I am currently in the midst (or, rather, more toward the endst), of my 200hr yoga teacher training. This has been an incredible experience for me in a number of ways. I have practiced yoga for about 10 years now (holy cow), on and off, but this training has been a great way for me to deepen my practice, as well as just get to know better the philosophy of yoga on a deeper spiritual level.
Taylor Lewis, my housemate and great friend for 8 years, has inspired me, once again. He's embarking on an 81-week intensive on the Tao Te Ching. You can follow his blog here. Anyway, his blogging got me thinking. Yogic philosophy is extremely expansive and complex, and I would be writing until I'm 100 if I decided to blog about it in its entirety. Essentially, and this is an incredibly watered down explanation, the aim of yoga is peeling away the layers of self, from how we act in the world to our inner life, until we reach the glowing light that is in all of us, Atman. Atman is the divine light within each of us, the universe contained in our soul. I have always been slightly uncomfortable and disconnected from the words "God" or "soul", but I can get behind the idea that within all of us there is a place of joy, of connection, of non-attachment and of stillness. This is Atman.
In traditional Yogic philosophy, we peel away these layers of self so we may one day (in this lifetime, or the next), reach Samadhi. You may have heard of this as Nirvana, or Moksha, or enlightenment. This is where you have peeled away all the layers of self and come to the true self, or Atman. It is where Atman, the soul, unites with Brahman, which is the universe. In this state, we want nothing and do nothing except for sit in meditation and be with our Atman. Few people practice yoga anymore to reach this state. Personally, that is not my goal. It's not even really a goal. Samadhi cannot be reached by trying to reach it. Observing each layer of self and working through them is the goal. For me, the purpose is not to reach some divine state but to live my life more fully and presently, and to be a continually evolving human being, letting go and releasing attachment to habits, patterns, and thoughts. This is my version of Samadhi.
There are many aspects to this peeling away the layers of self, many explanations of the same thing. One of these paths is the Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga. Most people think of yoga as just postures (asana), or, I shudder to think, a workout. It is actually only one of the 8 limbs of yoga that are the path toward Samadhi. These limbs include the Yamas (universal morality), Niyamas (personal observances), Asana (postures), Pranayama (breath work), Pratyahara (control of the senses), Dharana (concentration and inner awareness), Dhyana (meditation), and, finally, Samadhi (union with the divine).
For this series in the blog, I am going to focus on the Yamas and the Niyamas for now. When studying the Yamas and Niyamas, it is key to look past the superficial understanding of them, and seeing the intricate ways in which they play out in our actions, interactions, and even thoughts. They are worlds within themselves, I could spend my whole life focussing on each one, so I figure its a good place to start. They are the first layers of self. I will be sharing each one, then spending a week with it, observing and integrating it into my life, then at the end of the week sharing my experiences. There are 5 Yamas and 5 Niyamas, so this will take me 10 weeks, and into the new year. I have been spending the last two months working on Asana, so I figured I'd go back to the top and start with the Yamas.
The Yamas are universal codes of morality. They deal with how we interact with the world around us. If we can work to purify our actions with our interactions with the world, we can then more effectively move inward towards ourselves. Rather than provide a list of the Yamas, I will leave you with the first Yama, Ahimsa.
Taken from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, this is Ahimsa:
ahimsapratisthayam tatsannidhau vairatyagah
Ok, you got that, right? Kidding.
ahimsa: non-violence
pratisthayam: standing firmly, firmly established
tat: his
sannidhau: presence, vicinity
vaira: animosity, hostility
tyagah: forsaking, abandoning, deserting
"When non-violence in speech, thought and action is established, one's aggressive nature is relinquished and others abandon hostility in one's presence."
See you in a week for my observances of Ahimsa in my life.
Namaste (the light within me bows to the light in you).
Elysia
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