Yamas in Asana

The Yamas are the five ethical disciplines that make up the first of Patañjali’s eight limbs of yoga.  Also referred to as ‘The Great Vow, they are:

Ahimsā - non violence

Satya - truth

Asteya - not stealing

Brahamcarya - chastity

Aparigraha - non-greed/grasping

Clearly these are qualities needed for members of a healthy society to live in harmony with one another and should, along with the Niyamas, be the foundation of any yogic path, but are they related to our āsana practice?

BKS Iyengar gives us some good starting points for consideration in his book ‘The Tree of Yoga’.  When considering ahimsā it is obvious that our practice should never be injurious or harmful but goes beyond that by saying that if we ‘over do’ on our good side we could be over stretching but also, ‘under doing’ on our weakest side will lead to the cells dying off and therefore this will also cause harm.  So it is imperative to work with equal intensity on both sides of the body. Patañjali places ahimsā first on the list as it is the most important of the Yamas and should override all the others if one is ever in doubt.

When each side of the body is working evenly under the spotlight of ahimsā, it leads to a posture that is truthful - satya. Guruji goes on to say, “When the right and the left are integrated, there is truth…. You need not observe truth, you are already in truth”.   Beyond that, I would suggest that through the āsana practice, we can begin to observe ourselves truthfully and clearly. In uttanāsana for example (standing forward bend) we may be tempted to bend our legs in order to place our hands on the floor - but we have to check -are my legs actually straight? If not we use bricks under the hands to bring about that truth in the legs. Often what we see when we look at our knees in this instance may not be what we think is actually happening - so we start to pick up the tools to look at ourselves more honestly.

The link to Asteya (non stealing) is perhaps less obvious.  When people steal things it is because they think they cannot generate what they need.  So we have to generate a feeling of abundance in ourselves and be fully attentive to our practice.  So if you do not put your whole self into a posture, if you do not give it your full effort and attention, you are in fact stealing from yourself by preventing yourself from reaching its full potential.  Be generous with your time, energy, focus and efforts when you are practicing the postures.  Learn how to generate internal energy through use of your breath.

Next on the list of five Yamas comes ‘brahmacharya’ or chastity when translated literally.  However, like all Sanskrit words there is more depth to its meaning. Brahmacharya is ‘control of desires’ ie not giving into fleeting pleasures.  Performing āsana for the purpose of ‘feeling nice’ is not yoga at all, it is bhoga (doing something purely for sensory pleasure).  If you’re an Iyengar Yoga practitioner you’ll know that our practice can often be uncomfortable but it is during this discomfort that the transformation comes.  As I like to remind my students during those ‘grunt’ moments - if it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you (gosh that’s probably annoying)!  Also if we are serious about the quest of yoga, we should preserve our energy and avoid wasting it.  The energy in the pelvis is channeled into the chest where the seat of the soul ātman) is said to reside in much of the postural work we do.  Guruji puts it beautifully in the book, “Brahmacharya means the soul moving with your action.  When there is oneness of the soul with the motion, that is known as brahmacharya.”

Finally is aparigraha - non greed, non-possessiveness and non-hoarding,  We certainly should not hold onto fears, expectations, preconceived ideas of who we are and what we think we can do, nor be held back by past experiences.  We should cultivate the ability to ‘let go’ of unwanted thoughts instead. Greed is often routed in jealousy and we may wish our postures were like someone else’s. Don’t compare yourself to others, we are all on our own individual path - you are enough exactly as you are.  You may envy someone else’s flexibility - but do they have your strength or awareness? There is so much more to this practice than making it to that final pose we may have seen in Light on Yoga.  Consideration of the Yamas is just one example of that depth.

The Yamas are often referred to as the ‘don’ts’ but they are not designed to constrain us.  We should think more of their ability to bring out positive aspects that are within everyone…..

If I lead a life of ahimsā (non violence) it will lead to a life of loving kindness. Rather than thinking of satya as ‘I must not lie’ - how can I conduct myself with honesty and integrity?  Asteya (not stealing) leads to generosity.  Brahmacharya - being faithful to ones partner is part of it, but can I avoid giving into fleeting desires and being lead by the senses of perception? By practicing aparigraha ‘ (non-greed) we learn to live humbly, not taking more from this depleted world than we actually need and also we learn the art of letting go.

Let the Yamas guide your practice! Let me know how you get on in the comment box below!