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I always wanted to be vegetarian, and I never could, because I love food too much. But I never wanted to be a vegan, because I tought it was too much, you know?
But when I started practicing Yoga daily, I naturally became vegetarian and then it was very easy to become vegan, because I wasnt’s aware of how dairy industry “works” and now I am.
The Yamas identify five behaviours where mental and emotional turmoil arise from and aims to teach us a better way of managing and avoiding these turmoils. They pertain to how we regard ourselves and the world around us. To visualise this relationship, imagine yourself standing with your arms outstretched horizontally – the Yamas teach us to treat ourselves with respect and kindness first, which will eventually radiate outward to affect how we interact with people and situations.
Ahimsa means reverence for life, the active state of living in peace and harmony, with compassion for all beings.
I’ve finished the texts about the Yamas. Here they are:
The eight limbs
Yama (relationship to others)
- Ahimsa (non-violence)
- Satya (Truthfulness)
- Asteya (non stealing)
- Brahmacharya (use well your life force)
- Aparigraha (non coveting)
Keep practicing!
Namaste.
I never understood very well the feeling of jealousy and althought Aparigraha is understood of non coveting, which is different, I understand it also as a non-jealousy practice. During the major part of my life I thought envy/jealousy (pardon my poor english) simply didn’t exist.
So, when I was already an adult, and I went trhough a very hard time in this existence, I myself felt jealous of other people. So I could understand this feeling better.
Well, jealousy is for real. I felt it when I thought I was so miserable that I thought other people were happy while I wasn’t, that God (or the Creator, or whatever you call it), had forgotten me, that some people had an “easy&wonderful” life and others suffered and suffered and everythig goes wrong to them – and I was “Group B”. I didn’t know anymore who I was, I was disconnected from my true self, and I wanted to be someone else, those that I thought were happier than I was.
I’ve learned that feeling jealous is a low self-steem symptom. It hurts me and others at the same time. What is better? To practice Aparigraha. To practice Aparigraha I think it is necessary to practice also a Niyama (I’ll talk about it soon), the “Isvara pranidhana”, that means “Devotion to God”. I found it necessary to reconnect with God, or the Creator. This relationship is important, and it must be honest. You must feel again you are truly loved by who or what gave you the existence.
What you can do to practice Aparigraha:
- Connect with yourself. Know yourself and fall in love with you.
- Dedicate a time of your day to stay with yourself, listen to a music that you like, dance, be in contact with your own body and consciousness.
- Do what is good to increase your self-steem and understand your personal value.
- Believe it: you are so perfect that there is no reason to want what is from someone else. Your life is designed for you, and even if it looks like a disaster now, you can change everything when you want, and unfold it in a wonderful way.
- Remeber that it’s never over!
Namaste.
It can be understood as “sexual continence”, or “celibacy”, but Brahmacharya is a Yama that I prefer to understand as moderation and respect for my own vital force.
When I study Brahmacharya I always remember that quote “My body is my temple”. It means I won’t harm it with drugs, dangerous activities (between them, irresponsible sex), and that I won’t even have toxic relationships, that might harm me, be it emotionally or physically.
What you can do to practice Brahmacharya:
- Start by taking a good care of yourself. Exercise, eat healthy and cultivate relationships that make you happy.
- I never liked people who regulates other people’s sexual lives, but I think a good Brahmacharya practice involves a sexual relationship based on love and respect.
- Dedicate your energy to what makes you happy and avoid excess: too much drinking, food, work, whatever. Use well your life force, use well your body, it is a very important part of who you are and you only have this one in this life.
Keep it up!
Namastê.
To pratice Asteya (not stealing) might seem the most easy Yama to practice, but in reality, it means much more than what we know for stealing.
It means also to not take more than we need, for example, do not eat more than we need, do not have more material things than we need, do not have debts, do not steal from yourself or from others intangible things, like happinness, joy, opportunities, do not accept a place or social position/a job/etc. that is not ours, and so on. It also means to accept a place or opportunity when it is ours (don not steal from oneself).
To practice Asteya help us to develop a healthy and strong self-steem. Next time we receive an excelent opportunity, be it a carrer opportunity, be it a relationship, for example, we’ll accept it, because we don’t want to steal from ourselves the happiness we deserve.
Asteya practice gives us safety and helps us to live in harmony with all people and beings around us. Through the Asteya practice (not stealing), we respect the order of life and the right of all the others beings.
What you can do to practice Asteya:
- It’s possible that you might have, during your life, developed the habit to take something away of other people, maybe as a way to deal with your own anxiety, maybe for other reasons. Look for the necessary help to abandon this habit.
- Pay your debts and don’t make debts you are not able to pay.
- Avoid any excess: luxury, too much food, too expensive things.
- Don’t accumulate things. If you have too many clothes and shoes in your closet you don’t use, or anything you don’t need anymore, like those old books, what about to donate them to someone who can really use and benefit from them?
- Embrace the best oportunities and want the best for yourself. This way you’ll be practicing Asteya, not stealing from yourself the opportunity to be happy. Do the same for others.
- When you see someone happy, joyful, confident, don’t say or do nothing that might take away of this person its joy, confidence or whatever good feeling in which he/she might be in.
- And remember: it is a practice! Don’t matter if you haven’t reached you “ideal” state of consciousness yet. Neither have I, neither have many. Keep practicing.
Namaste.
Practicing Satya has always been a challenge to me. I don’t like conflict, and to avoid struggles with other people many times I deny my inner truth to accept what other people impose.
To practice Satya, it is necessary to respect your own inner voice, just as the voice of the others. To know oneself (Svadhyaya) is an important step to practice Satya. To know what you want, which are your genuine values, will help you to act with consistency in everything you do. Your actions and your thoughts will be one with your words.
Telling the truth, act with integrity, do not fool others or yourself, to respect your own integrity, all this is Satya practice.
What you can do to practice Satya:
- When in one asana, practice with integrity. Do not push your body. Listen to your body, to your bones, to your muscles and tendons and know when it’s time to slow down or even to stop for a while. Integrity is Satya practice.
- Be transparent in your relationships and in everything you do.
- If your work or money source is misaligned with your more deep values, it is time to medidate about your career and/or to look for a job in which you can practice Satya with ease.
- Analise all the areas of your life (don’t do it in a rush. Take your time. It can be months). That’s an opportunity to know yourself (Svadhyaya), and will allow you to know the areas in which you’re not acting in aligment with your inner truth. Time to realign those areas.
- And remember that your practice is a proccess, a path, and that everything will happen in your due time.
Keep practing!
Namaste.
Ps: Those are only the personal considerations from a yoga student (me) about Satya.
