Ancient Wisdom of The 8 Limbs Of Yoga and How We Can Use Them In Daily Life. Part 2.

Last week we looked at the first of Patanjali's limbs of Yoga the Yama's 1. Non-violence, 2. Truth, 3. Non-Stealing, 4. Celibacy and 5. Non- Accumulation and how we can use this ancient wisdom in our every day lives. This week we will delve into the Niyama's (Observances).

Here are 5 Niyamas

1. Cleanliness (saucha)

2. Contentment (samtosha)

3. Forbearance of opposites/perseverance (tapas)

4. Self Study (svadhyaya)

5. Devotion To The Divine (ishvarapranidhana)

1. Cleanliness

The sanskrit word means purity, cleanliness and clearness.

Referring to purity of mind, speech and body, all helping direct us towards a pure joy filled life.

There are many simple ways to practice saucha in our daily life, including decluttering and organising your home, office, car and other areas in your environment. Eating clean is another way of practicing cleanliness. Looking at what you put inside your body and bring pure, clean, nutritious foods and drinks into your body. Saucha means maintaining the cleanliness of body, heart, mind and the environment.

Niyama number 2 is Contentment.

Contentment really is a state of mind. Often in our lives we are unhappy with what we have and also with what we don't have. Our minds are constantly wanting more and moving on to the next holiday, car, home, project, pair of shoes.... Not being content with what you have is a sad and honestly a torturous place to be. For example Fred and Jan are not happy that they are renting and would like to own their own home, however once they purchase their dream home they complain about maintaining the gardens, paying the bills, their new neighbours and more. They are neither content with or without their new home.

In our daily life we can resist the urge to make future promises like "Things will be better when I have the new car/job/relationship/more money" While that may be true, dwelling on it will never bring contentment. Although Samtosha does not mean sitting back and not doing anything it means but being content with what you already have and moving forwards from there.

When you are in a state of gratitude you are in a frequency of open heartedness, joy and receivership, in comparison discontentment is a frequency of bitterness, jealousy, even anger and a closed heart, in this state it is more difficult to move forward to receive those things you desire.

Number 3. Tapas.

Tapas in sanskrit means inner fire - both in literal heat that you build in a yoga vinyasa practice and the inner fire of drive, discipline, passion and courage to burn away impurities physically, mentally and emotionally. Tapas is about letting go of what is holding you back from greatness. It also refers to austerity of body speech and mind. Its an act of discipline in showing self love, for example, going to bed half an hour earlier so you are able to wake up earlier, meditate, exercise and have other self care practices. Not drinking too much or eating too many unhealthy foods because you want to feel good, have a clear mind and healthy body. Having the courage not to listen to the voices in our head that tell us we are not enough, tapas burns away those impure thoughts and leads to more self trust and inner strength. We also want to act from a place of love, kindness, gratitude and positivity when practicing tapas rather than from ego.

Niyama number 4, self study (svadhyaya).

This beautiful lesson from Patnjali involes tuning inward and being aware of our triggers and responses to situations and people in our lives. For example when we feel emotions such as shame, jealousy, hurt, anger look inside yourself and delve into why you are feeling that particular emotion. Why you have been triggered into a 'negative' response. It is definitely ok to feel emotions however if we are taking out these emotions on others and being snappy, angry, short tempered sneaky or other such behaviours, it can be unhealthy to have our emotions rule our state of being. Being honest, authentic and open hearted when going within can help release the enormous amount of energy and emotional blockages we are holding, this energy can then be used for healing and creative outlets, allowing us space to be more connected to the divine within. Which leads us to the 5th niyama

ishvara-pranidhana, devotion to the divine.

pra means under, dhana means placement, and pranidhana means surrendering self to God and being devoted to the divine. Whatever 'God' means to you according to Patanjali bliss or samadhi comes to those who surrender to God. By surrendering to God we are releasing the need for attachment to physical and emotional things and bathe in universal consciousness where we are unconditional love and connected to all things.

Next Monday we will look at the 3rd limb of yoga, postures (asanas)

With Love,

The NRG CNTR Team...x