a literal interpretation and can be achived by upholding a physical level of hygiene, choosing to eat noourishing foods, wholesome foods or maintaining a clutter-free living environment. On a deeper level, saucha can be achieved through asana practice to purify and detoxify the body, prananyama (breathing exercises) to cleanse the lungs and oxygenate the blood and meditaion to clear the mind. However, according to Patanjali, this pursuit of purity should actully serve as a reminder that our bodies can never be perfectly clean. No matter how much pranayama you do, you can walk outside and inhale polluted air. No matter how much you scrub yourself clean, you’ll eventually break a sweat again. And, no matter what you do, your body will age and decay. Really, saucha reminds us of our transcient nature and shouldnt be done in pursuit of vanity but out of respect for the consciousnes within. It evokes the idea of treating the body as a temple. Purifying the body on the outside, and cleasning it within, acts as preparation as you progress down the yogic path of self-awareness.
Santosha: Contentment
The second niyama, santosha, focuses on finding happiness and peace within rather than from external sources. During life’s wonderful moments, contentment comes effortlessly. But true practice of this niyama applies not only during the goodtimes but during the bad as well. Life can throw alot of cuve balls and pacrciting santosha is something that can help you get through the less-than-great moments. By taking things as they come and making peace with your present circumstances, you can cultivate contemtment. Santosha’s priority is the present. no matter how diffucult the road ahead might seem, sontosha is that secret, inner source of happiness you can tap into in any moment.
Choosing Santosha is an active decision, in life, we often find ourselves in situations where we feel powerless and without any choice. However, you always have the ability to pratcice santosha if you truly want to. Contentment isnt dependant on the past or the future, on material objects of anyone else. Being contented with what you have, rather than unhappy with what you lack, allows you to rediscover the abundance around you and permits more joy and bliss to enter your life.
Tapas: disciplined use of energy
The translation of tapas is to heat or burn away impurities by way of practicing discipline or “austerity”. Tapas is a complex principle and with reference to words like “fiery discipline” in the Sutras, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by this niyama. HOwever, there are lots of ways to integrate the idea of tapas into your life in a simple palatable manner. If we focus on the idea of tapas as cultivating a sense of self-discipline, there are many ways it can be applied to our lives. For some, this might be simply finding time each day for asana practice, or it could mean progressing to the next level and dabblin in a more advanced posture. Tapas in reference to asana, regardless of how you might apply it, shows the literal side of heating the body and cleasning it of impurities through a disciplined practice. However, tapas need not apply only to asana practice. It could also involve making the conscious decision to become more mindful in your day, adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle or even actively implementing the yamas and niyamas. In whatever form, tapas is about motivation, consistency and achieving your goals. It’s about committment, dedication and focus to avoid the habits, thoughts and impurities, weather physical or emotional, that casue you to diverge from your purpose or path.
Svadhyaya: Self-study
Svadhyaya is all about self-study and self-analysis. In yogic terms, many of us already do this through asana, pranayama and meditaion, but there are other ways to practice svadhyaya. Svadhyaya can be as simple as studying yogic writings, whether ancient texts or blogs by your favourite yoga teacher, in a conscious manner. This means not just reading for the sake of it but actively engaging with the writings and thinking about how they apply to you and your life. You can also practice this niyama by setting aside time to reflect on your actions, values, and interactions and the impact they have on yourself and others. You can do this by keeping a journal or simply finding a peaceful place to sit, focus on your breath and reflect. Self - enquiry allows us to start knowing our true selves on a much deeper level. When we reflect, we start to recognise the intricacies and nuances of our being. more often than not, we see things that surprise us and are far removed from how we like to think of ourselves. Remember during these times to also practice ahimsa and not look at yourself with judgement or criticism. Instead, take an objective standpoint during svadhyaya and recognise and accept all the layers of our being.
Isvara pranidhana: self-surrender
While the final niyama, isvara pranidhana, translates to surrending to God, its important to note that you need not take a religious standpiont here. The idea of God instead refers to a divine universal force that is so much bigger thna ourselves. Think of it as the underlaying order of the universe of the force that guides us along this thing called life, where we make up just one part of a great, big whole.
Isvara Pranidhana makes sense as the last niyama as we have done plenty of work to get to this piont. We’ve cleansed, practiced contentment, learned self-discipline and reflected deeply on ourselves. Along the entire way, we have striven to fin union and cultivate self-awareness and now we must surrender to it. We must surrender to ourselves. You can do this in child’s pose or when you find stability and peace in challanging postures. You can do it during the course of the day, perhasp when stress builds up and you need a moment to yourself. To surrender, you quieten the mind, breathe deeply and become aware of your entire being and the unity within. Surrendering the ego and your desires requires trust and courgae, for you must allow yourself to simly be, without bells and whistles, without anything but that awareness of your treu self. Its a humbling and powerful expereince where you simply let go and in that moment, let it be.
Original words by Veronica Joseph for Wellbeing Magazine, Veronica Joseph is a yoga teacher and writer based in Sydney, Australia.
For more info and a good read about Practicing the Yoga Sutras - check out the book TRUE YOGA by Jennie Lee - its a goodie!!