Welcome

n We’ll discuss: How we can meet daily practices and duties with an undisturbed mind,
how we can invite harmony into our communities (and into ourselves), each of the
yamas and niyamas individually, explorative questions, and a “hook and practice” for
each yama and niyama to help you further your studies.

Introduction: So What’s the Big Deal About the Yamas and Niyamas?
n The importance of the Yoga Sutra.
n The yamas and niyamas serve as a foundation to move into asana, pranayama, and
meditation.
n The effect they have on our relationship to self and world.

YAMAS

Ahimsa (non-violence):
n What is non-violence? What does it mean to “do no harm”? on both an individual and
collective level?
n Thinking outside the box of “good apple, bad apple.”
n Taking responsibility for our own capacity for violence.
n The value of self-acceptance and self-love.
n Exploration: Can you fully be with an experience of disturbance without the need to
“pass it on”?
n Hook (agitation) and practice (kindness): Using practice and non-attachment to
replace violence (what agitates us) with something else (something kinder).
n A practice of ahimsa in tadasana (mountain pose).

Satya (truthfulness):
n Truthfulness with self: How many of “me” are there?
n Who do you think you should be and who are you really?
n The value of authenticity.
n Avoid “out of sight, out of mind” mentalities.
n Keep experimenting.
n The value of humility.
n Exploration: Journal to begin a dialogue with truth. What do you notice?
n Hook (the need to belong) and practice (authenticity): Do we pretend or promote
ourselves as something else to belong? How could I be more authentic, truthful, in
those moments?
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Asteya (non-stealing):
n How do we steal from the earth? How do we steal from the future? How do we steal
from others? From ourselves?
n Exploration: The value of reciprocity and feelings of gratitude, appreciation, and joy.
n Hook (greed) and practice (generosity): Stepping away from cultural notions of
entitlement. Focus instead on the gratitude you have, and ways to give back.
n If we are a part of stealing from our children’s and grandchildren’s futures, our own
futures, the joy and happiness of others, then we also want to ask ourselves why we
are doing it.

Brahmacharya (non-excess):
n Walking with God: Don’t settle for anything other than awe.
n Find the “just right place.” Avoid excess.
n “Live the heart of yourself.”
n Exploration: Take 10 minutes to write down what makes you feel alive.
n Hook (overwhelm) and practice (fasting): Excess can be counteracted by fasting
(restraining from excessive use of technology, speech, purchases).

Aparigraha (non-possessiveness):
n The negative effects of grasping and possessiveness: our minds suffer, our
relationships suffer, our awareness suffers.
n Exploration: Anything we cling to creates a maintenance problem for us. In what way
has your need to possess created a prison for you?
n Hook (expectation) and practice (letting go): Can we let go so that new experiences
can come our way instead of expecting more of the same?

NIYAMAS

Saucha (purity):
n Cleansing toxins from our body, resentments that clog our minds, clutter that
stagnates our living space, self-criticism that splits our mind, and distractions that
hide the present moment.
n The value of reclaiming an innocent mindset.
n Protecting the land, the water, the air, our children, and the gift of imagination.
n The value of surrender.
n Exploration: Where are you unalloyed with your true nature?
n Hook (image) and practice (simplicity): Why are we cleansing? Simplify and
remember what your pure intention is.

Santosa (contentment):
n We suffer from a sense of seeking constantly to find the things that please us and
avoid the things that don’t.
n Cultivating steadfastness throughout life’s circumstances.
n “Fall in love with your own life.”
n Exploration: Notice where your sense of self-importance keeps you needing to be

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 offended or disturbed by what someone else says or does.
n Hook (comparison and resistance) and practice (gratitude).

Tapas (self-discipline):
n Tapas can be associated with heat, or fire.
n The process of personal and spiritual transformation.
n Avoiding escape routes and distractions.
n Exploration: Notice escape routes and look at the times we use them to escape when
there’s a great opportunity to burn something away, step into tapas, and challenge
our strength.
n Hook (entitlement or escape) and practice (responsibility): Take responsibility for
your life and allow yourself to step into transformation instead of distraction (which at
the time may seem easier).

Svadhyaya (self-study):
n The subtraction process.
n “Unpacking boxes of conditioning.”
n Investigate preferences and projections.
n Keep one foot in the divine.
n Exploration: Ponder these words from Narvada Puri: “Do your work while your mind
sings Hari Om.”
n Hook (blame) and practice (curiosity): It’s easy to blame things on others when things
don’t go our way. Get curious instead: “Who am I and who are you, God?”

Ishwara Pranidhana (surrender):

n Every yama and niyama is in service of getting us to this place of surrender.
n When we are in surrender, the whole landscape of the mind changes.
n The ego becomes an embodiment of what it was always meant to be.
n Exploration: Notice during the day when you are living in “my kingdom” and when
you are living in “Thy kingdom.”
n Hook (control) and practice (humility): The ego’s desire to control, or enter fear,
is counteracted by the humility that comes through interacting with mystery and
possibility.

Exploring the yamas and niyamas in daily life:

n Start with one yama or niyama at a time.
n Continue having a conversation with them. (Never think you’re done!)
n Remember: There are no answers, only questions.

Self-Discipline, Self-Study, Surrender

n Yoga Sutra 2:1 Kriya Yoga
n Yoga Sutra 2:32 the last three Niyamas

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Self-discipline
n Will, Senses, Karma Yoga
Self-study
n Mind, Thoughts, Jnana Yoga
Surrender
n Heart, Desires, Bhakti Yoga

Perfection of each Yama brings:

n Non-violence: an aura of peace
n Truth: power to words
n Non-stealing: abundance
n Non-excess: great vitality
n Non-possessiveness: experience

Perfection of each Niyama brings:

n Purity: clarity
n Contentment: joy
n Self-discipline: refinement
n Self-study: freedom
n Surrender: harmony