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ANCIENT
INTUITIVE
AUTHENTIC
LIFE-CHANGING
Traditional, energetic practises, for anyone, anywhere.
The Niyamas
Hello and welcome back, last week we talked about the Yamas, which were the first of the 8 limbs of Patanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga. This week, is all about the second limb, the Niyamas.
As a refresher, the Yamas are the social codes or self restraints to live by, they are:
Ahimsa, non violence
Satya , truth
Asteya, honesty
Brahmacharya, self restraint
And, aparigraha, non attachment,
This then puts the Niyamas as the rules of conducts for the self, the individual, for you. Consider them your personal practise items that will prepare you for spiritual ascension. Just like the yamas, they will allow the mind to be free from conflict, and put you into a harmonious state so that you can begin to reach the higher states of consciousness that we have been speaking about.
Just like the Yamas, there are 5 Niyamas.
Saucha - Purity. This is purity of the body, mind and the breath. In the simplest form, you are what you eat, you are what you think, and you are what you do. Cleanse the body both internally and externally to enact this Niyama. From the most simple perspective, ways the body, daily, multiple times per day if you are coming unclean. It’s the food and drink we consume, have it be clean, pure, nutritious. How can we focus on higher states of mind when the body is so consumed with breaking down bad foods, or with indigestion. Never go to bed without washing away the day that has been. This purity or cleanliness then extends to your space, your home. Cleaning your bed linen and towels regularly, cleaning your floor, dusting, bathroom etc. Decluttering, this goes back to the yama of aparigraha, non-attachment. There’s a saying in yoga, “A messy mat, a messy mind”. If we have too much mess or clutter we cannot think clearly. Put things away, put them back or get rid of them completely. Purity of the mind is a little bit trickier for some. This relates directly to your thoughts, thoughts for yourself and for others. Similar to the Yama, ahimsa, non-violence, as in we don’t think harmful thoughts about ourselves, however from this perspective its about not letting your thoughts run away with you, not getting “stuck” in your head. Or becoming paralysed, unable to move forward because we are stuck on the thought process. Allow the thoughts to pass through us, but not become us. Allow your mind to become free from thoughts so that you can achieve these higher states of consciousness. Don’t be concerned with lower thoughts like the taking out the garbage, this should happen with little thought at all, reverse your thoughts for considerations of how to achieve the higher states. Then from a breath perspective, deep breaths, slow breaths, nasal breaths. Practising pranayama in various states will have incredible benefits, which we will touch on later on.
Santosha, contentment. It’s absolutely vital that we as humans, can develop a sense of contentment, meaning, being content with exactly where you are right now, in your life, in your day, in your energy etc. It’s about being able to withstand anything that happens within your day without being deeply affected. Of course things will effect you in some way, but it’s about the depth that you allow it to. Generally people operate from a highly fluctuating level of stress. One moment happy, one moment sad, this is not sustainable and its definitely not an ideal mind for meditating, and this is where contentment, santosha, comes into it. You could also look at it as gratitude. Do you have a gratitude practice? It can be one of the most powerful practises you can do. Start with finding one thing that you are grateful for each day, it could be that you got a seat on the busy bus this morning, or that you got to finish your warm cup if tea, or maybe the sun is shining and you can enjoy the rays of sunlight on your face. It doesn’t have to be something grand, keep it small and see how you go.
Tapas, austerity or will power. Be disciplined. The mind can be like a kitten, it wanders from place to place with no real purpose, just looking for shiny things to play with. Don’t be like the kitten. Get out of bed when you don’t want to, start your meditation practise, stick to it. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day”, this is true for anything. Good things take time and having the will power or the self discipline is necessary to be able to move forward and start living the life you have been dreaming of. Dreaming ain’t doing. Another side os austerity to consider is honouring your word. Do what you say. Not just to others but to yourself.
Svadhyaya, or study of the self. How well do you know yourself? Start getting to know yourself. For example, when you are reactive to anything, ask yourself, “why did I get any just now, what is it about this that makes me frustrated?” Notice how you react in various situations and around different people, study yourself. This continual study of the self will lead to you finding out how your mind works, at least on a superficial level, and you will become more aware of your “triggers” and how to avoid them or work through them. Once you’ve gotten the hang of the superficial self study, because let’s be honest, that should never stop. Then we can move onto the study of the mind through our meditations. What visions, if any, do you see? Are there colours, are there sounds? Don’t suppress these things, allow them to flow freely and spend time after your meditation sessions to asses what these may mean. Keeping a meditation journal is handy for this.
Ishwara pranidhana, another personal favourite, surrender. Accept consequences with grace, and let go of the ego. Constant practise of this will lead to a realisation that our actions are merely a manifestation from our consciousness. Whooooa. So, connect to something greater than yourself, call it what you will, the universe, god, higher consciousness, intentions, enlightenment, just surrender. The world has your back in the purist form.
When don’t need to master both the Yamas and the Niyamas for the the magic to happen. We can simply start, start with the smallest of steps and you are heading in the right direction. When we do this, everything else begins to flow. As the King from Alice in Wonderland said, “begin at the beginning”, so do that. Begin, but unlike the rest of that quote, don’t ever stop.