“When the body is cleansed, the mind purified and the senses controlled, joyful awareness, needed to realize the inner self, also comes.”  –Yoga Sutras And now we begin our study of the niyamas, the second limb of the eight-limbed path of raja yoga.  Before we launch into them, I wanted to take a moment to distinguish between the first and second limbs, the yamas and the niyamas. The yamas are universal in their application, to be...

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“By the observance of aparigraha, the yogi makes his life as simple as possible and trains his mind not to feel the loss or the lack of anything. Then everything he really needs will come to him by itself at the proper time.”  –B.K.S. Iyengar Now we come to the final yama, aparigraha, non-hoarding or non-collecting.  Like asteya, non-stealing, aparigraha begins with the trust that we will get our needs met. From that trust is born the...

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  “One who sees divinity in all is a brahmachari.”  –B.K.S Iyengar And now here we are ready to explore the fourth yama, yay! If you haven’t read any of the last posts and are saying to yourself, “Yama, wuh?”, here’s a little information to bring you up to speed. The yamas comprise the first limb of the eight-limbed path of Raja yoga, and they are they ethical disciplines that we practice so that we can be in harmony with ourselves...

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“When abstention from stealing is firmly established, precious jewels come.”–Yoga Sutras The third yama is asteya, which means nonstealing. At first, as I contemplated this yama, my mind jumped in with, “But I don’t steal. So this yama is a no-brainer. Yeah, I got this. I don’t shoplift, I don’t take anything that I haven’t paid for. Ok, next yama?” Whenever my mind says something like that, I should listen for a warning bell going off,...

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“Truth should be told when agreeable, should be said agreeably, and truth should not be said that does harm; however, never lie to give pleasure.” –from the Mahabharata After my last post, you’re so excited about how awesome being honest is that you’re ready to run out and shout every last thing you’re thinking and feeling from the rooftops, because the whole world needs to know your truth, right? Not so fast, my little yogis and yoginis!...

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If the mind thinks thoughts of truth, if the tongue speaks words of truth and if the whole life is based upon truth, then one becomes fit for union with the Infinite.” –B. K. S. Iyengar The second yama is Satya, truthfulness. “Ok,” you may say to yourself, “I’m an honest person. I don’t lie. Well, maybe except for a little white lie every now and again. And that’s ok, isn’t it?” A commitment to the truth means that we vow to be honest in...

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