This entry was posted on Nov 14, 2024 by Charlotte Bell.
In a latest put up, I wrote in regards to the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Eight Limbs are a framework for working towards all points of the system of yoga. The primary of those limbs is known as yama.
I contemplate yama to be the inspiration of the entire system. Yama means “restraint.” On this context, restraint refers to utilizing sensible discrimination to contemplate your actions on this planet, so that you just create an moral floor from which to behave. The yamas will not be commandments, nonetheless. They’re pointers for making a peaceable life via your actions on this planet. The yamas ask us to contemplate whether or not the actions we want to undertake are prone to trigger hurt or to result in happiness—for ourselves and others.
Like all of the limbs of yoga, yama is a follow that we refine as we evolve in our lives. Making use of the ideas of the yamas in our lives requires that we contemplate them anew with every state of affairs we discover ourselves in. So, being conscious is vital. The truth that there are not any hard-and-fast guidelines makes the follow dynamic, and permits us to deepen our understanding as we transfer via our lives.
What follows is a quite simple, very brief synopsis of the yamas. Every one is worthy of a lifetime of examine and follow. If you happen to’re excited by inquiring additional, my first guide, Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow, devotes a chapter to every yama, and consists of methods you may incorporate the yamas into asana follow. The data under can maybe act as a springboard for additional inquiry.
The 5 Yamas
Ahimsa (Non-Harming)
If yama is the inspiration of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, then ahimsa is the inspiration of that basis. All the opposite yamas are refinements of the idea of non-harming. Ahimsa asks us to contemplate the attainable penalties of our actions. It additionally asks us to concentrate on our intentions. Alistair Shearer defines ahimsa as “dynamic peacefulness.” I like this manner of describing it, as a result of means we’re not merely avoiding inflicting hurt. We’re deliberately cultivating a peaceable method of being, in order that over time, appearing with kindness and care turns into computerized.
Satya (Truthfulness)
Truthfulness is the inspiration of all our interactions on this planet. To ensure that any relationship to develop and thrive, it have to be primarily based in reality. Being untruthful harms us by strengthening untruthfulness as a behavior. It harms others as a result of they will by no means really feel secure after they can’t belief our intentions, phrases or actions. Right here once more, mindfulness is vital. With a purpose to acknowledge—after which act from—fact, now we have to know what’s true within the first place. We do that by wanting deeply at our beliefs, habits and motivations.
Asteya (Non-Stealing)
Asteya asks us to chorus from taking what shouldn’t be supplied. This consists of materials items (cash, valuables) and in addition mental property. So we don’t “assist ourselves” to others’ possessions if we’re not invited to take action. In the identical vein, asteya guides us to ask permission and to credit score others once we share their phrases and concepts.
Brahmacharya (Clever Use of Sexuality)
Our sexual vitality is the supply of our creativity. It’s a highly effective vitality that has nice potential to result in happiness, or to trigger hurt if we misuse it. Sexual encounters should all the time be consensual, and should not be employed merely for our personal self-aggrandizement. The misuse of this vitality, particularly by individuals in positions of energy, is ubiquitous in all walks of life—together with the yoga world. Like the opposite yamas, sensible follow is difficult. Donna Farhi’s guide, Educating Yoga: Exploring the Trainer-Scholar Relationship, delves deeply into the teacher-student relationship, together with the follow of brahmacharya.
Aparigraha (Non-Greed)
Based on Buddhist follow, greed is among the three sources of struggling. (The others are hatred and delusion.) It’s a supply of struggling as a result of it may by no means be glad; it may solely be briefly quelled. After we get no matter it’s that we wish, we could really feel glad, no less than for some time. Nevertheless it’s not lengthy earlier than another want arises, and leads us to pin our hopes on the subsequent object we predict we should have. Greed applies not solely to materials possessions, but additionally to relationships, experiences and the necessity for consideration. The true sources of happiness is contentment, gratitude and appreciation for our lives as they’re. This doesn’t imply we shouldn’t attempt to attain our aspirations. It merely implies that we perceive that all the pieces in our lives comes and goes. Happiness is out there to all of us, and its potential is already inside us. The antidote to greed is to follow generosity. After we domesticate a behavior of giving, we perceive extra deeply the enjoyment of letting go.
Simple Does It
Typically it may appear overwhelming to attempt to incorporate all these ideas into your life. I counsel committing to follow separately. It may be useful to decide to, say, a 12 months working towards a single yama. The concentrate on one precept may help you incorporate it into your life extra simply. Resolve which of the yamas resonates most deeply for you. Then start to use it to the alternatives you make in your life.
About Charlotte Bell
Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each printed by Rodmell Press. Her third guide is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Purple Rock Rondo, whose DVD received two Emmy awards.
