The Niyamas

The second limb of yoga is the niyamas, or self disclipline. Their practice can have a tremendous effect on your approach to class and to life. There are 5:

       Saucha – Cleanliness                                          

       Santosha – Contentment

       Tapas – Heat/Perseverance

       Svadhyaya – Self Study

       Ishvara pranidhana – Surrender

Saucha , or cleanliness, can be as mundane as showering, brushing your teeth, and using your neti pot regularly, but it can also be taken much further as the practice of maintaining clean and organized energy. We line up our mats in class in an organized way to promote the flow of energy in the room. We fold and stack our blankets neatly out of respect for the next yogi to encounter them. We work toward eating only foods that promote a healthy flow of energy in the body.

Santosha is the practice of contentment. It is a practice, in yoga, rather than a feeling that occurs when the stars align or we achieve our goals and dreams. We cannot control the world around us, only how we react to it. The practice of santosha is to react with a feeling of contentment. This is why we can practice yoga every day and, no matter what the poses look like, it is always good enough.

Tapas is a counterbalance to santosha. It is sometimes translated as fire, good for burning through dullness or the obstacles in our practice, but it is not the same as aggression. Instead, we burn through our obstacles with perseverance. This practice is more about getting on our mats consistently than about demonstrating advanced postures, though those may as a side effect of consistent practice.

Svadhyaya, or self study, is a constant part of yoga practice. In class we work to build awareness of the self  by paying attention to what we are feeling in postures physically, mentally, and emotionally. We begin with things like “my thigh is on fire in this Warrior II” and progress on to “my breath is less consistent today. What is causing that? Can I change it?”

Ishvara Pranidhana is surrender. Some say surrendering the fruits of our actions to God, others the surrender of the outcome of our actions. This is not to say that goals or achievements are wrong, but to recognize that the benefit of working toward a headstand, for example, may be the discipline, the awareness, the health that we create through our work.

The niyamas, like the yamas, are the practice of a lifetime. You can begin just by choosing one and setting it as your intention for class. Notice how it affects you. Take it off the mat and bring it home with you. See how it fits in your life.

See you on the mat!