Yamas | Niyamas

This was the first book I read after my training last year and I highly recommend it, whether you're looking to go down a spiritual path, strengthen your yoga practice, or just looking for a good read. I particularly took a long time to read all 196 pages of this amazing book. I wanted to be able to grasp every Yama and Niyama as much as possible.  

This book completely opened my eyes to a new world and how I should live it. The Yamas and Niyamas come from The Eight Limbs of Yoga that originiate from the Yoga Sutras from Pantanjli. The Eight Limbs of Yoga are eight steps that act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. 

Two of the Eight Limbs are Yama; the ethical standards and sense of integrity. Basically, "Do unto others as you would have them undo to you". And Niyama; self discipline and spiritual observances. In each Yama and Niyama there are five, a total of ten. 

The five Yamas are as follows:

Ahimsa: Non Violence 
Satya: Truthfulness
Asteya: Non Stealing 
Brahmacharya: Non Excess 
Aparigraha:Non Possessiveness 

The five Niyamas are as follows:

Saucha: Purity; Cleanliness 
Santosa: Contentment
Tapas: Heat; Self Discipline
Svadhyaya: Self Study 
Ishvara Pranidhana: Surrender

Even though I want to practice them all and eventually bring them to my everyday life without a reminder from myself. It is a progression, and time and patience are the most important through out this process. The ones I am currently reminding myself everyday when I wake up, dedicate to my practice or remind myself throughout the day would be Brahmacharya, so every time I want to shop, I try to think of this one. Santosha, being content with my everyday, whether I'm happy or sad, but being content with being happy or sad. No matter how tough life can be, we must be content. And the most important one to me of them all that I am especially focusing on for the year is, Saucha. I always say at the end of my practice or classes to my fellow students. "Peace within our hearts, peace within our words and peace within our thoughts". I believe if we can achieve all of these we can live a pure and clean life. Everytime I have a bad thought, I catch and remind myself of Saucha to bring myself back to what I've already worked so hard in achieving. 

The Yama's and Niyama's are such a great reminder of how we treat ourselves, treat others and loved ones. This book was a great way to explore and re-evaluate my life and what's really important. You don't have to believe in God, Buddha or anything or one in particular to read this. If you have desire to want to change or better yourself. This is a great first start.

-Samantha Lee