Tag Archives: Spirituality

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What are the Yamas & Niyamas?

The Yamas & Niyamas are like the Ten Commandments of yoga. However, they are not such strict rules that suggest one will be severely punished in the afterlife if they are not followed precisely. Instead, think of them as moral guidelines that, if followed, will lead one on a journey towards contentment. It’s all part of the mind-body-spirit balance that practicing yoga is supposed to help yogis find. Contrary to popular conceptions of what yoga is, it is by no means only about contorting the physical body with goal of kissing your own ass. Yoga incorporates the mind, the body, and the spirit.

Yamas

Ahimsa – Non violence

Satya – Truthfulness

Asteya – Non stealing

Brahmacharya – Nonexcess / Moderation

Aparigraha – Non possessiveness

Niyamas

Saucha – Purity

Santosha  – Contentment

Tapas – Self-Discipline

Svadhyaya – Self-Study

Ishvara Pandidhana – Surrender

By respecting the Yamas & Niyamas and choosing to surrender to a pure, selfless, disciplined life, you can take control of your choices and your path and succumb to the joy of living in the present. What a concept: Live in the moment! Bumper stickers had the answer the whole time.

I am dedicating a month to observing and practicing each of the ten Yamas & Niyamas, so I can scrupulously focus on the concepts of each one and how they connect me to the fabric of the universe. After all, I am but one spark of the divine. This blog is like my journal. Only instead of hiding my secrets inside some dime a dozen diary secured by a flimsy lock and key that’s not fit to protect the adolescent fantasies of a twelve year old girl, I am sharing the jewels of my perception with the regular patrons of cyberspace.

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Do Good and Be Good

I’ve never been much into reading what I used to think were dull self-help and spiritual books; I’m fond of a little excitement in my reading, so I’m more of a classics and mysteries kind of gal. Although I don’t attend church every Sunday, I consider myself spiritual and I meditate, or pray if you will, to something divine and dissimilar to God as described in the bible, the Koran, or the Torah of some organized religions. Despite my positive experiences getting picked up and dropped off by the Sunday school bus in Santa Paula, California, and hanging out at Wednesday evening bonfires and playing volleyball on the Ventura beach with the youth group, I hate to admit that I find organized religion kind of scary. So I take a little of this and a dash of that and hold my own simple belief: do good and be good. Continue reading →

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Hello world!

Well, I’d like to say I’ve been practicing yoga since I was a kid, but that’s only partially true; to be honest, it’s a bit of a stretch. The truth is I remember my grandmother practicing yoga at her Fresno, California apartment in front of her living room television set when I was a fresh three- or four-year-old little girl. I spent a lot of time with Grandma while my mom was working as a welder, a manicurist, an insurance salesperson, or another one of a number of different jobs she experimented with so we could get by. I was mesmerized by the sleek, vibrant colored leotards and graceful figures that my grandma imitated. She encouraged me to follow along too, especially when it was time to do the “sponge”, or what I know now as final relaxation. What a brilliant way to get a rambunctious child to calm down. I remember how limber I must have been and how effortless it was to do the full lotus. That was my first brush with yoga, so in a way I was being honest when I wrote that I’ve been practicing yoga since I was a kid. Continue reading →