Lesson 3 - The Yamas

 The 5 Yamas – the first step on the 8 step ladder 
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Anything that hardens your heart, clutters your mind and puts you at the centre of your own universe, is leading you in the wrong direction. 
If Yoga is concerned with settling the mind, then the Yamas and Niyamas (our ethics and morals) are so important, because nothing unsettles our minds like living out of line with our values.
 
The Yamas, as you may recall, were the first branch of the 8 branched system of Astanga Yoga.
 
They are concerned with how we conduct ourselves in our daily lives, not just when we are on our yoga mats.
 
How we treat others matters! 
And remember in yoga philosophy everything living is interconnected, so it’s not just how we treat other people but everything living, and that includes ourselves, animals and planet earth.
 
The 5 Yamas:

1. Non violence/aggression, in Sanskrit Ahimsa

1. No lying/ only truthfulness, in Sanskrit Satya
2. No stealing, in Sanskrit Asteya
3. No uncontrolled desire/ lust, in Sanskrit Bramacharya
4. No greed/no grasping and attaching, in Sanskrit Aparigraha

 
In essence, we should live our lives in way that inflicts the least amount of harm, and where compassion drives our actions and reactions. 

1. Non violence/aggression: this means verbal, mental and physical. I invite you to try this awareness exercise: think back over your day, how often did aggressive or negative thoughts, towards yourself or others, enter into your head and more importantly how much ‘airtime’ did you allow them?
2. No lying/ only truthfulness: this includes white lies, which admittedly sometimes we say in order to try to be compassionate. But what if we said nothing instead, or felt empowered enough to speak the truth instead of the white lie? Yoga believes all lies create an unsettled mind and uneasy heart and this state moves us away from our true higher self.
3. No stealing: like all the Yamas you can consider this on a surface level, like shop lifting, or on a much deeper level. Anytime we take more than we need this could be considered as stealing. Do you steal time from people by being late? Do you steal from the earth by taking things you don’t need? Do you steal ideas, or claim false credit?
4. No uncontrolled desire/ lust: traditionally this meant celibacy but in a modern day context it most useful to use it to reflect on what things you find yourself lusting after. Money, power, people, possessions. Uncontrolled desire, craving, pursuit and obsession, can be all consuming and self-serving, in this state the mind will never be settled.
5. No greed/no grasping and attaching: like the above Niyama, greed can never be satisfied, it is self-perpetuating and arises from our selfish desires to gratify the senses. Also, if we grasp at things, desperate to hold on to them, we become anxious and angry when they go or remain unattained. And, they will not last because everything is temporary. Attachment to anything, ideas, status, our bodies, our possessions, people, emotions will lead to suffering because EVERYTHING is temporary and designed to change,

 
Optional Task - Try going through each of the 5 Yamas and examine your relationship with them, can you pinpoint an area in particular that you could work on?
 
“The Asanas without the Yamas and Niyamas, are just gymnastics.”BKS Iyengar
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