Every day I try to be the best* version of myself. Not in terms of success but in terms of kindness and generousity – yoga philosophy helps me being it.
When you immerse yourself in the yoga practice, you should automatically come in touch also with the Yoga Philosophy. The so called Asanas (the yoga postures we do when we „do yoga“) are just one small part of the whole yoga, sometimes the only part we know when we start.
But although the yoga „on the mat“ is a significant point to start with because the yoga practice alone has great benefits for your body & mind, there is so much more to YOGA than the sheer practice:
THE YOGA SUTRAS by Patanjali
In one of the oldest written documents about yoga (~ 2.500 years old) which is also the most important one until today – the YOGA SUTRAS by Patanjali – you find amongst other inspiring and eye opening verses the YAMAS and NIYAMAS. They are ethical codes of conduct or simply recommendations and invitations to help you live a more harmonious life with the world around you and with yourself.
It is amazing how modern they are. How obviously mankind has not changed a lot since 2.500 years. And it is a shame that in our modern systems we would never learn about these teachings (and those of buddha as they have many similarities) in school. I think MY LIFE personally could have been different if someone would have taught me these simple principles 25 years ago…
When we start to integrate these recommendations in our life they will eventually colour our being and we can be the best version of ourself. When we are happy and content, we radiate happiness and peace. When we make others happy, WE will be happy… and so on 😉
THE YAMAS AND NIYAMAS
I would need many pages to do all the 5 Yamas and 5 Niyamas justice. Here I will try to sum it up for you and leave it up to you to read more about it another time.
THE 5 YAMAS – suggestions to create more harmony with the world around you.
1 AHIMSA. Non-violence – or simply: unconditional love
This first and most important recommendation of the Yamas means you should do no harm to anyone – including yourself and actually all beings – neither physically nor verbally, nor mentally (a bad thought is like a seed you plant: Out of a bad thought can only grow a bad action (I will write about „Karma“ another time)). Ahimsa also is the reason why most yogis are vegetatians / vegans.
2 SATYA – not lying – or simply: being authentic
Of course. We also know this and we ARE not lying. Really? Taking Satya seriously also means not telling our opinion as the truth, not gossiping and never speaking untruthfully nor NOT telling things we should tell. Dishonesty runs against our true nature and creates inner conflicts, generating many of our fears (who doesn´t know this little lie that ends up in a big Desaster we never intended!?).
Authenticity means we no longer have anything to hide and we become more free and at ease in our relationships and in situations. Fears drop away and inner peace and harmony Surface and we become persons of trust.
3 ASTEYA. Not stealing – or simply: being generous
We all know that we should not steal and maybe we think we are not doing it. But if we take this really seriously it also means not stealing oportunities by holding back information others could need. Not stealing too much time from others or taking more space than we need.
Asteya means to be open to that which is being offered by life, without looking or grasping for more or taking from circumstances what is not given freely or what we think we deserve. Try to observe your habits and notice if you´re honest with yourself. Reducing our wants and developing an attitude of gratitude with what we have is the key to happiness.
4 BRAHMACHARYA. Conserving our energies.
Originally this Yama recommended celibacy, as in a world where sexual interaction usually did not occur out of mutual understanding, insatiable desire did never lead to a good thing. Even today we know that sexual desire keeps us from focusing on other things and can demand all our energy.
So actually it means to use our sexual energy wisely: When two things come together with the same energy there is lifting. But when two things come together with different energies, things move to one side. Sex without mutual understanding, love and commitment will only create suffering, frustration, and Isolation.
But Brahmacharya can also refer to not wasting your energy with being angry. Or clinging to the past or things you can´t change.
5 APARIGRAHA. Non-attachment, non acquisitiveness – or simply: be un-possesive.
Don´t create hooks on a person (partner, children) and don´t let your happiness be defined by the things you posses. Nothing is consistent. So what you own today might not be yours tomorrow. Everything we own, we can loose and so we constantly live (unconsciously) with the fear of loss. We always think we are happier when we have more, but we don’t really need more.
Letting go of possessive tendencies towards things and persons, but also thoughts, actions and ideas increase our sense of lightness and freedom. When we become unpossessive we loose the fear of loss. (Didn´t you ever wonder why people „who don´t have anything“ seem to be the happiest people in the world???)
