Saucha

The niyamas in yoga are 5 observances or restraints which help cultivate wholeness and spiritual connection. They encourage us to love our daily lives with the same reverence and joy that we bring to our yoga practice, on the mat.

The first niyama is saucha (pronounced shah-chah, the au sounds similar to the ow in cow.)

The Sanskrit word saucha means cleanliness or purification. The root meaning of saucha is “being radiant.” Yoga is a gradual process of self purification.

Nischala Joy Devi, in The Secret Power of Yoga tells us, “Through simplicity and continual refinement, the body, thoughts, and emotions become clear reflections of the Self within.” As we clean the windows of our bodies and minds with the contemplative practices of yoga we can invite more of the spirit’s light into our being.

Saucha operates on many levels: cleanliness for our bodies, the maintenance of clean and orderly homes, eating healthy food and drinking clean water. We also aspire to cleanliness of our minds, trying to cultivate a positive attitude, not polluting our mental atmosphere with negativity and obsessions. Practicing saucha helps us experience ourselves as clean and clear. It is a pre-condition for experiencing the fullness of yoga and attaining spiritual wholeness.

Parenthetically, it is not a coincidence that Gandhi worked hard for sanitation workers in South Africa and India. Health and sustainable efforts for cleanliness can benefit the individual and the community.

In the U.S. we are privileged to have clean water available, but elsewhere in the world over a million people do not have this same access. Perhaps when we have a drink of water we can offer thanks for it, send a prayer to those without safe water, and explore ways we can contribute to the sustainability of this precious resource.

We are all interconnected and as we observe saucha in our everyday lives we can become more radiant and refined.

When I first started taking yoga classes with my mom, I had had some experience with a yoga class at NC State, but was otherwise clueless. Yoga meant exercise, and nothing deeper, to me. After taking yoga with you for over a year and eventually reading the blog entry about Ahimsa, I knew that even though I had been taking yoga for a year or two, I still had a lot to learn. It never crossed my mind that Ahimsa (non-violence) meant not only practicing non-violence in regards to others, but yourself as well. I have good manners, I hold the door for people, I’m a courteous driver, I never judge or compete with other yogis’ abilities, and I attempt to look out for and be compassionate towards other people on a daily basis. Non-violence towards others was not a problem for me. My personal struggle was practicing non-violence upon myself.

When I first began coming to your yoga classes I was constantly pushing myself to stretch further, hold poses longer, work harder. Little did I know that I was missing the first principle of yoga! Since reading the post about Ahimsa, I knew I needed to change and I knew just where to start!

From then on, the class changed from a challenge to a privilege (I’m so lucky to get to devote time to yoga!). Ahimsa helped me realize how much I enjoyed yoga and that pushing myself wasn’t always the right mindset to have. I have been transitioning to paying attention to my body, what feels good and what doesn’t. I no longer stretch until it hurts, I stretch until it feels good and I relax into it. I don’t do poses that hurt my joints (knees, especially) and I don’t compete with myself to constantly push push push. I no longer challenge my body to do yoga poses that don’t agree with my anatomy, but I look forward to the poses my body allows me to do. I am grateful for the body I have and the vast number of poses I am completely capable of and Ahimsa has shown me how remarkably enjoyable and relaxing even a strenuous yoga class can be when one respects themselves, their capabilities, and their body.

With love & light,

Samantha Van Ollefen

Asteya
I found this Yama to be particularly helpful. Many times in life I try to take the easy way out because it’s easier and faster, but by practicing this Yama which is in essence -honesty, I have found many of the stresses that come with cheating disappear if you are honest -especially to yourself. Yoga has opened me up to living a better life. I am working on being a more generous and honest person and not taking the easy way out. Asteya states if you can do that, you will have a better life
R.

I will express my experience with the Greed and how I managed to step out. Yoga helped me greatly with the unity principle , also being part of the flower shuttle added to it.

To me it is like stepping from the frying pan to a paradise island in Bali or Hawaii with a beautiful ocean breeze and tropical flowers full of colors and pleasant scents. As a human being being greedy is falling in a restricted territory- a land that has no limit- the more one grabs the more one wants without satisfaction. It is an infinity with no limits and no end. IF one asks where is peace, love, beauty, goodness in the greed cycle – the answer is there are none in this territory. There is only hot fire that consumes ones inner beauty .

By the grace of God and also by an individual effort we can discipline ourselves to get out the cycle of greed to paradise island of love, beauty, harmony, peace and unconditional love. God gives us will power and it is a matter of choice as to which road we desire to travel- either to the wide road that everyone is traveling or the unique and narrow one that only few lucky ones has discovered and managed to go through.

What I am seeking is not an external happiness but an inner personal satisfaction paved not with gold or silver but with art, beauty, love, peace and harmony. I hope that this will be my legacy to leave behind to the younger generation that knows no limit to greed.

I hope to hear your feedback , Judith. I enjoyed your class greatly yesterday . I pray for God to keep blessing you with more health and goodness and Yogic skills to spread it to the rest of your students. I hope to hear from you soon.

M.

I wanted to share with you a way that I practice Ahimsa, something that I’ve been doing for nearly 16 years, before I even knew the term Ahimsa.

I was bullied in middle school on a weekly basis. It wasn’t every day but it sure felt like it. I was called ugly names, pushed into lockers and walls, pushed down stairs, tripped to be made to fall in front of people and other hurtful things. I know I still carry some of that around with me and I’m sure I’ll never forget a lot of it.

As long as I can remember, I’ve always tried to live by what my mother taught me as a child: “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. I treat people with kindness and an open heart as much as I possibly can. I try to smile at people often and put out positive energy, even when its hard to.
During those 3 years, it was very often hard to live by those words but I did it, reminding myself that it would get better one day. And it certainly did.

Ahimsa helps me find inner peace and have a clear heart, mind and allows me to focus on the important things in life.
J.G.