What are the Yamas and Niyamas?

The yamas and niyama that look into the ethical practice of yoga. The eight limbs of yoga presented by Patanjali serve as a manual towards living your life to the fullest. These eight limbs can lead to satisfaction and fulfilling life. Among these eight the first two are the Yamas and Niyamas that define attitudes or behaviors and potential rules of social norms and self-discipline to a yoga student.

During the yamas and niyamas exploring yoga’s ethical practice, you will learn that the yamas and niyamas are two of the most challenging of the eight limbs of yoga to integrate into our lives and our lifestyles. Once we study the philosophy of yoga and the first thing one asks is What are the Yamas and Niyamas? The dilemma of asking ourselves, What do we do to incorporate the yamas and the niyamas into our lives? continues to challenge us and make us feel guilty or depressed.

What are the Yamas and Niyamas?

The Yamas are social norms, which define the way in which we should lead the life of non-violence, truth, non-stealing, chastity and non-possessiveness. All these are conventions that enable each person to live a happy peaceful life in the society. Knowledge of the Yamas and Niyamas leads to peaceful living. Niyamas are good responsibilities towards ourselves.

They are righteousness or cleanliness of mind and body, contentment, perseverance, self study, being sensitive to the highest consciousness. Before the deep meditation, one should learn the Yamas and Niyamas. These serve as a compass that will assist us in building good habits that will see us leading a full life. Next, we will examine the adaptability of each of them in a more basic and practical manner.

The Yamas

Yama is usually translated to mean restraint, moral discipline or moral vow. According to Patanjali, such vows are entirely universal, irrespective of who you are and what is your origin, where you are or where you are going. Such an important practice can be hard to be moral. The Yamas are traditionally influencing the life of yoga enthusiasts.

During the yamas and niyamas exploring yoga's ethical practice, you will get a guide towards practices which relate to the surrounding world yet in many cases we can utilize them as a guide of how to treat ourselves as well. 

1. Ahimsa or Non-Violence

This norm discusses the need to live a life of non-violence, both in thoughts, words and even actions. It is not only that it is about physical violence or harming a person physically but it is about being non-violent in our thinking about ourselves as well. It is not about being unfriendly or disagreeable, but creating the room of consciousness and calmness.

In order to adjust to Ahimsa, attempt to be more conscious of your thoughts and actions. Consider those things that are holding you back to being peaceful. Note down negative thoughts and or feelings about something or someone. Being simply mindful of this can make you take a step towards a space of peacefulness.

2. Satya or Truthfulness

Telling the truth makes us honest and whole and modest. Be honest with yourself and other people. You should not attempt to conceal the way you truly feel or what you truly think. Failing to mention or concealing might result in confusion and insensitivity. It is the same with gossip and rumors. Do not talk about others but only the best truth.

3. Asteya or Non-stealing

Do not steal what does not belong to you. When you do that everything will turn out to be good. This is in relation to materialistic as well as immaterial things. It might be the time, the energy, the trust, the happiness, the ideas of somebody else. This also ties back to Satya. Theft and lying about what belongs and what does not will not help. Consider what you truly need. Your needs should not drive you to more with your passing. Cultivate this aspect in you when shopping or handling relationships. Be fair and account for the time and effort of other people.

4. Brahmacharya or Celibacy

Directly, Brahmacharya means celibacy. It simply refers to utilizing energy through the right means. It instructs us to drive our energies down toward peace and happiness and not toward all the stuff of the world. It teaches us not to use senses wrongly and not to use senses to govern your actions. Anything that evoked emotions such as over stimulating food, music like loud music, violent films, indecent sexual activity etc should be avoided.

5. Aparigraha or non possessiveness

Getting rid of ancient scores, non-hoarding and minimalist living are Aparigraha. This notion is entirely concerning being light and without things and the past. Take care of what you are purchasing or stocking at home. Ask yourself whether you really need it or not? Or do you simply hoard stuff because you are afraid and greedy? You release and new energy enters.

Betweenness is created to allow positivity and newness. You can modify this idea by clearing out your home and becoming conscious of spending. By considering these aspects in our daily practice on and off the yoga mat, all of our decisions and actions come from a more considered, aware and ‘higher’ place and this leads us towards being more authentic towards ourselves and others. 

The Niyamas

The term Niyama is usually translated as being positive duties or observances and are believed to be recommended practices of good living and of what is referred to as spiritual living. They are considered yoga tradition practices that are about ourselves, but we can certainly consider them to have an influence on the external world as well. Patanjali enumerates five Niyamas, however there are other schools and books that enumerate more:

1. Saucha or Purity

This is the first of Niyamas which means being clean, both externally and internally. It is not only to be hygienic, but also clean in thoughts and behaviors. This aids you to be in a calm and clean state. Having no clutter in your thinking process and physical environment leads to creation of a space that welcomes the new, the fresh and the positive. It is possible to notice this by simply making sure that one talks about daily cleaning habits such as brushing the teeth, taking a bath, etc. and takes care of cleaning the place in which he/she is. And that is a good point to begin with.

2. Santosha or Contentment

‍Santosha means happiness and joy that cannot be shaken even by outside occurrences. It is the acceptance of life and life circumstances in the form they are and understanding that regardless whatever you are safe and happy. This celebration leads you to the understanding that life is not going to be perfect and there are going to be good and bad moments but at the end of the day you are able to control the way you feel. Imagine that you are performing a yoga pose. Not all the time you get the ideal alignment. Your body is not capable of getting into the right pose. But whatever that, stretch in the position and be happy at that time.

3. Tapas or Perseverance

It is about working hard and never giving up on whatever you have set your mind on regardless of the outcomes. In doing so you acquire discipline, eagerness and strength of purpose to accomplish what you want. It is as good as making a promise to do a certain job and striving towards it. You can use this on anything, a weight loss objective, altering your diet, rising early, meditation daily etc. Tapas is even in a posture. You are relying on your strength to make you not move. One will be able to develop the power to accomplish anything through this.

4. Swadhyaya or Self-Study

Self-study is a way of creating time to be happy yourself. It makes you much nearer to knowing what you are and who you can be. It makes you nearer to the Divine power. It is taking time to learn about yourself, your operations, habits, urges and aspirations. The easiest way to begin is by answering easy questions about yourself, such as am I an organized person, am I punctual, etc. Just learn to know yourself and do not judge yourself. You would one day realize that life experiences are universal and thus become more compassionate towards yourself and others. Swadhyaya will eventually develop into a more advanced study on the ultimate consciousness. 

5. Ishvara Pranidhana or the submission to the greater power

‍All Niyamas are finally a matter of letting go and giving in to God. Through this, you will come to know what and who God is. You will be in a better place to be aware of the higher power and the supreme being. You will know how to be indifferent and airy. Begin with watching and gradually arrive at the stage of releasing. 

Also Go Through:- 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh

In Summary

The Niyamas can be practiced along with the Yamas. You can begin by attempting to include one or two of them daily and by week four-five, you would have adjusted all of them. They will gradually enter into your nature and become a habit. One can actually change his or her life through practicing the Yamas and Niyamas that present positive and ethical behaviors.