Yamas & Niyamas – Ahimsa…
As life starts to take more turns with the easing of lockdown, many do not wish to lead fast-paced lives like perhaps they were before lockdown. With many looking to continue to work from home and have more free-time, more and more people are being drawn to Yoga and Meditation.
This is due to people wanting to have more space in their lives for themselves and their loved ones. Slowing down and taking time to pause and be reflective is a form of self-care. Perhaps, focusing on finding meaning and being kinder to themselves.
Basically, people want to practice Ahimsa more.
Ahimsa – What does it mean?
Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word which translates to ‘no harm’ or ‘no violence’ in English.
Ahimsa Philosophy
It can be found in the 1st limb of Ashtanga Yoga and is one of the five Yamas. (Yamas are ethical standards and a code of conduct in the Yoga Sutras).
Implementing Ahimsa into life (on and off the mat)…
Ahimsa is one of the most important aspects of Yoga. Being able to do Asana is a very valuable thing and we learn a lot from it. However, if we don’t practice Ahimsa, or grow from our practice and incorporate Ahimsa and the other Yamas into our lives, Yoga might as well be a gym class to us.
Ahimsa means no harm. This means to any living beings, including yourself In both action and thought.
Peace begins with no violence and no harm. To be truly at peace, you have to be at peace with yourself and others, internally as well as externally.
When we are mean, nasty or violent towards others, it is normally an outward projection of what we are feeling inside (often referred to as the mirror theory). If we want to see change in the world, we have to start with ourselves. Once we are at peace with ourselves, we can start to drive positive change in the world.
When people treat us a certain way, or things aren’t going the way we planned in this world, when we are hard on ourselves… feelings of shame, guilt and disappointment manifest. Sometimes, we can all be guilty of expecting too much of ourselves, the people around us or the world in general. When things don’t go our way, for whatever reason, harmful feelings can start to creep in, which causes us harm and has the potential to cause others harm.
If we start to practice Ahimsa, we start practicing unconditional love and compassion. The more we practice yoga, the more we start to feel this within ourselves as we become at one and united with the world around us.
Yoga & Meditation
Yoga and meditation makes us look at ourselves and our lives internally so that we can work on turning negative aspects of ourselves into positives, without acting on this externally, an aspect of practicing ahimsa.
Loving Kindness…
Practicing Metta (Buddhist Loving Kindness) Meditations ( Burgs (Love VS Virus) on Youtube) is a wonderful place to start incorporating Ahimsa into our lives. Also, practicing yoga gracefully, without forcing things as well as incorporating the other Yamas into our lives, can really allow us to open up and practice Ahimsa both on and off the mat.
At AMALAwellness classes, whether it is Yoga, Meditation or Based Yoga and Exercise Classes, we always incorporate a sense of gentleness to practice.
Do you practice gently, do you practice Ahimsa? I’d love to hear from you!
For information and bookings….
For more information and bookings, please contact us using the following:
Email: Amala.teesside@gmail.com
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About The author:
Aimee is a Yoga, Meditation and Chair Based Yoga and Exercise teacher in located in Middlesbrough, England, UK. Aimee teaches in Norton, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Guisborough and Redcar and Cleveland, as well as offering online classes.
To find out more, visit www.amalateesside.com
I didn’t know the science of yoga untlil I read this. I liked the phrase, to be truly at pease, you have to be at peace with yourself and others.
I really enjoy the practice of yoga and I love reading about the history/science. This is an interesting read. Thanks for sharing@
I am glad to read about ahimsa and learn so much about it. Your blog is very informative and engaging.
That’s interesting, learning about other yoga and meaning is nice. Loving kindness is also good to practice.
Wow, I didn’t know the science of yoga. I just do yoga but never thought about the whole universe around it! Interesting read!
It is good to know a way to have inner peace. In pandemic such as nowadays people easily loosing their inner peace.
I love reading new things about yoga. I miss my yoga classes before the pandemic started.
I didn’t fully understand this until now. I haven’t done as much study about other components of yoga as I should have. Thank you for sharing!
Sounds amazing, I have always wanted to get into Yoga or something that I can use to relax my mind. This sounds perfect.
I do notice more people trying out yoga and i personally miss doing it. I love the peace of mind and sense of calm that we feel. Totally need it right now
I really like the way our ancestors have plant activities around maths and Science. We have been following yoga what are the benefits of it but it is a whole science behind each yoga Aasan.
when I was studying this ahimsa was not easy to understand and process for me. You made it look simple and easy to understand, I wish I read in 2020 because it feels like you have deeper understanding than my teacher
Oooh, I want to use Ahimsa in my yoga practice this week. I will try to strive for it this week thanks to your explanation.
Feel proud that how yoga is now accepted worldwide and people are trying to understand the science behind this !!