Yoga, especially in our modern culture, is often thought to be simply a series of postures strung together to stretch and tone our bodies. But in reality, yoga is much, much more than that. There are eight “limbs” of yoga that were first outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra in approximately 200-400 A.D.
Although I’d had a fuzzy idea of this since I started practicing yoga, it was really introduced to me during my yoga teacher training. One of our required reads was the Yoga Sutra, although we did not read the original (it was written in Sanskrit). Since then I have read short articles and pieces that have helped me gain more insight into the eight limbs of yoga. I am also currently reading a fantastic book called Do Your Om Thing, by Rebecca Pacheco, which has a section on the eight limbs that explains them using more accessible language.
Just as a quick overview, the eight limbs are:
- Yama – the five yamas give us guidelines about how to treat others
- Niyama – the five niyamas give us guidelines about how to treat ourselves
- Asana – these are the physical postures that we practice in yoga
- Pranayama – this consists of many different techniques of breath control
- Pratyahara – withdrawal of the senses (think of the deep relaxation in savasana)
- Dharana – concentration, focusing on one single thing
- Dhyana – a steady flow of concentration (think meditation)
- Samadhi – a state of ecstasy, enlightenment (achieved through all 7 other limbs)
ANYWHO I find this stuff absolutely fascinating and I am always eager to learn more. And when I learn stuff and I think it’s cool, I want to share it! So apologies to any non-yogi readers, but now (and in the future) you will hear me ramble on about these eight limbs, yoga philosophy, and quite possibly even the seven chakras (gasp! I know – to some I probably sound like I’ve gone off the deep end but trust me, this stuff is totally interesting and applicable to real life).
What I am really interested in talking about today is the very first yama: ahimsa, which is Sanskrit for non-violence. It’s pretty self-explanatory…don’t hurt other people. (Think: Mahatma Gandhi – ahimsa was basically his way of life).
Rebecca Pacheco’s book introduced me to an ancient Hindu story about ahimsa, which I LOVE! It goes like this:
There was a sadhu, or traveling monk, that visited many villages every year. In one particular village he encountered a huge, horrifying snake. This snake was terrorizing everyone in the village. The sadhu talked to the snake and explained to him the concept of ahimsa.
The next year the sadhu returned to that same village and saw the snake again, but he looked far different. The previously menacing creature had become skinny and bruised. The sadhu asked what had happened to him, and the snake replied that he had liked the concept of ahimsa and therefore had stopped terrorizing the village. Since he was no longer scary to the villagers, they had begun taunting him and throwing rocks at him. He was too scared to leave his hiding place even to hunt for food.
The sadhu shook his head at the snake’s explanation. He said to the snake: “I did advise against violence. But I never said you couldn’t hiss.”
DO NO HARM BUT TAKE NO SH!T PEOPLE! Ahimsa tells us that we must not harm any living creature, but we’re allowed to protect ourselves when others are acting against ahimsa. You are not supposed to be neutral or passive. Quite the opposite. You should be actively working to prevent any type of harm from falling upon anyone.
In summation: don’t bully others, and don’t let others bully you. This applies to physically harming another, talking badly about another, or even thinking bad thoughts about another (unkind actions, words & thoughts are referred to as himsa – like in many other languages, adding an “a” in front of the word denotes absence, so ahimsa is the absence of unkind actions, words & thoughts).
At the end of the day, we’re all just humans living together on this incredible planet called Earth. We’re all doing our best to make the most out of our lives. We’re all just walking each other home. There’s no need to be unkind. And there’s no need to let anyone be unkind to you. So float on my friends, and do no harm. But take no shit.
