Recently, a dear friend of mine started her podcast and the name of the podcast is “Different Angle”! From the moment I read that title, I have been pushing myself to continue my writings on Yogasutra to include “Different Angle”!
I also remembered the book review I wrote for Reema Ahmad’s Unparenting where I had touched upon this similar concept.
The concept that I am trying to put into words is Pratipaksa Bhavanam (am hopeful of getting to the concept in the next post). Patanjali urges us to make the practice of Ashtanga yoga a basis of our life. The first 2 of the Ashtanga yoga are Yama and Niyama.
Read about Ashtanga yoga here – https://umsreflections.wordpress.com/2023/04/01/learnings-from-yogasutra-1/
Let us briefly look into this Yama and Niyama and understand the practices that come under these headings.
Yama refers to the practice to maintain harmony among interpersonal relationships and to improve them. 5 practices are mentioned under Yama:
Ahimsa – non-violence through thoughts, actions, and words. It is just “not killing”. The thought of Ahimsa should be the seed that will reflect in our words and action. We should not harm others even in our hearts/thoughts.
Satya – spoken truth – speak the truth always and also it should be on par with Ahimsa. Speak the truth in such a way that the other person is not hurt and also it should not hinder the person’s progress in the long run.
Asteya – non-stealing – To be in strict adherence to this practice is to make sure we don’t take things from others without their permission. Things could be thoughts, ideas, works, achievements, fame, or materialistic things. Even the process of taking resources from Nature without giving them back in some way or another is also Asteya.
Brahmacarya – faithfulness in relationships – If Brahmacarya means celibacy then Patanjali would have mentioned it under Niyama. The very presence of this word under Yama indicates the faithfulness with which we need to look at and live relationships.
Aparigraha – This practice urges us to not receive or expect more than what we deserve, even if the other person is willing to give. Before receiving, we should make the effort to give and also be deserving of receiving.
Niyama lists 5 practices that help us to maintain harmony with our own self.
Sauca – Cleanliness of the body and mind. Bathing, wearing clean clothes, and eating the right type of food deal with the cleanliness of the body. Cleanliness of mind expands to include the Sad Urmi (6 things that can bring in challenges/troubles for the self). They are Kama (excess desire for anything), Krodha (anger), Lobha (hoarding of things/knowledge), Moha (infatuation), Madam (arrogance), and Matsarya (to constantly find fault with others).
Santosa – Contentment – When we practice contentment, we stop comparing ourselves with others in wealth, status, fame, education, and other parameters.
Tapah – The ability to stop doing something for the betterment of the self – to consciously start a new habit with the intention of self-improvement. This is where we tell ourselves to move out of our comfort zone in the process to learn something new and beneficial for us.
Svadhyaya – Self-study – While talking about Ashtanga yoga, Patanjali mentions Svadhyaya for the 2nd time and here questions us – Are you doing those things that you really want to do in life? He implores us to look at the way we are drifting from the things that we really want to do. We need to introspect ourselves and our actions at the end of each day without being critical of ourselves. And over a period of time, we should learn to drift toward those things that we really want to do in our life. This is an everyday process.
Isvarapranidhana – This word also is mentioned many times in Yogasutra. With respect to Niyama, it refers to a higher connection we develop. This higher connection is the one that will help us to remain on track to do the things that we would like to do in our life. It can also be applied to overcome bad habits.
For a person who starts on the Ashtanga yoga path, it may be challenging to change the ways of life we are already used to. While we are brought up to accept certain societal ways of living, Yama and Niyama may go against these ways. Let me give an example: We are taught from a very young age to be this achiever – trying to achieve goals with respect to education, job, marriage, buying property, increasing financial wealth, and so many others. We are constantly moving from one achievement to another without being able to enjoy the fruits of this work. We are being chided for being content. We are looked down upon when we express the non-desire to move in the direction of achievement. But this contentment (Santosa) is one of the practices mentioned in Niyama. Vyasa emphasizes this Santosa and says that it is equivalent to 16 times the happiness that you get in heaven. So to bring in the practice of Santosa, we need to unlearn our ways of working towards achieving one goal after another and learn to be content where we are.
It is not enough if we just learn the practices mentioned under Yama and Niyama but we need to take the effort to put them into use in our lives. This process may intervene with our previous learnings or the way we live. We need to consciously choose the path of Yama and Niyama in every thought, action, and expression of ours.
To be continued…
UmaS Reflections 