Yamas and Niyamas

It’s very tempting to think of yoga as only the physical practice, like any other exercise class. It’s great for improving strength, flexibility and balance etc etc #yoga #exercise

However, yoga is actually so much more than that.

Patanjali describes yoga as having 8 limbs. The physical practice is the 3rd limb. The Yamas and Niyamas are limbs 1 and 2. #yamasandniyamas #yogaphilosophy

They come in the form of 10 guidelines for living in this world. They are not designed to restrict us but rather to allow us to live freely, without distraction from the dramas all around us. #freedom #truth #spiritualgrowth

The sentiment is in some ways similar to that of the 10 commandments. God gave these to Moses after the Israelites were freed from Egypt. They were designed to help the people retain their freedom while living in strange lands. #10commandments

over the course of the next year I plan to look more closely at these rules and reflect on areas of my life which could benefit from this. #selfreflection #growth #selfstudy

I‘m going to be using some of the questions posed in this book to help me ( Deborah Adele, The Yamas and Niyamas : exploring yoga’s ethical practic. )