A Niyama Practice for Self-Love
The Niyamas of yogic philosophy are one of the most approachable yoga topics. They can guide us in our daily lives, because they concern how we act towards ourselves, and the duties and practices we want to uphold. They encourage inward reflection and growth, and showing up better in the world as a result of this.
For the past 30 days, I’ve been doing a daily niyama practice for cultivating self-love, which inspired me to share some light and my interpretations on this yogic wisdom. I’ve felt so connected and nourished by my daily practice, that I’ll be extending it as an ongoing daily ritual.
Before I dive into what I’ve been doing, let’s explore the yoga niyamas.
Yogic philosophy runs wide and deep, and what it means to each of us is different. (I made an Instagram post about this recently.) At its root, yoga is about the search within so that we can connect even more to everything around us. The word yoga stems from the Sanskrit* ‘yuj’, meaning to join, unite or yoke. Many people point to the Yoga Sutras as one of the central yogic texts. The Sutras were compiled in the early centuries of the current era by yogic sage Patanjali and are one of the first written, organised discussions of yoga. They’re considered classical yoga philosophy and laid out this idea of niyamas.
As with everything, the more you dive into the topic of yoga philosophy, the more you begin to discover just how complex the early roots of yoga are and the Sutras are one of many interpretations and considerations of yogic philosophy. Nevertheless, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras have gained great prominence and most contemporary yogis base their studies on this.
One of the central idea of the Yoga Sutras are the 8 Limbs of Yoga (Ashtanga in Sanskrit). By following these 8 limbs, one can be said to be following the yogic path. These are: yama (attitudes towards others, or morals), niyama (attitudes towards ourselves, or duties), asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breathwork), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (bliss, enlightened or integration).
Together, the yamas and niyamas concern how we conduct our everyday lives and the niyamas, specifically, concern our relationship with ourself. Ultimately, the path of healing and growth is about how we show up in the everyday, not just on our yoga mat or in silent meditation. It’s about bringing what we gain from those inward practices to our outward expression and attitudes. The niyamas provide a framework for this.
There are 5 niyamas:
Saucha - cleanliness, purity, sanctity
Santosha - contentment, gratitude, appreciation
Tapas - effort, enthusiasm, discipline
Svadhyaya - self-inquiry, self-study, study of ancient texts
Ishvara-pranidhana - surrender to the present, to Life or to the Divine
These translations of the Sanskrit words are some of many. I’ve offered the words most commonly used, but please replace any with your own choosing if they don’t resonate. For instance, ‘discipline’ can have negative connotations of begrudgingly doing something. So, ‘enthusiasm’ or ‘effort’ or even ‘healthy habits’ might resonate more with you. Similarly, ‘surrender to the Divine’ might not resonate with you; contemplation of a higher power may be a useful alternative.
As part of my exploration of yoga recently, I chose to work with saucha for 30 days through a daily, self-love visualisation meditation.
You might already sense that this practice could be said to be working with tapas instead, as it’s about daily effort and discipline. Or even santosha, as cultivating self-love is key to promoting contentment.
For me, saucha called me because my key intention was to create energetic cleansing and purity within.
So, what was my daily self-love practice?
Every day, I sat or laid comfortably, and set a timer for 5 minutes. I visualised a 3D, crystal-coloured, smooth heart, about 2cm wide each way, in the middle of my chest. I held that visualisations as I imagined a white light glowing from this heart into the rest of my body, sending healing, cleansing, loving energy to my whole being. With each inhale, I saw the heart grow in healing light and, with each exhale, I saw the energy radiate to each part of my body.
When I caught myself distracted in thought, I returned to my breath and then to the visualisation.
How you can do this Self-love Visualisation Meditation:
Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit or lie down
Optional: Play gentle music in the background
Set a timer for 5 minutes
Start to bring your awareness to your breath, feeling the air entering your nostrils and then slowly leaving your body. Take one or two cleansing breaths before you move to the next step (this is a big inhale, and an audible exhale through the mouth, imagining tension, stress and fear leaving your body with the exhale)
Imagine a small, 3D crystal heart in the middle of your chest, in the space of the heart chakra (just to the right of your physical heart). Keep your awareness on this as you continue to breath.
Now, become aware of the qualities of this heart - its purity and innocence, its healing powers, its loving nature. As you get more familiar with the heart, invite its healing powers to start to seep into your body (do this simply through your intention). With each inhale, stay aware of the heart’s healing qualities and envision them growing in strength; with each exhale, see white, healing energy glow out of the heart and into your whole body. Continue with this and, if you catch yourself in thought or distractions, return to your breath first and then to the visualisation of the heart.
Optional: You can add a mantra to this. Option 1: Mentally sound ‘saucha’ or ‘purity’. Option 2: Inhale the word ‘self’ and exhale the word ‘love’. Option 3: Repeat the affirmations ‘I am love. I radiate love. I am healing through love.’
When your timer sounds, slowly release the visualisation. Allow your awareness to come back to your breath for a few rounds. Then, gently blink your eyes open and slowly transition back to your day.
The best time to do this practice is in the morning or night. The morning is a potent time of day for working with the subconscious mind (key to deep, lasting transformation) and the evening will allow you to drift into the dream state with positive, loving energy in you.
If you’d like to learn more about how to use yoga for self-growth and healing, you can book a 1:1 yoga session with me here.
* the language of the Yoga Sutras and other ancient Indian texts
