Yama - The first Limb of a Yoga practice.
In Patanjalis Yoga Sutras (If your not sure who and what that means I give a brief introduction in this blog post) the Sage Patanjali outlines Yoga as an 8 limbed path. Asana practice or the yoga poses which in the west have become synonymous with what we consider yoga is just 1 limb of 8.
The 5 Yama
Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Bramacharya, Aprigraha.
The Yama is the first limb of yoga alongside the second limb 'Niyama' they form the ethical code. They guide us in our personal and universal experiences.
Our asana (yoga poses), meditation and pranayama (breathing) practices only take up a short part of our day. These principle's help students bring their yoga into their actions and thoughts. They can help us bring the peace, unity and liberation which we find through our yoga practice into our daily lives.
The 5 Yamas to practice are
Ahimsa - Non-Harm
Satya - Truthfullness
Asteya - Non-stealing
Bramacharya - Energy Management
Apargraha - Non-grasping
These are not individual practices, we often cannot practice one without another. They, like threads, all weave in and out of each other. We practice them not only to create a more unified, peaceful and liberated experience for ourselves but also within our communities. They guide us to uplift and take action rooted in yogic principles.
Ahimsa
"In the presence of one firmly established in non-violence, all hostilities cease”
Sutra 2.35
Ahimsa means 'Non Harm' or 'Non Violence' but is often flipped around and translated as kindness. This yoga ethic encourages us to make choices that reduce harm to ourselves and others. We can reflect on taking action motivated by non-harm rather than actions motivated by harm (hatred, jealousy, greed etc)
Our yoga practice teachers us to stay connected to ourselves and create stillness in the mind. It is in this stillness that we can begin to be more conscious of our actions. How many times have we acted or spoken without thinking, or feeling. If we can begin to be more mindful we can practice taking actions that reduce harm to ourselves and those we are interacting with. Ultimately this will create a more peaceful and liberated daily experience.
So next time you're doing something (this might even be whilst trying to get into a difficult yoga pose) Pause, take a breathe and look at what is motivating your actions.
Satya
To one established in truthfulness, actions and their results become subservient.
Sutra 2.36
Satya is translated as 'Truthfulness' it encourages us to be truthful in word, action and thought. Here we begin to see how the ‘threads’ or sutras weave in and out of eachother as we need to build on Ahimsa and practice living our truthfulness from a place of non-harm and kindness even in challenging conversations and situations. Satya encourages us not just to speak our truth in words but also in actions. Are we living in aligment with ourselves?
Some speak their truth with disregard for how it is received and often cause harm to others.
Some dont speak their truth and instead speak what they think is kind, or ignore problems. This often causes harm to themselves or their communities.
Some speak truths which are not their truths to speak. Is there a time and a place to say simply ‘This is not my conversation to have?’
Asetya
To one established in non-stealing, all wealth comes.
Sutra 2.37
Asteya is translated as 'Non-Stealing' it encourages students to not take what is not theirs and not take more than they need. Aside from the obvious meaning (which I dont feel needs much explanation) it also has a lot more subtle meanings. Have you ever considered that we can steal someone’s time, energy and resources too?
When we look at the concept of non-stealing we can see how by taking anything that does not belong to us we could cause harm to those we have taken from. This can also including stealing from other cultures as harm can happen when things are taken out of context and misused.
Bramacharya
By one established in continence, vigor is gained.
Sutra 2.38
Bramacharya is translated here as 'continence' this is usually understood and interpreted as ‘energy management’ This yama can help us become aware of what drains our energy. From there we can make adjustments to our lifestyle to maintain healthy boundaries with that energy generating more vigor (strength, health and energy!)
Again here we see the relationship the yamas have with each other. We need to have good boundaries to not cause harm(ahimsa) to ourselves. To know when something is stealing (asteya) our energy and when speaking our truth (satya) to set those boundaries.
Aparigraha
When non-grasping is confirmed, a thorough illumination of the how and why of ones birth comes.
Sutra 2.39
Aparigraha is translated as 'Non-grapsing' ‘Non-greed’ or 'Non Attachment' this ethic encourages to not hoard or take more than we need. I prefer the translation non grasping as it covers both greed and attachment. It encourages us to be aware of our consumption and when we are taking or hoarding more than necessary. When considered as non-attachment we are reminded of how everything is in a state of change and to allow things to come and go. (Yoga poses included!)
Here we can consider the yama asteya (non stealing) we can notice when we are attached we are more likely to hoard resources beyond what we need. We can really see how these yamas can uplift our communities here. We can extend a hand to those who do not share our privilege and share any surplus we experience.
Remember as with everything in yoga the Yamas are a practice. In the same way we wont execute a perfectly aligned warrior 3 in our first yoga class we probably wont get it right all the time. We just continue the best we can!
Thank you for reading.
If you have any questions please just ask and dont forget to check back for the follow up post on the Niyamas!
Recourses:
Light on Life by BKS Iyengar
Discussion notes from my YTT in 2018
Patanjalis Yoga Sutras - commentary by Swami Satchitananda
Embrace Yogas Roots by Susanna Barkatari
