Which way?
Last night I went for dinner with an old friend. We’ve known each other for a couple of decades and she’s someone very dear to me. Whenever we catch up, we dive straight into the big topics. Whether it’s been days or years since we last met, it’s like picking up the thread of a conversation that was merely paused whilst we were elsewhere. Amongst the topics we covered last night, a big one we honed in on was personal growth. When she and I first met we were at the close of our teenage years, on the precipice of becoming adults and about to feel our way through the tricky transition into independence and responsibility, for which there was no guidebook. We reflected on the people we had been in our early twenties; the mistakes we made as we travelled our pathways, elements of ourselves back then that we didn’t like, things we had said or done that were out of character with our values but seemed to be a result of drifting through life; a little directionless and lost. If only I had known, back then, what I know now, about the yamas and niyamas.
The yamas and niyamas are a little like yoga’s version of a guidebook to help us make choices and put our energy into the areas of life that reflect our true values. The journey we’re taking should be one of living our most credible life and the lessons contained within these ancient teachings help to move us on this journey in the right direction. I’ve spoken often in my blog about yoga being more than just the physical practice and nowhere has this resonated more with me than when I first began to learn about this area.
The yamas and the niyamas are a truly ancient system and they are deeply embedded into the practice of yoga. What they offer us is an ethical guideline for how to live our lives, well, authentically, and with care and compassion for the world around us. As with the familiarity of my friend I can meet up with after a long break and feel instantly connected to, they felt familiar and comfortable to me when I first found them, as though they had always been there, just waiting for me to meet them. To me they act like building blocks, things I can use as foundations for my life and how I can try and best live it.
The yamas are often translated as restraints, seen as guidelines for how we relate to the world around us, to play the role in our community that offers the most value. The five yamas are:
Ahimsa - compassion
Satya - truthfulness
Asteya - non-stealing
Brahmacharya - non-excess
Aparigraha - non-possessiveness
The niyamas are often translated as observances, as guidelines for how we relate to ourselves, and show up as the best version of the person we can be.The five niyamas are:
Saucha - cleanliness
Santosha - contentment
Tapas - self-discipline
Svadhyaya - self- study
Ishvara Pranidhana - surrender
Over the course of my next few blogs I will be deep diving into each of the yamas and niyamas one by one, exploring how they translate to everyday life. Individually they have so much meaning and offer us so much. Collectively, as this guidebook they become, they can influence courses of movement in our lives; the decisions we make, the people we choose to spend time with, and the places we choose to make our home.
Three weeks from this blog being published, I will be on a plane headed for New Zealand to start a new chapter of my life. I’m equal parts excited and terrified to step into the unknown and see what this next stage of life brings. Hopefully lots of yoga! I’m excited to dip my toe into the teaching market in Auckland, where I’ll be based, and hopefully be able to continue my yoga teaching journey there.
Although this is a big change and one that it is easy to have mixed emotions about, I know that the tools the yamas and niyamas offer me will help keep me grounded and centred in this time of exciting upheaval. For instance, Ahimsa, compassion, will invite me to be kind to myself if it is hard to step into the opportunities I wish for. Or Tapas will remind me to be disciplined in my approach and build good habits, knowing that these small everyday commitments will eventually lead to bigger gains. Perhaps Ishvara Pranidhana will allow me to surrender to the experience and allow it to take me where I need to go. Each of the little parts of the yamas and niyamas will add up to my own guide to starting my new adventure overseas.
I’ve had changes in my life before but never before have I felt so wholly accepting of the step I was about to take into the unknown as I feel now. When last night with my friend I reflected on changes that I have gone through in the past they felt like things I was drifting into, slightly with eyes closed and unaware. By comparison I feel self-aware about the change I am undertaking now, as though I have the steps mapped out - my own guidebook for change.
Wish me luck as I take Flow with Fi across the world to New Zealand; I’m excited to share how it, and I, will evolve.
This month I’m reading… Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - This has been on my wish list for such a long time and the stoic philosophy has a lovely crossover with yogic philosophy. There’s a lot of similarity in the two approaches - it’s mind boggling how ancient these texts are and yet how relevant the learnings are.
This month I’m listening to…a friend introduced me to Farewell to my City by Frank Turner and it’s hard not to get a little teary eyed listening to this ode to London
