When we are born it feels as if we weren’t given an instruction booklet for life. They just sent out there to figure it out, and yep, we end up stumbling around hurting ourselves and others. But the truth is that we do have a guide book, humans throughout time have been recording their knowledge and doing the difficult work of stillness and reflection to help us skip some of the pain and get right to the point. Peace is your birthright, but suffering is inevitable. It is our job to develop tools to manage the difficulty so we can return to that peace as quickly and often as possible. There are many sources of knowledge to help guide you, and we want to be sure you know about one of them in particular today.
There is one source of wisdom that has gone far too unnoticed in the West and that is Yoga – ALL 8 Limbs of the Yogic Path. The 8 Limbed Yogic Path of Patanjali is a wide ranging, deep, and highly applicable set of tools that, when applied, have the ability to lead us in an experience of life that is grounded, powerful and at completely connected to all that is or was. That is why Yoga is a way of life.
You might be thinking…but yoga is postures…ya know…like a yoga class. You would be right. But that is just one slice of a much bigger pie and set of skills available to you. The yoga you are familiar with in the west is just one of the limbs, and it is called Āsana, pronounced ah-sah-na.
We will get there…but let’s start at the beginning.
The first two limbs of the 8 Limbs are called Yama and Niyama and these are considered ethical guidelines. Yama can be translated to mean restraints and Niyama as observances. There are 5 of each, and we will begin with the first Yama which is called Ahiṁsā, pronounced ah-heem-sah.
As we dive into Ahiṁsā I will be quoting Deborah Adele in her book Yamas and Niyamas.
Ahiṁsā
Ahiṁsā translates as “non-violence”. We often think of violence as physical, but in yoga we are referring to all the ways we may bring harm to ourselves or others which includes our thoughts, emotions and actions.
Adele wrote “In Eastern thought, non-violence is so valued that it stands as the very core and foundation of all yoga philosophy and practice. It is as if the Yogis are saying that if we don’t ground our lives and actions in non-violence, everything else we attempt will be precarious.”
So how do we do it? Ahiṁsā tells us we can begin with seeking balance. Adele says“ Creating balance in our lives is not an easy thing. We are a hungry, noisy people, bombarded with stimulation and advertisements that promise to grant us our deepest desires. If we are not purposefully creating balance for ourselves, we can easily fall victim to false promises and fill every breathable space with appointments and activities and all the responsibilities that go with a full agenda.”
Balance doesn’t look the same for all of us and it can’t be scheduled. If you were serious about feeling more at peace, what is one thing you would do differently?
She tells us “When we are in balance, we automatically live in non-violence.” As you seek greater balance in your life it will require self love. This term can seem over-used, or even cheesy. But how you treat yourself is how you will treat others. Period.
Adele says “We would never purchase a can of red paint and expect the color to be blue when we apply it to our walls, and yet we can be so harsh and demanding with ourselves, and then expect to be loving with others. The color of the paint inside the can is the color that whatever we paint becomes.”
As we seek Ahiṁsā we have to be willing to engage in personal reflection more honestly than you maybe you ever have. She shares “When we are unwilling to look deeply and courageously into our own lives, we can easily violate others in many subtle ways that we may not even be aware of, thinking that we are actually helping them….We learn compassion as we dissolve our personal version of the world, and grow gentle eyes that are not afraid to see reality as it is.”
Lucille Clifton once said “Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Adele tells us that “Every human being walking this earth has painful stories tucked in the corners of their hearts. If we could remember this truth, perhaps we could see with the eyes of compassion, rather than the eyes of our judgments and preferences.”
Those seeking the yogic path work each day to practice Ahiṁsā. As you head back out into the world we hope you can take something from this yogic wisdom. We wish for you less fear, more balance, and self love…so that we can all live more gently…together.
Please continue to read the Bella Blog with us in upcoming articles as we unpack the 8 Limbs together. You are not alone in this journey to live life better and with more grace. The Collective exists to give you a community that humbly asks for wisdom and revelation in our lives. Let’s stumble around in community, as we figure life out together.
Written by Roni Harris, founder of the Bella Prāṇa Collective, a yoga and wellness center in Tampa Florida