Namaste, my Friend!
Thank you for joining me today in continuing our journey of Yoga philosophy.
In this post of the “What is Yoga?” Series, we will be discussing the first limb of Ashtānga Yoga - Yama - discussed in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
The yamas are often translated as “duties”, but it is really a set of ideals to live one’s life by.
The 5 yamas are intended to give you a guide on how to approach yourself and the world around you (whether it’s humans, animals, or material objects) in a manner most conducive for lasting happiness/contentment in your life and for your spiritual journey.
So what are the 5 yamas?
Ahimsā: Nonharming
Satya: Adherence to Truth
Asteya: Nonstealing
Brahmacharya: Moving towards the Infinite
Aparigraha: Nonattachment
In practice, you’ll begin to see that they all interplay with one another. As we discuss each of these yamas in more detail below, you’ll see why.
Ahimsa
The first yama is nonharming. The intention is to bring awareness to the consequences of your thoughts, words, and actions, so that you lead a life of upliftment for yourself and all that is around you.
Most people living in society unintentionally cause harm through their words, whether that is by conveying or participating in gossip, judging others’ choices or lifestyles, or by letting emotions like frustration or anger seep into their thoughts.
The truth of it is that any of these common behaviors may not seem like they necessarily cause harm, but they do by breeding negativity in both your life as well as in others’. Practicing ahimsa entails being aware of these behaviors and then, intentionally choosing a path in which you can both avoid and uplift the minds and energy within/around you.
This will inevitably lead to more fulfilling and positive relationships, more moments of appreciation and understanding throughout your day, and deeper connections with the world around you as you look beyond the surface.
As a result, the more you practice ahimsa in your life, the more you’ll find yourself leading a life of upliftment and positivity too.
Satya
The second yama is embodiment of Universal Truth. The intention of this yama is to bring awareness to your individual sense of truth (opinion) vs. Universal Truth (the truth that is unchanged by personal perception).
The easiest example to exemplify this is identifying something as “good” or “bad” vs. approaching it with neutrality.
Say, for example, you saw these beautiful red roses at the grocery store and decided they would look really nice on the dining table tonight. You bring them home, but as you’re taking them out to put in the vase, the thorns prick your fingers and you bleed.
Now, when you were at the grocery store picking out the vases, you perceived them as “good,” associating many positive words with what you were seeing and what you could do with the roses. However, as you’re putting them in the vase and they cut you, you start to associate negative words with them as your frustration and pain begin to grow.
Did the roses ever change from good to bad? No - the roses were just roses. When you saw them at the grocery store, they were just as beautiful and thorny as when you were putting the roses in the vase. However, your interactions with the rose changed your perception of them.
Being aware of the Universal Truth, the rose is a rose, versus your personal (oftentimes shifting) opinion, the roses are beautiful vs. they are annoying, is important to shifting your inner and outer dialogue. Instead of sharing the experience as “these roses were awful, the thorns just kept pricking me!”, convey it differently: “the roses were so thorny, the thorns just kept pricking me!” Notice you only changed one word, but in doing so, you didn’t define the rose as good or bad. It fell into the neutral category.
While this is a very mundane example, the power of living by Universal Truth gets exemplified with more practice. Instead of thinking thoughts like “I suck at this” or “I’m so unattractive” sub- or semi-consciously throughout your day, you’ll begin to perk up at verbiage like this and rephrase to things like “I’m working on developing my skills at this” or “I appreciate how this body serves me in so many ways every day”. Notice how you took two negative identifying thoughts and turned them into two neutral/positive universal thoughts.
This is the magic of satya:
You will increase neutral/grateful thoughts, which will nourish this deeper, more stable sense of contentment and peace
Instead of being thrown about the waves of life, getting affected by what someone may think of youor how low your stocks dropped that day, you’ll find you’re the still, deep water beneath the waves, maintaining a steady state of mind despite whatever comes your way
You will begin to disassociate with your ego or sense of “I”
The ego or “I” comes from these statements we say all throughout the day of what “I” is - whether you’re describing your capability or looks or roles negatively or positively, all these statements strengthen this separate identity “I” that pulls us away from uncovering our Universal selves or the part of us that is the Infinite. This keeps us from progressing in our journey to Yoga and keeps us from connecting more deeply with our world.
So, practicing satya in your life is an incredible way to ground your sense of peace and deepen your connection to Yourself and to the world around you.
Asteya
The third yama is nonstealing. While this may seem obvious, it goes beyond stealing material things. Misusing one’s time, energy, or thoughts all fall under “stealing” because in each of these cases, you are taking something away from yourself or someone/something else.
The easiest example I can give (and one I am still working on) is being late to a commitment. Say you’re late to a meeting with a coworker; those 2 -5 minutes they had to wait for you, you were stealing their time because you were neither using it (you weren’t at the meeting) nor were you letting them continue their work (they had to interrupt their work/train of thought, even if momentarily, to join the meeting).
