Yamas and Niyamas - Intentions of the next 10 weeks - Week 1: Ahimsa

Way back at the end of October I wrote about Patanjali and how he has been credited for codifying yoga in the Yoga Sutras.  I had listed the 8 limbs of yoga (astanga yoga) being yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara,dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

Over the next 10 weeks I hope to write about the yamas - which there are 5 and the niyamas -which there is also 5.  Each one will be the intention of the week during the Winter Yoga Session.

So to begin, Yama is the first limb in our eight limb path.  The yamas are the ethical disciplines or the great commandments transcending creed, country, age and time.  They represent the rules of morality for society and the individual, which as B.K.S. Iyengar writes if not obeyed bring chaos, violence, untruth, stealing, dissipation and covetousness.
Sutra II.31 states this as:  jati desa kala samaya anavacchinnah sarvabhaumah mahavratam
Translated as: Yamas are the great, mighty, universal vows, unconditioned by place, time and class.

Ahimsa is the first yama. It means non-harming  or wishing no harm in words, thoughts and actions.  It is being sincere.
Sutra II.35 states this as: ahimsapratisthayam tatsannidhau vairatyagah
Translated as: When non-violence in speech, thought and action is established, one's aggressive nature is relinquished and others abandon hostility in one's presence.

The sutras stress that yama and niyama are an essential part of yoga, not just the postures we have come to know in western society.  The postures though can help us learn much about ourselves so we can develop equipoise in all areas of our lives.  Mr. Iyengar says, "In asana, the pose first brings inner balance and harmony, but in the end it is merely the outer expression of the inner harmony.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/
email: plnyoga@plnyoga.vpweb.com