Yoga and the Niyamas

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are one example of the ancient yogis making an effort to codify their thoughts and experiences regarding yoga practice. The Yoga Sutras are a compilation of aphorisms designed to teach us how we can use our practice to go deep within ourselves and eventually achieve a sense of union with the Universe, or the divine as we perceive it. Patanjali speaks to us about the niyamas, which are five “dos” or observances to aid us in our yoga practice.

Svadhyaya (Self-study) – This is a call to be awake in our practice. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking about our shopping list during downdog, or to let our fear of more advanced poses keep us in the beginners class. If we implement svadhyaya during our practice we can learn a lot about our bodies and, even more importantly, our minds. If we consistently check-out during certain poses, what can that teach us about how we live our lives? Or if we avoid intensely physical poses, perhaps we also avoid difficult conversations or situations in life. By training in yoga asana plus a healthy dose of self-study, what was once simply a tightness in the hips can become a lesson in the way we relate to other people and ourselves. Training our bodies to be more flexible can train our minds to be more flexible. Training our bodies to be stronger can train our minds to be stronger. Actively opening our hearts in asana can open our hearts to the world.

Saucha (purity) – Purity, or cleanliness, is another layered concept. To start simply, keeping your practice space and props orderly and clean is a sign of respect for your practice. Leaving your yoga mat out to be walked on like a rug will shorten the life of your mat, and make it less attractive as a space for practice. Purity can also be applied to the kinds of food we eat, the words we say, and the things we buy. Our intentions and actions are also affected by saucha, as we decide how we want to live in this world and interact with the people and things in it. For some, saucha can become a fixed list of “pure” and “impure” things, while others may use the concept of cleanliness or purity as a more fluid guideline for life. It's important to be aware of the ego as we practice saucha, and ensure that our personal concepts of purity don't become a weapon our ego uses to grade us as passing or failing. Pairing saucha with svadhyaya can be a useful way to keep the ego in check as we try to live up to our intentions and ideas of purity.

Santosha (contentment) – I used to have this niyama written in large, bold letters across the top of my yoga mat. Holding a positive attitude of joy and content with my body and practice was a challenge for me, as I compared my body and my commitment to yoga with that of others. Usually it came in the form of an internal monologue: “I will never be able to (insert full expression of a pose) if I don't practice daily. Why don't I practice daily?? My teacher wants me to practice more, I want to do it, but I'm so lazy...” and on and on. Certainly we should make a commitment to our yoga practice and live up to that commitment, but the size and shape of our commitment will look different at different stages of our life and practice. Yoga is not about “shoulds,” which our egos use as weapons against us. Yoga is about joy and transformation, however slowly or quickly, easily or with difficulty, they come to us. Yoga is a process rather than an end point, and we would do better to be content with whatever our bodies and minds go through on the journey than wishing things were different.

Tapas (discipline) – To me, discipline and contentment are two sides of the same coin. While it is important to feel joyful and content with our abilities and our practice, we can't forget to actually do the work. If you've made the commitment with yourself to practice yoga, whether going to class once a week or doing a 40 day sadhana, following through on that commitment is paramount. Each time we fight the inertia that would keep us from showing up and keeping up in our practice, we are training in tapas. That discipline will carry over into all aspects of our lives, and make us stronger people.

Ishvara-pranidhana (Surrender) – Surrender to who? Or what? And why? Often, this concept of surrender is looked at simply as surrender to the Divine in some form. But it's quite a leap to think that doing camel pose or standing on your head is somehow an act of surrender to God. Really though, in the process of yoga there are multiple layers of surrender that we can bring to our practice. When starting out, we surrender to our teacher. Not in the sense that we give up all thought of our own safety physical abilities, but we trust that our teacher is knowledgeable to guide us and push us safely past our own self-imposed limitations. As we progress in our yoga practice, we can surrender to the process of yoga unfolding in our lives. To the subtle openings in our bodies, to the nudges we feel to eat better or volunteer more. And as our bodies and hearts change and grow, we can surrender to the universe, or God, or Love, whatever we conceive of as Highest and Best. When we do this, we open ourselves up to the best that life has to offer, rather than allowing ourselves to be limited by circumstances or people.