Another easy and common example (and another one of my “room for improvement” categories) is not pursuing a dream or something meaningful to you because you’re not making the time for it. This is a waste of your ideas/thoughts as well as your potential, hence, stealing your impact from the world. Even if it’s 30 minutes a week, working towards something that speaks to you or you believe in means you’re making space for that to impact the world in whatever way it needs to. Of course, if you’re only spending 30 mins on it because you’re being lazy, you’re not practicing asteya; you’re still wasting your capability. On the other hand, if you’re a working parent or a student, you likely don’t time in your calendar just waiting to be used on this meaningful work, so instead, you’re making an intentional 30 mins open for these pursuits.
Point is, if you’re being intentional with where you commit your time, energy, and thoughts as well as how you use others’ time and energy, respecting and making the most of all these, you are practicing asteya.
Brahmacharya
The fourth yama is often mistranslated as celibacy. However, in Sanskrit, it literally translates to moving towards the Infinite (brahma stemming from Brahman = Infinite/Universal Self/Creation/God, charya = to follow/to move towards).
The intention of brahmacharya is to intentionally utilize one’s energy in a manner most conducive to lasting happiness and contentment. The foundation of this is moving away from actions that are driven by temporary sensual happiness and moving towards actions that are aligned with cultivating a deeper, spiritual happiness.
The reason it’s often mistranslated as celibacy is because celibacy is one of the main ways yogis can retreat from sensory pursuits, instead using that energy to deepen their understanding of Yoga.
However, many renowned yogis, especially in the modern day, are householders with partners and children of their own. So how do they embody brahmacharya without being celibate?
Well, if the intention of brahmacharya is to use your energy intentionally for lasting contentment, approaching sex as a sacred exchange between you and someone you love is a perfect way to not remain celibate but still practice brahmacharya. Yes, you’ll partake in an activity of physical pleasure, but your intention is focused on that connection and exchange, making it a deeper and more meaningful act that is not tied to, or driven by, the sensory benefit gained from it.
This goes beyond just one’s sexual activities, however. Any action or thought driven by sensory pleasure, especially when overindulged, goes against brahmacharya. Whether that’s watching TV every night and thus overstimulating your nervous system before sleep, or overeating because the food tastes good, or going out with your friends because of the escape it provides from boredom or loneliness, it’s very easy to make choices in our daily lives that give in to sensory or material pleasure.
Practicing brahmacharya doesn’t mean you don’t do any of those things ever, but it’s being intentional when you do them rather than doing it instinctively or because it’s easy. If you’re watching a show tonight to spend some time connecting with your family vs. watching it every night because it’s become a habit for your family, you’ll appreciate the experience more because it’s not just something you do but something you chose to do. If you’re going out with your friends tonight because you’re looking forward to spending time with them, you’ll find yourself creating more meaningful friendships and memories because you’re not coming from a place of escape. If you eat until you’re at 80% full and enjoy each bite of your delicious meal without overeating, you’ve respected your body and were able to appreciate the food.
The practice of brahmacharya will significantly deepen your spiritual connection because you will allow your energy to serve you rather than fall whim to pleasures, allowing you to live a more intentional and fulfilling life, however that looks to you.
Aparigraha
The last yama Patanjali included is nonattachment. The intention of aparigraha is to not tie your happiness and contentment to the world around you.
Notice that aparigraha is not detachment; you can still live in society, work, and have a family without being attached. In fact, you don’t need to be a minimalist to practice aparigraha either.
Simply appreciating what you have in your life and the way your life is, without expectation or fear of loss, is aparigraha in practice.
Now, for most of us, nonattachment may seem attainable from a materialistic perspective (i.e. clothes, gifts, furniture, etc), but it’s probably a lot harder to remain unattached to the presence of people in our lives (i.e. family, friends, etc). As your spiritual practice deepens, the latter will begin to get easier as your understanding of the Universe and your connection to your eternal Self deepens.
Don’t force yourself into nonattachment with anything, simply notice when your state of being is attached to certain people or things, and practice leaning into appreciation over dependence. Learning to differentiate between the two will open up your emotional and mental energy to simply enjoy what is in your life as it is and hence, practice aparigraha.
The Interplay of the 5 Yamas
As you can see, the yamas work together to cultivate a life of intention and fulfillment. Unlike moral codes or duties that are driven by society’s need for order (don’t steal, don’t cheat, don’t drink), the yamas are ideals intended to help you live in a manner that best serves you and the world around you.
Working together, they deepen your connection to yourself and help you in your journey to Yoga, but they also impact how you show up in your world.
The increased mental and emotional stability will not only make you more content with your life as it is, but it will also inadvertently create a life that is more aligned and fulfilling for you because of who you become.
So, how do you start incorporating the yamas into your life?
I’m personally going to be starting a daily reflection on the yamas as part of my journalling routine. Instead of tackling all of them at once, which would be very overwhelming and difficult to implement for me, I plan on focusing on a single yama for a few weeks at a time.
In doing so, I’m giving myself the opportunity to practice that one yama until it starts to become second nature before I begin incorporating the next.
Whether it’s how I show up at work or who I am in my home, I’m excited to start deepening my personal practice of the yamas and seeing how it changes my life.
With that, I’ll see you in my next post in the "What is Yoga? Series, where we'll be learning about the Niyamas! <3
Sending you my deepest love and gratitude,
Shreya