The Yamas and Niyamas of Yoga - Yoga Philosophy Basics: Part 2
The yamas and niyamas of yogic philosophy are 2 of the 8 Limbs of Yoga. (You can read more about all 8 Limbs in my earlier post here.) They represent our relations or attitudes towards others (yamas) and ourselves (niyamas). Each one of us, whether conscious of this or not, has certain morals, views and behaviours we live our lives by. The yamas and niyamas offer a guide here and have been called the ‘golden keys to unlock the spiritual gates’ (B. K. S Iyenger).
Whether you consider yourself spiritual or not, they can help us to transform from within and to treat those around us with more love, compassion and honesty.
There are the 5 yamas:
Ahimsa - non-harm, kindness, consideration
Satya - truthfulness, honesty, integrity
Asteya - non-stealing, not taking what is others’, abundance
Aparigraha - non-greed, non-possessiveness, not taking more than necessary
Brahmachariya - movement towards truth, reverence for life, right use of energy
In practice, what would the yamas look like? Starting with ahimsa, we can pause to consider situations before deciding on action. What is the kindness thing to do? Then, when we consider satya, we can ask ourselves if our speech and actions are in integrity, if they reflect our truth. If, however, our ‘truth’ would cause great harm to another, we return to ahimsa for more guidance. Asteya and aprarighara can then remind us to not take from others and not to take more than what we need. In our modern world, resources aren’t shared equality and these yamas can guide us towards more fairness and finding abundance in what we have. Finally, brahmachariya reminds us that, ultimately, we are on a search for truth, simplicity and harmony. All actions towards others, therefore, can allow us to achieve this.
There are the 5 niyamas:
Saucha - cleanliness, purity, sanctity
Santosha - contentment, gratitude, appreciation
Tapas - effort, enthusiasm, discipline (Iyengar in Light on Life - ‘sustained courageous practice)
Svadhyaya - self-inquiry, self-study, study of ancient texts
Ishvara-pranidhana - surrender to the present, to Life or to the Divine
With these, we move from the external to our internal world. How do we treat ourselves daily? What self-care practice do we have, and what do we believe about ourselves? Saucha reminds us to take care of our health and energy, to clean up gunk and stuckness. Santosha teaches us to practice gratitude for ourselves, our lives and nature. Tapas gives us the motivation and structure to achieve our goals, whilst svadhyaya reminds us to take time to inquire within through things like yoga but also through books or mentors. Ishvara-pranidhana takes us out of the physical, daily life and returns us to the now, to a mindful practice and full awareness of the infinity of life and ourselves.
The yamas and niyamas offer wisdom for our daily lives. They remind us of what’s important on our personal growth and healing journeys, beyond our yoga practice on the mat. Our happiest moments are often those of deepest connection with ourselves, or in complete joy in the presence of others. The yamas and niyamas help us with this, with what truly matters at the end of the day - our inner truth and our relationships with others.
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All parts of this series (more coming soon):
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To dive deeper into the history of yoga philosophy, you can listen to this podcast episode.
If you’d like to learn more about how yoga can help you on your journey, you can find yoga classes on my YouTube, posts on my Instagram, or book a 1:1 yoga session with me here.
