The Yoga Sutras and The 8 Limbs of Yoga - Niyamas
The second limb, niyamas, usually refers to duties directed towards ourselves, but can also be considered with our actions towards the outside world.
There is a reason the yamas and niyamas occur before asana in Patanjali’s eight limbs of Yoga. When we take on a physical yoga or pranayama practice, we’re using, creating and directing powerful energy. If we come to our mat with a sense of aggression instead of ahimsa (non violence), self-denial instead of satya (truthfulness), laziness instead of tapas (discipline or burning passion) and impurity instead of saucha (cleanliness), then we’re not likely to progress positively throughout our sadhana (our practice) and we might enforce the more negative traits.
There are five niyamas.
Saucha (cleanliness)
Saucha can be translated as ‘cleanliness’, but it doesn’t just mean physical cleanliness. Saucha means cleanliness of body, mind, spirit and surroundings, all helping to direct us towards a pure and positive life. For example, cultivating saucha gives us the ability to recognise the habits we have picked up in our life that no longer serve us. So the practice is to recognise what doesn’t help us and what does, coming towards a state in which everything we do leads us towards being happier, healthier and more awake and aware in life.
Some Yogis practice certain cleansing techniques or shatkarmas to purify their body and mind. These practices may include Neti (nasal cleansing), Dhauti (cleansing of digestive tract), Naulis (abdominal massage) or Kapalbhati (purifying pranayama).
Saucha can also be practiced in everyday life. For example a tidy and clean home usually brings a tidy and calm mind. Or the food you eat can either keep the body clean and healthy or it can tax the body. It’s about making conscious choices whenever it’s available to us. Saucha is also a practice that we apply when we observe our thoughts and choose positivity instead of negativity. Remember, thoughts are powerful!
Santosha (contentment)
Santosha often translates as ‘contentment’, and is probably easier said than done. A very common vritti (fluctuation of the mind) that we all may experience every now and again is “I’ll be happy when/if….”. Whether it’s losing weight, getting a different job, meeting someone new, or being able to get ourselves into that yoga posture we’ve been working towards, there’s probably one or two things you feel could make you happier or more content. Having the urge to want to grow and expand and push ourselves just a little towards a goal isn’t a bad thing at all – it just becomes bad when we base our entire sense of peace and happiness on this. We can work on this vritti by cultivating santosha. Santosha encourages us to accept and appreciate what we have and what we are, right now.
Tapas (discipline or burning desire)
The word Tapas stems from the root Sanskrit verb ‘tap’ which means ‘to burn’, and it evokes a sense of ‘fiery discipline’ or ‘passion’. Tapas can mean cultivating a sense of self-discipline, passion and courage to burn away ‘impurities’ - physically, mentally and emotionally and especially karmic impurities. Looking at this niyama in connection to the practice on the mat - discipline doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to push ourselves physically. Sometimes just actually making the time to get on the mat and meditate, or practise for 10 minutes every day is challenging and requires discipline. Tapas is an expression of our inner wisdom, guiding us to practice even if we don’t feel like it because we know it’s good for us. Tapas can also mean just the fiery passion that we have for the practice. Tapas can also be the discipline we have to eat healthy food and lead a healthy life which supports our practice.
Tapas is also a great tool to take off the mat. We learn to stay grounded when we’re challenged and we learn to be disciplined to reach goals we’ve set out to reach. Tapas can also be the courage to go after what we want in life. When we work with the element of Tapas, it’s important to make sure we’re acting from a place of positivity and love, and not from fear. When we push ourselves a little further, we should do it not because our ego tells us to, but because we really truly feel we can go just that little bit further.
Svadhyaya (self-study or self-reflection, and study of spiritual texts)
Patanjali says “Study thyself, discover the divine”. Practicing self reflection, observation and study of the self makes us more aware of the things we do that harm us, plus the things that serve us, bringing us in closer contact with our true self. Svadhyaya also encourages us to further educate ourselves in whatever inspires and fascinates us, deepening our own knowledge. If we apply the practice of svadhyaya to our modern-day off-the-mat lives, it might mean finding a book or a piece of writing that deepens your own yoga practice. Studying our habits on the yoga mat can go a long way towards recognising our habits off the mat too. Simple questions to ask yourself when you’re on the mat may be: How does my breath feel? Where does my body hold tension? What thoughts are flowing through the mind? Svadhyaya is the continuous practice of being present with everything that arises and through that getting to know yourself a little better, each time you practice. Svadhyaya off the mat happens when we pay attention to what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. It helps to recognize our habits, and discern between the ones which come largely from an ego-based place, and which ones are the result of listening to our true Self.
Isvarapranidhana (surrender to a higher power)
This Nniyama invites a sense of letting go or surrender - on and off the mat. A ‘surrendering to a higher power’ or simply letting go of our expectations. Isvara translates as ‘Supreme Being’, ‘God’, ‘Brahman’, ‘Ultimate Reality’ or ‘True Self’ and pranidhana usually translates to ‘surrender’. God can be a tricky word to contemplate in our modern day lives and Yoga doesn’t teach religion or any other doctrines. However, there is a common understanding that there is something that exists beyond our humanness. Perhaps it’s the power of nature, perhaps it’s universal consciousness - find what resonates with you. In the Upanishads for example, the word isvara means ‘a state of collective consciousness’, which means that there isn’t a Godlike figure we are supposed to worship or devote our actions to at all, rather ‘God’ represents this collective consciousness, and therefore represents all of us too. On the mat, the idea of ‘surrendering’ can be applied to the intention we may set at the beginning; isvarapranidhana can be thought of as ‘offering up the results of one’s actions to the divine’, or to humanity if that resonates with you more. In this way, our asana practice becomes less about what it can do for us, but how we can help ourselves stay healthy and grounded enough to help the world around us. Off the mat, isvarapranidhana invites us to surrender to the flow of life or to open up to what is, instead of fighting against life’s twists and turns or trying to control life. Surrendering to what is, requires trust in our deepest Self, our intuition and the courage to express ourselves for who we are, as we are, which ultimately leads to freedom.