Niyama

Niyamas

Niyamas are the standards by which we should practice self-discipline.

Saucha (cleanliness)

Although gurus and yoga scripture do recommend bathing regularly, eating clean, and keeping one’s space clean, this tenet also refers to having pure and positive thoughts about yourself and others. When we are clean in the mind, we become clear channels for the divine to enter us.

Santosha (contentment)

We must practice the ability to feel completely content with the way everything is right now in this very moment. We live in a capitalistic system in which we’re told to always strive for and want more, which means we’re never satisfied with what we already have.

When we can just sit and feel complete with how things are in the present, we are practicing yoga.

Tapas (heat)

The saying is that practice makes perfect, and the reason for this is because repeated effort yields mastery of that which we are attempting to learn.

Tapasya reminds us that sometimes the process of mastery can be painful, but this pain (or heat) can be used to fuel our practice, and allow us to grow and learn from it.

Svadhyaya (self-knowledge)

The Bhagavad Gita says, “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.” Yoga is meant to be a process of direct inquiry into our internal world. The more we dive inward, the more we can learn about the infinite nature of our consciousness.

This yogic tenet is often forgotten in the Western view of yoga as a workout because so much of it is externalized: We wonder how we look in a posture, if we are thin enough, or feel the need to compete with others in class. True yoga is a personal process that has nothing to do with the outside world or how we’re perceived.

Ishvarapranidhana (full surrender to the divine)

Many folks who suffer from addiction are helped by a 12-step program. The first step to recovery is to surrender to a higher power.

The reason this is so medicinal is because it allows us to let go of the need to control everything. When we realize that there are greater forces at play in our lives, we begin to navigate life with humility and awe.

Yoga asks us to seek a supreme divine being (whatever that means to us personally), and allow ourselves to connect with them through our practice.

As you can see, the first two limbs of yoga (which are to be mastered first) are more about how we live than how we exercise. The rest of the limbs teach us how to practice yoga in our physical bodies and minds.