Negaunee, Michigan – January 22, 2019 – I’m not a religious person. However, I do believe in being kind, giving, and Karma. In comes the Yamas & Niyamas.
Think of them as the 10 Commandments in Sanskrit through the eyes of someone who practices yoga, as they are very similar. I recently finished reading “The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice” by Deborah Adele for my Yoga Teacher Training Course.
To quote Adele, “The first two stops on the path, even before the physical postures called asana, are ethical principles that are supposed to guide how we relate to other people and how we take care of ourselves. They’re called the Yamas (social restraints) and the Niyamas (self-disciplines).”
To break it down simply, the Yamas are things not to do, and the Niyamas are things to do. Here are the translations of the Yamas & Niyamas:
Yamas-
- Ahimsa: nonviolence
- Satya: truthfulness
- Asteya: non-stealing
- Brahmacharya: non-excess
- Aparigraha: non-possessiveness
Niyamas-
- Saucha: purity
- Santosha: contentment
- Tapas: self-discipline
- Svadhyaya: self-study
- Ishvara Pranidhana: surrender
Pretty interesting, huh? I thought so! I really enjoyed the book. It is a quick read, easy to interpret, and very informative. I have it, if you’d like to borrow it!
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