Yama and Niyama in Asana

I have been on a Yama/Niyama theme lately. That is because Yama/Niyama are the true foundation of Yoga. As Iyengar says in Light on Yoga, “Practise of asanas without the backing of yama and niyama is mere acrobatics.” In the West, we have fetishized asana as “yoga” without giving the other limbs their due.

There is a popular misconception that the eight limbs are to be done sequentially. However, Iyengar taught that the limbs can be done concurrently. Based on concepts from Prashant Iyengar’s The Alpha & Omega of Utthita Trikonasana, I will present examples on using Yama/Niyama with Asana. Here is BKS Iyengar in Utthita Trikonasna:

This is Iyengar’s pose in his prime. His arms are perfectly straight, his legs are perfectly straight, and there are three distinct triangles within his pose. In his pose, he is practicing Ahimsa (non-harming) by doing the correct actions and not injuring himself. He is practicing Satya (truthfulness) by having proper form. He is practicing Asteya (non-stealing) by not allowing one side of his body to do the work that should be done by the other side of the body. He is practicing Brahmacarya (continence) by presenting the asana in a pure manner. He is practicing Aparigraha (non-greediness) by sharing his practice with the world.

Meanwhile, he is practicing Saucha (Cleanliness) by presenting himself as with good hygiene. He is practicing Santosa (Contentment) by the placid look on his face and he calmness of his asana. He is practicing Tapas (Intensive spiritual effort) by his dedication to the pose and getting his hand to the floor without distorting any other part of the asana. He is practicing Svadhyaya (Self Study) by examining his pose and redoing what needs to be corrected. And lastly he is practicing Isvara Pranidhana (Complete surrender to God) by “sealing” the pose and transforming into three triangles right before your eyes.

Isvara Pranidhana is what I aspire to in all of my poses. It is the true giving of myself to the practice in Asana. Iyengar often said “My body is my temple and asanas are my prayers.” He was referring to Isvara Pranidhana.

In modern yoga, people seem to be fixated on yoga as some sort of “workout.” While asanas do tone and strengthen the muscles and bring health, doing asana without the other limbs is much like carrying around a wheel and thinking it’s a car.

People are afraid to say that yoga is a spiritual practice because of their own religious views. But yoga transcends religion. It is what religion wants to be, but is yoga is not bound by politics. Yoga leaves the “religion” to the individual self to decide.

When asana is done for the ego, you can tell in the face that Isvara Pranidhana is absent. There is strain when we push the body where it is not ready to go.

When asana is practiced with all of the yamas and niyamas, this is what the face looks like.

In your asana practice this week, try to see if you are practicing all the Yamas and Niyamas in the poses. That in itself can be a lifelong practice.

Grand champions of the Yama/Niyama competition

I have gotten an unusually large response for my Yama/Niyama contest. I made up this competition in response to the ubiquitous #30daychallenges I see every day on WordPress. It is also a spin off on all the Asana competitions out there. To follow Yama/Niyama is what separates those who practice yoga from those who are just merely flexible and athletic. To illustrate how difficult this challenge is, I will list some past champions.

Mahatma Gandhi. Extolled Satya (truthfulness), and Ishvara Pranidhana (Complete surrender to God). He crippled the occupying British to rubble with Ahimsa (non-violence) alone. Martin Luther King, Jr. would later adopt his tactics to springboard the US Civil Rights Movement.

B.K.S. Iyengar. Used supremely intensified Tapas and took yoga from obscurity to a worldwide practice during his lifetime. If you practice yoga today, you have this man to thank. He refined and used asanas to cure ailments that medical science had given up on. Iyengar lived deeply in all limbs of yoga.

Ramana Maharshi. Practiced painstaking Svadhyaya with self inquiry. He asked one powerful question: Who Am I?

Sage Patanjali. Codified yoga into 196 terse aphorisms. Also mastered grammar and medicine in addition to yoga. Originally wrote down the Yama and Niyamas.

The NFL, FIFA, NBA, and NHL have it’s superstars, I have mine. Good luck in your competition!

30 day Yama/Niyama challenge

 

Every day I come across some type of 30 day “yoga” challenge. Either they are a challenge to practice asana each day, or accomplish a pose in that time frame. One lady even wanted to try to do the splits (Hanumanasana) in 30 days. After about day 15 she stopped posting altogether. I wonder if her hamstrings gave out. People even have asana competitions where they are judged on their postures. I felt I wanted to propose a harder challenge–a yama/niyama competition!

Here are the rules:

1) Can you go 30 days without causing physical or mental harm to anyone?

2) Can you go 30 days by telling the complete truth no matter what?

3) Can you go 30 days without stealing anything?

4) Can you go 30 days of regarding others as human beings instead of male/female bodies?

5) Can you go 30 days free from greed?

6) Can you go 30 days being clean, not only physically but mentally?

7) Can you go 30 days being content with what you have, and not buying anything new outside of what you need?

8) Can you go 30 days of fervid adherence to these principles?

9) Can you go 30 days studying ancient yoga texts and then seeing how your practice fits into these texts?

10) Can you go 30 days of completely surrendering yourself to this practice no matter what the outcomes?

Which ones are easy and which ones bring up issues for you? In classical yoga, the above is what is asked of you for your whole lifespan. It is very challenging even for a day. I am not saying I am anywhere near close to achieving these on any given day. But to aspire to do these for 30 days will bring about profound positive change in your life much more than trying to do Eka Pada Rajakapotasana. It will be much more difficult than Eka Pada Rajakapotasna too.

 

Have fun!