:: YogiSutras: Yoga Blog - Journeys into Yoga ::

The day I started my journey down the Core Power Yoga Teacher Training, I bought a book called Jivamukti Yoga. Written by Sharon Gannon and David Life, this book provides a very readable, detailed journey down the “yoga as a philosophy” path.

I took to this book immediately, (maybe because of the forward from Sting), as it jumps into the history of yoga, dating back to 600 B.C. Fascinating! It was from this book that this website, The Yogi Sutras was inspired. Sutras are compact, documented words of wisdom written by the ancient yogis that students can learn from. The goal of this site is to share little tidbits of knowledge that we learn along the way.

The Indian philosopher Patanjali did not invent yoga, but he did document his Sutras, which have become known as The Yoga Sutras. We all have access to these sutras, and whether or not we chose to follow or observe them, is clearly our decision.

Patanjali recommends an eight-limbed (you can visualize this…right?) system of yoga called Ashtanga, or Raja Yoga. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share my attempt to apply the first two limbs: the Yamas, and the Niyamas, to my life. These limbs are slowly becoming my own inner psychotherapeutic tools that I can use in my every day life in a personal attempt to achieve mind/body purification, peace, or a glimpse at the devine (samadhi).

Let’s start with the first limb, the Yamas. The Yamas are simply guidelines for how we interact with the outer world. They can also be regarded as social disciplines or respects to our relationships with others. There are five Yamas: Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, and Aparigraha. (note to Ifer…remind myself to digitally blog some Sanskrit, as it is the most beautiful ancient language to actually speak.)

The first Yama is Ahimsa. Ahimsa is defined as non-violence. Non-violence in the physical sense, as well as gentleness in our speech, thought, and actions. I had the opportunity to practice Ahimsa last week. I recently went through the experience of adding a room to my house. The word “recent” is relevant, as the project started in February of 2004. (note today’s date). All through last summer, I went through the joys and challenges of managing this project with an outside contractor. Together, we managed to complete all of the project, except, the roof always leaked when it rained. As you can imagine, this caused heartship for both myself and my contractor, as he considered himself “done”, when I still had a leaky roof. And, the city would not approve the structure. This “discussion” went on for month after month, with neither party leaving the conversation in peace (a nice way of saying, well, we were not agreeing). I even got to the point of not being able to converse with my contractor, as the conversations always became verbally ugly.

After our yoga teacher lesson on Ahimsa, I decided to face my fears, embrace Ahimsa, and call my contractor in an effort to “get done, and come to peace with the project.” With kindness through my voice, the non-violence through my mental and physical actions, my roof was willingly replaced by my contractor within the week.

Ahimsa energy spreads good will. By alluding Ahimsa, those around you will share Ahimsa as well.

Next: Satya - Truthfulness