The Yamas & Niyamas: A Guide to Deepening Your Self-Understanding Through Yoga
“Why do I do what I do?…”
You can barely hear yourself ask that question, among the frantic energy inside of you that is buying the next self-help book on amazon. Sometimes you find spaces where you can talk about this question with good friends or co-workers but they often respond back with , “whoa that’s deep, don’t be so hard on yourself" or “you’re fine, just learn from it and don’t do it again”. Sometimes you bust out that dusty old journal to write in some random thoughts, trying to figure out your story. Sometimes you ask your therapist and look at them desperately to hear an answer of explanation that will make it all make sense.
And yet it doesn’t.
You still feel lost. You still feel like you are repeating patterns and relationships that you know don’t make you feel good inside. All you wish is that there was a magic pill that could make you change.
And honey, if there was, let me tell you, I would let you in on the secret. I promise you I would.
Let’s rewrite you above story.
Question is still there… “Why do I do what I do?….” Now imagine waking up in the morning and having a solid amount of quiet time and reflection. You move your body gently, bringing your attention to the breath with little effort. The breath feels easy and you feel alive as you move. You settle down to sit and your mind is clear and attentive. The thought pops in “Why do I do what I do?” and you feel curious about it as you sense into it. You decide you are going to bring it later to your yoga study class. You jot down some notes in a journal you’ve had for months and notice a pattern of seeing this question come up often in your morning quiet time. Interesting you think. That evening you show up to your yoga study class and share with the group how your meditation yoga practice you notice this question often come up. The other students nod their heads. You feel understood. Your teacher encourages you to let that question be there. You feel supported and okay that that question is even there to begin with.
In the Niyamas of the Yoga Sutras, we learn about the importance of a sadhana or personalized practice. The Niyamas can be explained very briefly as understandings of practices of guidelines for our relationship with ourselves. Sadhana is a tool that supports you in your life. A sadhana is one that is chosen by your teacher (that knows you well) and that can offer you a practice that supports you. Because our patterns are so ingrained in our being we may not even see them, it can be so helpful to have someone outside of you guide your practice that can help shift those patterns.
The tools of a sadhana provide you with understanding yourself through yoga by:
show us our thoughts/moods/behaviors/patterns
when these chaos are cleaned, it helps the wisdom of light shine through where we can feel our goodness
this can span from glimpses of our heart to further stages of enlightenment
A personal practice shifts as you shift, change, and evolve and a good teacher will adapt a practice to meet you where you are at. It requires a relationship with a teacher that you trust to help support you in your self-reflection. Sadhana is about self-trust, self-discipline, and your patterns.
A personal practice is like vitamins. It doesn’t make our problems go away but it makes them smaller.
The 5 Niyamas can be broken down to:
Saucha (cleanliness)
Santosha (contentment)
Tapas (discipline)
Svadhyaya (self study)
Isvara Pranidhana (surrending to a higher power)
Here is a basic introduction to the 5 limbs.
In the Yamas of the Yoga Sutras, these are practices or guidelines of understandings for our relationship with others. Self-growth through yoga is not just for ourselves its for our relationships and impacts how we show up in the world. Both the Yamas and the Niyamas are actions, they are things you do. These are actions, not abstractions. So a question to consider is, how do you practice non-violence in your personal practice?
The 5 Yamas can be broken down to:
Ahimsa (non-violence)
Satya (truthfulness)
Asteya (non-stealing)
Brahmacharya (right use of energy)
Aparigraha (non-greed)
Here is simple overview of the 5 Yamas.
“The self-awareness you gain by practicing the five yamas can help you transform negative energy and cultivate a deep, abiding sense of peace.”
These concepts can be so hard to break down on your own and learn how to integrate them in your life. Finding a community to do so helps support you in your own journey as well as learn from others. If this is something you are ready for, in 8 weeks we can begin this journey of deep understanding towards self-growth and change.
Sign up now for our Yoga Philosophy class starting mid-March.
Warmly,
Leslie
