Yamas Archives | Essential You Yoga

Satya and Saucha – Purity in Truth

I love the idea of pairing the Yamas and the Niyamas together as we explore the repurcussions of putting these concepts into imperfect practice in our daily lives.

It’s a powerful way to take your yoga practice beyond the mat and, if you’re like me, it’s something that you continually circle back to, refining and honing until the concepts crystallize and reverberate in your world.

The Yoga Sutras introduce us to these concepts of “right living,” or yamas, and “self-discipline,” or niyamas. There are 5 of each, and we began exploring two – Santosha and Aparigraha – in our last post.

The Yamas The Niyamas

Ahimsa – Non-Violence Saucha – Purification

Satya – Truthfullness Santosha – Contentment

Asteya – Not Stealing Tapas – Self-Discipline

Bramacharya – Conserving Vital Life Energy Svadyaya – Self Study

Aparigraha – Not Coveting Ishvara Pranidhana – Devotion

These concepts lay the groundwork of a yoga practice. Some even argue that their practice comes before your asana, or postural practice on the mat. I have found the yamas and the niyamas to contain layers of meaning, and when I perfect one, another reveals itself for me to work on.

Today we explore the twin concepts of Satya and Saucha –

Truthfullness and Cleanliness.

Continue reading “Satya and Saucha – Purity in Truth”

Leaving Behind Consumerism

I like to think that American society is finally moving on from the culture of consumerism. I’d like to think we’ve come a long way since George W. Bush told Americans after the disaster that was 9/11 that the solution to our problem was to spend the weekend shopping.

I was recently gifted with a number of higher-conciousness movies, programs, and snippits of technology that help drive people to be a part of the solution. One of these programs, The Century of the Self, speaks about how American corporations and politicians worked to use Freudian theory and analysis to control by convincing them they didn’t have enough.

It’s interesting listening to the description of how most people lived their lives before this psychological campaign started. Continue reading “Leaving Behind Consumerism”

Wherever You Go, There You Are

I love noticing patterns in my life, and then noticing the way those patterns, or habits, affect the way I interact with other people, make healthy or unhealthy lifestyle choices, or even affect the way I breathe. Patterns are the foundations of our lives, from clearly observable patterns in the physical world to the more subtle patterns of action that create our samskaras. I welcome situations that put me face to face with my patterns and force me to recognize the effects they may be having on my life. Making such a drastic change as moving to another country has allowed me a rare opportunity to see observe the patterns I use to fill my time.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Continue reading “Wherever You Go, There You Are”

On Ego & Attachment

“Somewhere there is a place that will change my life. It’s physical beauty will shock me into seeing my world in a wholly new way. The lives of the people there will be so sharply different from mine that they will be a mirror to me, and in that mirror I will see all my faults and fears, and gather the courage to eradicate them. This place will be so untouched by my civilization that I will be renewed just by coming to know it. To visit it will be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, a necessary adventure of the soul…”

~ Charles Monaghan, “A South Seas Adventure.”

In an effort to reach this soft place in my heart that yearns to live in a different culture, under a warmer sun, a life with minutes that seem to pause and stretch and last a little longer than the minutes here in North America, I have spent the last few months letting go.

The release started simply enough. The clothes in my closet that didn’t get as much mileage as others, pictures in boxes that hadn’t hung on any walls for months, and jewelry and kitchenware all gathering dust. Then, I began to get a sense of my attachment to the material when it came time to release items associated with precious memories: gifts given to me by people dear to me, t-shirts and letters from old loves, souvenirs from life-changing moments. The commercial below seemed to mock my efforts, proclaiming that “you are your stuff,” so you’d better protect what you’ve got. After all, once you let go of your stuff, what identity can you claim?

In yoga, Patanjali speaks about the Yamas and Niyamas, simple rules designed to address the basic human condition, and assist us in living a happy, healthy, and holy life. I’ve often felt my life swing like a pendulum from focusing on one or two of these rules to another. Continue reading “On Ego & Attachment”