“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!...

To me, nonviolence means: gentleness, self-control, kindness, and compassion. It isn’t simply the absence of violent behaviors, it is the awareness of the potential for our actions to be harmful and to deliberately choose what will benefit instead of hurt. Violence can be acted out physically, verbally, and mentally–toward others and toward ourselves. If we are to be nonviolent at our core, we need to choose in each moment thoughts,...

The first limb of Raja yoga is the yamas, the ethical disciplines we practice so that we can harmoniously relate to ourselves and the world. The very first yama is ahimsa, nonviolence. What qualities come to mind when you hear that word? What qualities are displayed by a person who has mastered nonviolence? Give yourself a minute to think of an answer. I’ll wait until you are done. I took a moment pondering those questions when I set about...