The Niyama's

The Niyama’s

by Steve Johansen, Hummingbird Pilates and Yoga

 

A couple of months ago I wrote about the Yamas, the first limb of Yoga, in the eight limbed path or (Ashtanga) in Sanskrit. Today I’m writing about the second limb of Yoga, the Niyama’s, which cultivates the right personal conduct through our words, actions, and our thoughts, helping us to develop a feeling of self-confidence and contentment.

 

For me the purpose of Yoga, is not about strength and flexibility, it is a greater understanding of ourselves. The Yamas and the Niyama’s help us to develop this,as they are observances or guidelines, to make us think about our words, thoughts, and our actions, adapting or modifying them as necessary to any given situation. Over the years I have noticed, we often go through life on auto pilot, without thinking about what drives us. Consider how often we get in our cars and drive from point A to point B, while thinking about the past, or what we are going to do, and not the moment that we are in.

 

The Niyama’s are composed of 5 observances:

 

Shoucha...(Sow-Cha) is the Self-Purification of our throughs,  actions and words. To find purity within my physical practice, I keep my mind focused on the present, making my movements mindful and as smooth and fluid as possible.But purity for me is not focusing on the things that we shouldn't do, it's about trying to be aware of the little things we can do, every day to increase our feeling of wellbeing.

 

Santosha…(san-tos-ha)meansContentment.Contentment is not something that just happens, it’s about the choices we make. Try not to dwell on the past, while we can’t change what has happened, we can benefit from learning from our mistakes. We should strive to be comfortable in our own skin, ignoring any internal voice that might put us down for not being wiser, wealthier, or more successful. It's hard to achieve contentment when we overlook what we have right now, in most moments we can find something to be grateful for. If we can cultivate acceptance of ourselves and the life we lead, we are more likely to find contentment.

 

Tapas…(T-apas) refers to the heat our body produces when we physically work hard and the dedication and self-discipline required for any task, in an Asana (yoga posture), or when meditating.  

 

Svadhayaya.…(S-veti-ya-ya) is self-study or self-reflection. Svadhayaya is for me, the Niyama that made the most impact to my life. I’d always thought about how I was moving, where I was placing my feet or hands and then I realised that I often did things out of habit, without thinking about the purpose. Self-reflection made me think about my past, and the things I could have done differently, not judgmentally, but to examine and learn from my life experiences. We usually only look at the things that didn’t go the way we wanted them to and try and work out what we could have done differently, but self-study also encourages us to look at what we have we’ve done well, but perhaps do even better next time. One of the main purposes of yoga is to achieve enlightenment or Samedi, the 8^th limb of yoga, only through self-study can we hope to achieve true enlightenment.

 

Ishvara Pranidhana…(eesh-vara-pran-darna)means tosurrender to god, or to a higher purpose.

To be honest as a lifelong atheist, this was the hardest Niyama for me to get my head around.  

It is all about belief or faith, and with belief comes trust. Trust that we are doing the right thing and heading in the right direction. The Surrender part is about letting go of our need to control everything. All too often we push ourselves to achieve a goal, rather than enjoying the experience itself. Ideally, we should find the courage to trust our gut feelings and follow our heart. It is sometimes difficult, to believe in yourself and that something will pay off in the end when things are difficult, but Ishvara Pranidhana encourages us to have faith. 

 

For those of you who would like to know more of the benefits of the Niyama’s and how they apply within your practice and your life, join me at my studio, using this free pass code HPYFREECLASS. My gift to you.