An 8-limbed path

The ancient practice of yoga as set forth by Patanjali’is Yoga Sutras follows an eight-limbed path. The first two steps on that path are the Yamas and the Niyamas – moral and spiritual observances.

Following these ethical and spiritual observances allows us to live our lives in a more conscious, mindful, joyful and profound manner.

The five Yamas are:
Ahimsa meaning non-violence/non-harming
Asteya meaning non-stealing
Satya meaning truth
Brahmacharya meaning self-restraint
Aparigraha meaning non-attachment

Ahimsa
Ahimsa traditionally meant “do not kill or hurt living beings.” This can be extrapolated to mean that we should not be violent in feelings, thoughts, words, or actions. At the root, ahimsa means maintaining compassion towards yourself and others. It means being kind and treating all things with care, with your words, your actions and your thoughts.

Asteya
Asteya, or “not stealing,” refers to the stealing that grows from believing we cannot create what we need. We steal because we misperceive the universe as lacking abundance or we think that there is not enough for everyone and that we will not receive in proportion to our giving. Because of this, asteya does not only consist of “not stealing,” but also of rooting out the subconscious beliefs of lack and scarcity that cause greed and hoarding in all their various manifestation.

Satya
Satya, means ‘truth’ or ‘not lying’. When we live in our truth, we are honest with our feelings, thoughts, words and deeds. This idea applies to our yoga practice, too; ask yourself if you are practicing from an ego-centered place or from your real truth. Next time you step onto your mat, be truthful with yourself and have acceptance for where you are in your body, mind and spirit.

It is important to keep in mind that is not always desirable to speak the truth if it comes from a place of harming others unnecessarily. Consider what you say, how you say it and in what way it could affect others. If speaking your truth brings harm to another then it may be better to say nothing at all (hey, there’s that Ahimsa we spoke about!). In the great Indian epic the “Mahabarata” it states “Speak the truth which is pleasant. Do not speak the unpleasant truths. Do not lie, even if the lies are pleasing the ear.”

To me, living in truth means being honest about myself, my actions, and my behaviors and assessing how they affect others.

There is a word that resonates with me; it is like a mantra that repeats in my head throughout every day of my life: Satchittananda. ‘Sat’ means truth, ‘chitt’ means consciousness, and ‘ananda’ means bliss. Being more conscious of self, being more conscious of others, allows you to become of ‘service’ to others. Serving others can provide deep inner joy and bliss in everything in life.

Aparigraha
Now let’s explore Aparigraha, a word that can be translated to ‘not grasping’ or ‘non-attachment.’ This involves being happy and content with what we have and not always coveting unnecessary, luxury items; or what someone else is or has. It also involves not being attached to the outcome of situations in life (or our yoga practice) and not having expectations of how we think life should be.

When we become less attached to the material, worldly and self-limiting identities, our awareness expands and we are able to view the world with a more generous perspective.

I personally decided to give aparigraha a shot with material things last year. I was moving into a home that had no space for material things such as furniture, kitchen items, novels, etc. Rather than get a storage place for the third time in my life, I decided to give everything away. I have to confess that it was not easy, but after all was said and done, I had a tremendous feeling of liberation and freedom to recreate my life and surroundings in a new and different way; and I did.

I am not the same person I was last year or even all the previous years before that and this allowed me to show the new aspects of myself in a different way. I gave all my things to people who had less than me and I feel I truly helped others. To me, to live in service, to be generous and giving, to be non-attached to the outcome with no expectations is living in my truth.

Every day, I remind myself to be honest. I ask myself, what do I really need?

Brachmacharya
Brahmacharya, in the classical, literal sense means chastity or abstinence but can also be referred to as “self-restraint”. It is not a moralizing Yama, but can be interpreted as channeling or transmuting our powerful sexual energy into creative practices, rather than pursuing fleeting pleasures. We can interpret this to mean that we can consciously choose to use our life force (sexual energy) to express our true purpose in life. Our life force is precious and limited, and as Yogis, we have the choice to use the power behind sexuality to create, fulfill, to find and joyously express our inner selves.

In my life, Brahmacharya means being discerning about how I exert my energy; I used to put a lot of energy into trying to make things happen rather than allowing things to happen. Now I choose to channel my life force into visualization and manifestation rather than creation; creation now comes with a lot less effort. A question I always keep in mind is “Does this serve me well?” This may be good question to ask in your Yoga practice: are your thoughts, actions and emotions serving you well? Do you use the minimum amount of energy to achieve the maximum result? What is your energy directed towards? Remember: Positive thoughts!

The Yamas: Summary & Invitation to Share
I have been practicing Yoga now for 16years and yoga continues to be a life practice for me. I am not perfect, I am a spiritual being having a human experience, and through this practice of Yoga I have found more joy, peace and love in my life. For me the moral and spiritual observances of yoga – the Yamas and Niyamas – have been like a road map on my journey through not only Yoga, but life as well.

As a young yogini, as I began studying the philosophy of yoga, I remember thinking to myself, “OK, this yoga stuff is telling me if I follow this eight-limbed path, I’ll be able attain Samadhi or bliss. Mmmmmm, why not try it?” (Trust me when I say I had tried a lot of things by that time in my life, and most of them did not serve me well!)
My life had been challenging and often very traumatic for a good 8 years straight and I really needed some inner peace. The Yamas and Niyamas have given me a self-discipline that has allowed me to truly step into my life’s purpose (my Dharma).

Let’s recap the Yamas – next week we’ll come back for a final look at the Niyamas.

We started with truth, Satya: to me that meant taking an honest look at myself, and how I was “being” in my life. Not blaming others for the circumstances of my life, looking at how I was creating the Samskaras (conditioned patterns of behaviors) in my life. Being really honest about myself, my thoughts, my emotions and my actions; and then being able to not only to speak my truth, but to live my truth in a non-violent/harming (Ahimsa, the second Yama) way to myself and to others. With non-stealing (Asteya), I have practiced letting go of thoughts that I cannot create what I need, to not take from others time and energy, to take responsibility for my own actions. Through Bramacharya (appropriate use of life force, creative energy), I began looking at how I was using my life force, my Prana or vital energy. I made a conscious effort to begin channeling my life force in a healthy way that supported my spiritual growth, rather than wasting my energy on frivolous and fleeting pleasures and desires. I had pursued many false pleasures and desires in my life and decided do less of those, and spend more time pursuing healthier practices including Yoga, nature and eating a more natural, organic, and vegetarian diet. And lastly Aparigraha (non-hoarding): not only material things, but not desiring what others had, or thinking I should have that to. This Yama helped me realize what I really needed was inside of me, not in materialistic goals or things that others had.

The more I practiced the Yamas, the more conscious – the more aware – I became of myself. The more truthful I became of myself, the more conscious and caring I became of others. The more I let go of thoughts, actions, emotions and behaviors (Samskaras) the more I was able to channel my energy into healthy pursuits and the more I worked on not attaining, the more my life began to flow in a harmonious, gratifying and joyful way. I’ve found my Dharma; my life’s purpose has been and continues to be: practicing, teaching, working and loving others through the practice of Yoga. For me, that is the power of these ethical restraints, the Yamas.