Spotlight on Limb 2: The Niyamas
The second of the eight limbs is the niyamas, or spiritual observances. The niyamas are recommended practices for day-to-day living that contribute to balance within mind, body, and spirit.
There are 5 niyamas, which are as follows:
1. Saucha, or cleanliness/purification. Based on saucha, we are encouraged to remove impurities from both our external and internal environments. This means nourishing our bodies with pure, clean food and drink; maintaining the health of our bodies health through exercise and enough sleep; enlivening our spirits with healthy entertainment and relationships; and cleansing our minds and thoughts with a physical yoga practice (asana, the 3rd limb), breath control (pranayama, the 4th limb), and meditation (dhyana, the 7th limb).
2. Santosha, or contentment. Santosha reminds us to be content with the innumerable blessings in our lives, rather than to covet what someone else has. By focusing on our gifts rather than what we lack, we cultivate a strong inner contentment that keeps us buoyed through the emotional peaks and valleys of our daily experience.
3. Tapas, or self-discipline to endure tasks or periods of life that are painful or undesirable. Tapas allows you to persist through something that you absolutely want nothing to do with – but you stick with it anyway because you know it may make your life better down the road. For example, you may want to leave in the middle of a challenging yoga class, but instead you remain on your mat and stick with it, knowing that the physical and mental endurance you are building will strengthen you for the rest of your life, little by little. Tapas reminds us that enduring discomfort now will only refine our inner capacity for strength in the long term.
4. Svadhyaya, or self-study/introspection. Svadhyaya entails being aware of who we are on the deepest level – including our weaknesses and flaws. We have to be willing to see the unpleasant truths about ourselves to be able to connect with who we really are. Acknowledging these truths can help us become more aware of our triggers and habitual thought patterns, so that we can take steps to change those patterns over time. (I’d like to emphasize the “over time” part – these changes certainly don’t happen overnight. Most of these changes take years and perhaps lifetimes of work. But, being aware of our weaknesses and their underlying causes is a huge step toward changing our behavior to healthier patterns.)
5. Ishwari pranidhana, or surrender to God/the absolute. Specifically, Ishwari pranidhana involves the surrender of our labor to something greater than ourselves. This labor may include your job/career, child rearing, pursuit of a hobby or interest, care for a loved one, or your physical yoga practice (part of the reason why you are asked to set an intention for class, or to dedicate your practice to something higher- this is the practice of Ishwari pranidhana). In this way, we do not tie ourselves to the results of our efforts – rather, we do the very best we can with whatever we set out to do, and we surrender the results of our labor to something greater. This is also the practice of non-attachment, since we direct our efforts to the integrity of the work itself, rather than focus on results.
What do you think about these niyamas? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section! Stay tuned for our exploration of the third limb of yoga – asana, or the physical practice – which is what usually comes to mind when we hear the word “yoga”!
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