THE 5 NIYAMAS – personal principles governing the cultivation of insight
1 SAUCHA – purity
All that disturbs the purity of our being is a compromise: acting half-heartedly, eating impure and unhealthy food, being in unhealthy relationships…
Focus on what you do a 100 % (total commitment), have pure thoughts, when you talk to a person: listen! Don´t think about your answer at the same time. Focus on what you say a what you put into your body: Eating healthier will make you happier, Feeling better in your own body. Tidy up your surrounding so your eyes and mind can be calm and get out of unhealthy relationships (private and at work).
Easy so far? It gets a bit deeper now:
2 SANTOSA – contentment – or simply: embrace the NOW
Not all situations will ever happen the way we want it, because every situation is not just us. Equanimity arises the moment we wake up from the delusion that things should be as we want them to be. We may have many plans for our life, but life has other plans for us. BUT: we can always choose how to react and grow out of it.
Cultivate a sense of contentment with what actually is. This contentment is not merely a passive acceptance but a means to actively and fully embrace the NOW. It elicits a certain trust that everything that happens, happens for a reason. When we stop being annoyed about anything that is not happening “our way“, we can also save a lot of energy and we become more balanced.
3 TAPAS – The burning fire of passion within – or concentrated discipline
“Self-discipline burns away impurities and kindles the spark of divinity“ (Yoga Sutras 2.43)
As we deepen our yoga practice, our passion for yoga increases and our practice becomes more austere as we discipline ourselves to greater measures in order to purify our body-mind: Fasting, natural eating, regular yoga practice and breathing techniques (pranayama), living a more natural and conscious life, transforming unbeneficial attitudes and behavioural patterns are all tapas.
All of them will transform your life. Once on that way, austerity will not appear to you as a deprivation but as a easement once you feel the Benefits for your mind and body.
4 SVADHYAYA – self-study – or simply: finding your own way
The heart of yoga practice
Svadhyaya means to look inside, to undertake an investigation into the actual nature of our true self, either through introspection, through learning from wise teachers or through the study of sacred texts.
By investigating our true self, by seeing through our attachments and aversions, we learn to overcome our habitual and conditioned existence and come into that “bigger picture“. By understanding our own behaviour and thinking patterns we will start to also understand others better and become more tolerant and forgiving. And we will also understand that anothers´ “behaviour“ is only a mirror of our own inner state and become more unjudgemental.
Now it´s getting really advanced…
5 ISHVARA PRANIDHANA – pure Consciousness, surrender to what is (Ultimate Reality)
Meditation practice allows us to differentiate between the cluttered thoughts of our ordinary mind and the deeper intelligence that comes through as intuition, understanding and wisdom.
Applying this final Niyama to our day-to-day life means to trust and let go. Stop fighting against the twists and turns life takes sometimes, stop trying to control everything and following a plan rigidly. GO WITH THE FLOW, adapting or “surrendering“ to life as it onfolds. Finally, yoga is not about flexibility in your body, it´s about flexibility in your mind:
“Body not stiff, mind stiff“ Sri K. P. Jois
YOGA “ON THE MAT”
If all of the above is just too much for you for the moment: just come on your mat (in a studio or in your living room with a YouTube Video) to practice.
Every single self practice and every yoga class in a studio or shala I end in a state of absolute happiness and balance (even if the practice was exhausting). A state of pure BLISS. Like being high. But grounded at the same time.
Meditation and breathing exercises teach you how to calm you „monkey mind“ and stop these thoughts that go round in circles what eventually makes you more relaxed, more mindful and ultimately: HAPPIER 😉
HAPPINESS and BEING A BETTER YOU are inseperably entangled
Happiness is infectuos. When we start to integrate all of the above in our life, we will overcome our “poisons“ greed, jealousy, craving and selfish desire, and become more serene, selfless, gratefull, generous and kind and ultimately we will experience freedom, happiness and peace.
When you are balanced you can act selfless and make others happy. Their happiness fills you with so much more you could ever want. Going to bed, knowing you made someone smile today will make you happier than any material belonging.