The physical poses in yoga (called Asana's) make up one of the 8 limbs of yoga practice.
And it is what we generally what we think of when we think of yoga.
While they do make for lovely #yoga instagram posts, they are a part of the whole picture of peace that is available to you.
If you dream of having less stress, increased physical health, easier meditation, daily mindfulness, mental clarity, non-judgement & inner calm, then you can trust that these all come blissfully easily when you learn to practice all 8 limbs.
The first limb of the 8 limbs of yoga are the 5 Yamas:
Ahimsā: Nonviolence.
Satya: truthfulness.
Asteya: non-stealing.
Brahmacharya: sexual integrity.
Aparigraha: non-hoarding.
Read more to learn the Yama’s:
Ahimsā: Nonviolence.
The yama of non-violence is not a negative command to not kill, rather, it is a positive message of love.
The practice of nonviolence is one of unconditional love toward oneself & all beings.
It is the gentle awareness & understanding of the suffering of all earthlings & positive actions towards kindness.
Non-violence can be harnessed in many ways through thought, action & intention. It is one of the largest symbols of compassion & strength.
It is practicing doing unto all others what you would do upon yourself.
Stepping into your own, another humans & animals lives, acknowledging any pain you may cause them & choosing not to.
How to practice non-violence:
Think kindly & non-violently about yourself
Speak with kindness & non-violence to others
Seek support with mental health & anxiety
Seek support to safely end family violence
Adopt plant based nutrition to reduce animal & environmental suffering
Make compassionate changes towards environmentalism
Be the change
Satya: truthfulness.
The practice of truthfulness is valuable & honourable, we all love those honest, real people who make us feel safe & have no agenda in their relationship with us.
When you’re living a lie it shows up in your life as suffering & misery.
It shows up in your experiences of relating to other people, in your job or career & in your body, in the way of disconnection, boredom & poor health.
Being in your passion, being true to your purpose & seeking why you are in this world are vital to the practice of truthfulness.
Truthfulness is not about recklessly telling the truth regardless of consequences.
It is much more about restraint: about taking your time & carefully considering your thoughts & words so that the way in which we express the truth is honest without causing suffering.
Truthfulness practice is also being honest where you spend your time & energy. And gently letting go of things that intuitively feel wrong for you.
How to practice truthfulness:
Be truthful in your thought, speech & action
Lead by example
Cease being 'nice', instead do things out of conscious love & want, rather than personal sacrifice
Be aware of your immediate reactions to please others (to say yes when you want to say no, take a breath & think consciously before answering)
No is a complete sentence, you do not need to explain yourself
You are not wrong for saying no, you are allowed to honour your truth
Take full personal responsibility of your happiness
Show love when you feel it, without expectation of return
Cease giving power to behaviours & patterns that cause you harm
- Truth can’t be written down into rules & regulations, only felt & expressed moment to moment. -
Asteya: non-stealing.
The need to steal essentially arises because of a lack of faith in ourselves to be able to create what we need.
The moment we feel a sense of ‘lack’ in life - desire, want & greed arises.
We begin to look for something to fill that ‘empty’ sensation & often feel as though the grass is greener elsewhere.
Lack, insecurity, wanting or feeling ‘incomplete’ comes down to the misconception that there’s something missing.
Stealing also applies to ‘time theft’, taking others time or wasting your own time rather than investing it.
It can also mean taking what is not yours to freely have, mankind’s drive for artificial & instant gratification often come with aggressive means to an end.
The word yoga means ‘to unite’, ‘connect’, or essentially to become ‘whole’, so by practising each aspect of yoga on & off the mat, we can move further towards feeling as though we already have enough & we already are enough within ourselves.
How to practice non-stealing:
Practice internal confidence building
Engage in personal development & learning inner peace
Meditate, swim in the ocean, do yoga or go for a walk in nature observing the abundance
Be mindful of your thoughts & intentions
Cease spending time with those who drain/steal your energy
Heal money trauma & learn money literacy
Wear ethical clothing
Cease animal consumption via clothing/food/personal care
Value yourself & all other beings
The grass is greener, where you water it
Brahmacharya: sexual integrity.
When you are aware & practice sexual integrity, your sexual expression aligns with your values & truth.
Fundamentally it means you are deeply connected to your honest, true self.
You practice fidelity to your beliefs & within relationships. You allow your vulnerability & accept physically, emotionally & spiritually positive sexual experiences.
Directly: Our sexual energy is very powerful & intimacy represents a significant investment of that power.
Indirectly: When we objectify ourselves or another person we effectively disconnect from their humanity & also our own.
How to practice sexual integrity:
Cease harmful, draining or hurtful interactions
Cease tolerating sexist jokes or subtle degrading of others
Celebrate your own body & others for all the shapes they come in
Practice eye gazing
Slow down
Say no when you want to say no, say yes when you want to say yes (in life and in love)
- Note: The definition of sexual integrity is unique to each person, colored by that individual’s background, beliefs, & life situation. -
Aparigraha: non-hoarding.
“Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body"
The practice of non-hoarding is to find happiness in all you have. Actively letting go of excess stuff & the notion that stuff will make you happy.
It is vital in the practice of non-hoarding to let go of the past, release old patterns learned from trauma & unpack emotional baggage.
There is such freedom & spaciousness of letting go of the things that we don’t need.
Stuff that we don’t need.
Ideas that we don’t need.
People that we don’t need.
How to practice non-hoarding:
Find happiness within your inner being every day (meditation is beautiful for this)
Clear out the physical clutter in your home
Clear out the mental junk in your mind
Dust, clean & take care of everything in your environment
Have house plants that bring you joy & teach you how to nurture
Take care of your current possessions (keep your home, car & work space clean & tidy, respect what you do have)
Give to charity
Consciously purchase good quality clothing that lasts
Let go.